Slide show: Catch of the day as the fall scallop season opens on Long Island’s North Fork

As the Peconic Bay scallop season opened Monday on Long Island’s North Fork, dozens of boats converged on a cove to dredge for the coveted shellfish. They included commercial and recreational fishermen who customize their boats in all manner of styles, such as the one above. Most boats pull four or more dredges over the bottom, scooping up the scallops.  I joined them, as I do most years, and we were rewarded with a bountiful catch (at least on this first day) and gorgeous Indian-summer weather. Although the water had dipped to 48 degrees, the air temperature was in the mid-60s.

Scalloping is all about finding the sweet spots that hold the greatest clusters. On one haul, my dredge was loaded with more than 40 of them.

After a couple of hours or so, I approached a half-bushel, the daily recreational limit.

Shelling and cleaning them is a time-consuming and messy business …

… but well worth it. I wound up with about two-and-a-half pounds of scallops, enough for several great meals based around the sweet delicacy, which, when I checked, was selling for $17 a pound at one of the local fish markets. I like to sauté them in a little olive oil and butter until golden brown; perhaps another night I’ll combine them with tomatoes and some fresh tarragon over pasta. As for wine, white Burgundy or subtly oaked chardonnay from California or Long Island’s North Fork come to mind to complement the richness of the scallops. What would you serve?

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Sips: From Long Island, Shinn’s ‘Red’ is inexpensive and over-delivers

Long Island’s North Fork is not the first place that comes to mind when I think of value wines in the under-$15 category, especially reds. The region’s relatively small producers necessarily have to ask quite a bit more for their estate-grown wines. So I was surprised when a friend brought over a bottle of Shinn Estate Vineyards’ “Red,” a non-vintage blend that still had the  $13.50 price tag on the bottle (it lists for $15 on Shinn’s website). I’d forgotten that Shinn, which is located on a quiet old farm road in Mattituck, 90 miles or so east of Manhattan, even made an entry-level red (the winery produces some of Long Island’s most distinctive merlots, cabernet francs, malbecs and Bordeaux-style blends). Its Red is a blend of 52 percent merlot, 26 percent cab franc and 22 percent syrah, with a least some of the fruit sourced from other North Fork vineyards.

The wine shows a lot of bright red fruit notes, good tannic structure and has an impressively long finish. Sipping it with  a casual meal (think chicken, grilled salmon, burgers, pizza) is an altogether pleasant experience that doesn’t invite over-analysis, simply enjoyment of it, which is exactly what a wine at this price should do. I’ve never had a house wine – too many new releases to taste – but if I were in the market for a red, this would  be high on my list. And for those of us in or not far from the area, the fact that it’s locally produced might just seal the deal.

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Sips: Enjoying two superb white wine values from the Finger Lakes

As I continue to focus on New York wines this summer, two whites from the Finger Lakes region stand out for warm-weather drinking, both of them from one of the region’s leading wineries. And as I post this after a dramatic day on Wall Street, with the  Dow dropping more than 600 points, it’s also worth pointing out that they are both under $15.  

It’s well known in the wine world that the cool-climate Finger Lakes produce some superb rieslings, and Heron Hill’s 2009 New York Dry Riesling not only supports that fact but demonstrates superb value at the modest price of $14. This light, lovely wine shows a good deal of complexity, with guava and other tropical fruit notes, tangerine, lime and a wet-stone minerality that distinguishes it from rieslings with lesser pedigrees. Its ample acidity not only makes it a thirst-quenching aperitif in these dog days of summer but an excellent match for a variety of lighter foods, including sushi, sautéed or broiled fluke fillets or other freshly caught fish, salads and grilled chicken. Alcohol is 12 percent.

I was also impressed by Heron Hill’s 2009 Ingle Vineyard  Unoaked Chardonnay, a single-vineyard wine that also sells for $14. The problem with many chardonnays made without exposure to oak is that they lack interest and depth beyond the fruit. In this one, however, the fruit notes, mainly green apple and lime, are balanced – enhanced might be a better word – by a delightful mineral component that gives the wine a lively complexity and reminded me of Chablis, the chardonnay from Burgundy also made, in its basic examples, without oak. This one, with alcohol also at 12 percent, will go especially well with grilled tuna and striped bass, as well as chicken and pork. What makes these wines so appealing to me is their finesse, achieved in part by their modest alcohol levels and cool-weather acidity.  Click here to go to Heron Hill’s Web site. Wines received as press samples.

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Sips: A sampling of top Long Island wines for summer drinking

When the editors of a new website, Metrofocus.org based here in New York, asked me to contribute a piece on New York wines,  I decided to focus this first article on the wines of Long Island’s East End, particularly the North Fork, where most of the region’s 60-plus wineries and vineyards are located.  The wines, which I have been following closely for many years, are worth seeking out for their elegance and relatively low levels of alcohol. Among others, you’ll find lots of crisp, fresh whites that are perfect for summer drinking. Click here to read my article, which includes a list of five top Long Island wines I found in my tastings. Wines received as press samples.

Technorati Tags: McCall Wines,Long Island wines,North Fork wines,Long Island East End,Edward Deitch,Croteaux Vineyards,Lieb Cellars,Channing Daughters,Jamesport Vineyards,New York wines

Sips: Long Island’s ‘Early Wine’ and ‘Right Coast Red’ stand out

I’ve been tasting a range of wines from the East End of Long Island in recent weeks, mainly from the North Fork, where the vast majority of the region’s 60 or so vineyards and wineries are located.  Among others, two under-$20 wines stand out for  casual, warm-weather summer drinking.

Macari Vineyards’ 2010 “Early Wine” Chardonnay brings to mind green apples and lime and may be this region’s best answer to Portugal’s Vinho Verde with its fresh and fruity style and, as far as American wines are concerned, its relatively low alcohol, which is listed as 11.5 percent. It was harvested by the winery in Mattituck late last August, fermented without oak and bottled less than six weeks later. Served quite cold on a warm and humid evening, it was a delightful apéritif and will serve well accompanying local fluke, either sautéed or marinated into ceviche, or with fried calamari or clams. Production was 1,045 cases. $17.

When friends invited us over last weekend for grilled pizza, the best of several wines we tried with these delicious homemade pies was Lieb Family Cellars’ 2008 Right Coast Red, an easy drinking yet interesting blend of 45 percent merlot, 20 percent cabernet sauvignon, 20 percent cab franc, 12 percent malbec and three percent petit verdot. Lots of red and dark fruit here, with blackberry, blueberry and raspberry notes, a subtle overlay of cedar and a peppery note. Yummy wine. The $30 price tag surprised me, but I guess that’s part of the price of drinking “local.” I also like that the bottle has a screw cap. Alcohol is 13.5 percent. Wines received as press samples.

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Sips: Five Top White Wines for Summer

When I was asked to put together a summer wine segment and appear on WNBC’s New York Nonstop channel, I immediately thought of lighter whites that are easy to drink, match well with a variety of simply prepared foods and are good values. Beyond that, I wanted to introduce viewers to some wines they might not have heard about that are very much worth exploring. With that in mind, I chose five wines from five countries, each made from a different grape. What unifies them is that they are refreshing as both aperitif and food wines, especially with fish and simple chicken dishes, and are made without fermentation or aging in oak. Although I have nothing against chardonnay, I decided to keep chardonnay out of the mix this time around because it is so well known and popular. So, enjoy these five whites with your summer dining. I’ll have many more to share in coming weeks.

Channing Daughters 2010 Sauvignon Blanc “Mudd West Vineyard,” Long Island. $20. Light, delicate and elegant sauvignon from this Bridgehampton winery. The wine is made from grapes grown in a North Fork vineyard and shows subtle green apple, herb and citrus notes.

La Cala 2009 Vermentino di Sardegna, Sardinia, Italy. $12. A delicious example of this Mediterranean variety, this is an easy-to-drink yet interesting wine that will pair well with a variety of foods. Pear and apple notes and a good deal of minerality. A natural for linguine with white clam sauce. Imported by Palm Bay International, Boca Raton, Florida.

Domaine Félines Jourdan 2010 Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc, France. $13. One of my favorite wines of the summer so far. Picpoul de Pinet is the name of the grape and it’s grown only in Languedoc very close to the Mediterranean Sea. The domaine, which I visited last month on a tour of Languedoc, overlooks oyster farms, and the wine, in fact, is just perfect with oysters. Very fresh with a little brininess, good acidity and lots of complexity. Notes of lemon, herbs, a little honey and vanilla and a good deal of minerality on the finish. Imported by Gabriella Importers, Bohemia, New York.

Viore 2010 Verdejo, Rueda, Spain. $9. I’ve been tasting a lot of verdejos in the last month or so and was newly impressed with this variety, which is the most important white grape in the Rueda region. This one is quite racy and almost jumps out of the glass. Complex with notes of apricot, tangerine, some herbs and smoke on the long finish. Imported by Vintage Wines, Staten Island, New York.

Trapiche 2010 Torrontés, Mendoza, Argentina. $8. Torrontes has become a new darling among fresh and lively white wines, and I saved this one for last on tonight’s TV segment because it’s the most aggressive of the five whites. The variety is highly aromatic and this one, beyond the flower notes, is like biting into an orange. It’s a warm-weather thirst quencher and a real bargain at just $8. Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons, New York.

Book review: Evan Dawson’s memorable ‘Summer in a Glass’ on Finger Lakes wine

World-class riesling is produced in the Finger Lakes. Wine people know that. But to much of America and the world, the region is a wine outpost, a remote area in west-central New York a couple of hundred miles or so from New York City and, consequently, well off the radar of most consumers, retailers, restaurants and wine writers – in New York and beyond. Evan Dawson’s splendid new book, “Summer in a Glass: The Coming of Age of Winemaking in the Finger Lakes,” (Sterling Epicure, $19.95) is likely to change that.

I have to admit that before I received the book for review, I wasn’t particularly drawn to the region. One can find Finger Lakes wines here in New York, but they compete for shelf space and attention with wines from the rest of the world and are not well promoted (the wines of eastern Long Island do slightly better in this regard, benefiting from the region’s proximity to the city). Now, however, I look forward to a deeper exploration of the region and the wines.

Dawson, a television news reporter and anchor in Rochester and an editor of New York Cork Report, a wine Web site, chronicles the evolution of the Finger Lakes as a serious wine area through the experiences of a dozen winemakers and growers who have shaped – and are shaping – the region. Most of the stories begin with a clever narrative device, a flashback to a turning point that put the winemaker on course for the Finger Lakes. There are pioneers of the region such as Hermann J.Wiemer, the German who disdained other Finger Lakes winemakers and who, by simply putting the word “dry” on his labels, changed the perception of riesling as only a sweet wine; and Dr. Konstantin Frank, the Ukrainian immigrant who introduced vinifera grapes to the cool-climate region and became obsessed with trying to eradicate its old hybrid varieties.

Then there’s Sam Argetsinger, a woodsman and grape grower on Seneca Lake who embraces Iroquois culture and its respect for the land. “I was about to find out,” Dawson writes, “that Sam Argetsinger’s grapes tasted unlike any other wine grapes in the Finger Lakes. He spoke of them like they were his children, and he couldn’t understand why most growers douse their vineyards with chemical sprays and fertilizers. ‘Think about that,’ he said as he picked a bunch of Riesling grapes. ‘We’re killing five or ten things to make one thing grow. You think that’s balance? That’s not balance – that’s crazy.’” We also hear about Tom Higgins and his quest for the perfect piece of limestone-based land on which to grow his pinot noir, and Tricia Renshaw, a novice whose gifts of taste and smell were discovered by the veteran winemaker Peter Bell of Fox Run Vineyards, who made her his assistant and an overnight wine prodigy.

Dawson weaves into these tales a good deal of drama, some suspense and, here and there, just the right amount of explanation about wine making. On a practical level, the book will serve as a guide to some of the best wineries and wines in the Finger Lakes and will be a great read while traveling and tasting  in the region. (One small criticism: there are repeated references to Champagne as “French Champagne,” which is, of course, redundant, but also an unnecessary nod to the outdated practice  by some wineries in the region of calling sparkling wine “Champagne.”)

“Summer in a Glass” is a compelling tribute to a region’s visionaries whose passions, struggles and small triumphs make the book about much more than wine.

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Swirls: more on Clinton wedding wine

As The Wedding approaches today, lots of outlets are carrying the story of how residents inconvenienced by all the activity involving the Chelsea Clinton-Marc Mezvinsky nuptials  in Rhinebeck, New York, were given bottles of Clinton Vineyards’ Tribute. The wine is a seyval blanc, a white variety, and the New York Post appears to have gotten it wrong by calling it a sauvignon blanc, which the winery does not produce. But then again, the Post isn’t especially known for its wine coverage. In any event, we’ll be watching for more details of what wines were served at the wedding today as they trickle out from folks who attended.

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Swirls: A Clinton wedding and a Clinton winery; an iPad wine list, and a ‘Nat Decants’ app

SWIRL:  The wines of Clinton Vineyards in Clinton Corners, N.Y. are getting the kind of attention this weekend that money alone can’t buy but that money and a Clinton wedding certainly can.  Though the wall of silence remains on details of Chelsea Clinton’s wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in Rhinebeck, N.Y., Wine Spectator has a juicy little tidbit on guests receiving a bottle of the winery’s Tribute, a seyval blanc.

SWIRL: While most people might consider it downright rude to break out an iPad in a restaurant (the iPod and iPhone are much easier to conceal in one’s lap), at least one high-end restaurant in  New York, South Gate, is using the iPad to feature its wine list, along with label images and other photographs. Seems like a cool idea indeed, although the iPad’s cost, starting at $499, might give “expensive wine list” new meaning. Read more at geek.com.

 

SWIRL: And speaking of apps, the Canadian wine journalist Natalie MacLean, who is something of a one-woman wine  information industry, has a new mobile app that culls a great deal from her Nat Decants Web site, including 380,000 wine and food pairings (can there possibly be that many?) and thousands of wine reviews and recipes, among other things.

 

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Swirls: no wine sales in NY supermarkets? Then let’s raise the wine bar for liquor stores

And so, the latest attempt to put wine in New York’s grocery stores appears to be doomed, a victim of budget politics and a  Legislature that sides more with the powerful liquor store lobby than with the will of most New Yorkers who would like more  choice when it comes to where they buy their wine (consumers can buy wine in supermarkets in 35 states).

There’s a good discussion of the arguments from the perspectives of a Finger Lakes winery owner and a liquor store owner/ industry official on WHEC.com in Rochester. Scott Osborne of Fox Run Vineyards complains that it’s hard to get his wine into stores beyond his area, while Don Bombace, representing the State Liquor Store Association, says the decision will preserve jobs and keep alcohol “out of the hands of minors,” among other things.

As I wrote on the subject earlier this year, I don’t need the industry, by virtue of having wine sales only in liquor stores, to police my kids for me. That argument just doesn’t fly. As for losing jobs, no one, of course, wants that, and Dan Collins makes a strong argument in the Huffington Post on why that should be the overriding consideration in this economy.

But there is yet another issue that hasn’t been discussed: while there are superb wine stores in New York, there are also a fair number that are downright embarrassing when it comes to wine selection and knowledge. We’ve all been in them: inventory dominated by standard brands pushed heavily by wholesalers; limited or no insight into wine in general or what’s on their shelves; comments like “people seem to like it” or “it’s been selling very well.” Competition from grocers, I believe, would force liquor store owners to raise the bar and offer added value to their customers.

People are hungry for wine insight and expertise and are attracted to it. The industry should redouble its efforts to help its members gain a basic level of wine knowledge. If not, when New York’s grocery stores finally do win the right to sell wine, only the best of the wine and liquor stores will survive. And that, perhaps, is the way it should be.

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Swirls: New York Jets wine; direct wine sales; storing wine

AT THE NEW MEADOWLANDS STADIUM over in New Jersey yesterday, the New York Jets unveiled a commemorative wine, tied to the opening of the new venue, called Jets Uncorked. The wine is a red, of course, a cabernet sauvignon, naturally. (Can you imagine the flak they’d get if it were a  merlot?) It’s the creation of a California winemaker (Marco DiGiulio) and a  California lifestyle marketing company (Wine By Design), and on that note I am not the only one wondering  whether a New York wine, say from  Long Island, which makes very good wines and where the Jets are all but worshipped, might have been more appropriate and original. In any event, the wine is a 2008 Napa Valley cab described in a Jets press release as a “premium-quality yet affordable blend that captures the essence and spirit of the team and its fans.” It will sell for $27.99 and 8,000 cases were made.

THERE’S A GOOD DISCUSSION in the Washington Post on the value to wineries of direct-t0-consumer sales. One context is the current debate in Congress on a controversial bill to strengthen the three-tier distribution system and weaken direct sales (H.R. 5034) that’s backed  by the wine wholesale industry. Oregon’s Adelsheim Vineyard has found a successful blend, so to speak, with a dual strategy that incorporates both traditional distribution and direct sales and has seen sales grow, even in this tough economy. Read the full article.

THE ISSUE OF WINE STORAGE is explored in a useful article by California wine writer Dan Berger, who reviews the best methods for storing wine at home and in stores and finds conditions at some retailers highly questionable.

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Wine sales in N.Y. supermarkets? The idea doesn’t go down smoothly

Here in New York, we can’t just go to the supermarket to pick up a bottle of wine, as folks can in 35 other states. That’s because wine sales are permitted only in liquor stores, and the owners of those stores – 2,754 of them in New York -- have fought off attempts to encroach on their businesses for three decades. Now the idea has come up again. Gov. David Patterson has called for the change in his 2010-11 budget proposal, saying it could bring in significant revenue for the state, and the battle is raging once more. Below, I offer a possible solution.

But first, it’s worth noting that a Siena College poll this week found that 58 percent of New Yorkers support supermarket wine sales, while 39 percent oppose it. The liquor-store lobby says the proposal will put 1,000 stores out of business and eliminate many more jobs, while supporters say it will lead to significant economic development by expanding wine sales, creating jobs in New York’s wine industry (few people realize that it ranks third in production after California and Washington), and by helping the state’s vintners better compete with wineries from other states  and countries.

Here in New York City, at least, wines from New York, whether from Long Island, the Finger Lakes, the Niagara Escarpment or the Hudson Valley are, on the whole, poorly represented in liquor stores. Retailers will tell you that there just isn’t the demand for them. It’s no wonder when you look at the domination by California and European wines.

So how about this? Perhaps one way of satisfying both sides in the dispute is to set an inventory requirement for New York wines in supermarkets of,  say, 15 or 20 percent. This would give the state’s wineries more exposure to consumers and might lessen the perceived damage to liquor stores, many of which all but ignore New York wines in the first pl ace. What do you think? Should New Yorkers be able to buy their wines in supermarkets? Please leave your comments below.

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