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A New York state of wine

Empire State vintners are working hard to get out the word: Excellent domestic wines don't have to come from California.

By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published May 18, 2005

	[Times illustration: Jeff Goertzen]

NEW YORK - None dare call it the Big Grape.

Even New Yorkers, never known for modesty, rarely brag about their state's wine. True Manhattan snobs have yet to admit that California can make wine as smartly as France.

Get over it.

Or as New York winemakers put it more felicitously in calling cards they leave at restaurants: "The meal was great . . . but where's the New York wine?"

Vineyards are in bloom and more wineries than ever - at least 150 - are busy making wine across New York in greater quantity and surprising quality, quality worth saving for 10 years and spending $20, $30 or more.

That's a big change from 20 years ago when New York's wine renaissance was just beginning and the wines were heavy, too-sweet hybrids or feeble imitations of cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, with the only real potential in rieslings and dessert ice wines.

That promise has come true on New York's grape vines and much more. Bordeaux reds, especially cabernet franc and merlot, and chardonnay grow happily from Long Island to the Finger Lakes, and the old cold weather hybrids, from baco noir to seyval blanc, show new polish and refinement.

Not that you would know it from restaurant wine lists or shelves in many New York stores or in Florida.

A few wine stores around Tampa Bay carry one or two of New York's older brands and newer labels.

At Ed's Fine Wines in Safety Harbor, Ed Giancola stocks a large line of Bully Hill, the winery with the hand-painted scrawled labels started 40 years ago by wine maverick Walter Taylor. Pic-Pac Liquors in St. Petersburg and West Palm Wines in Tampa prefer Wolffer, a Long Island winery whose merlots can fetch $30.

"The problem with Long Island is like Napa. Land costs $200,000," says Jim Sirna of West Palm Wines, who grew up on Long Island where former potato fields can now grow expensive subdivisions as easily as grapes.

Others have none. "I guess we should have more," said Kevin Pelley at Bern's Fine Wine and Spirits in Tampa. "Not all the places in America that can make wine are on the left coast. In France they grow wine from north to south."

Italy does too. California's own wine growing has exploded in the last 20 years, from Mexico to the Oregon border. And across the country, all 50 states muster some wine growing.

Yet the idea persists that only the West Coast and in some very narrow perspectives, only Napa and Sonoma, can make a pleasurable drink from grapes. Winemaking anywhere else, whether in Florida's half dozen wineries or vineyards that brave Minnesota winters, is presumed to be a novelty, hobby, valiant folly or foolish local pride.

In a few cases, like Thomas Jefferson's Virginia and the sturdy German farmstead of Missouri, the pride is now serious and the wines more numerous and even available in restaurants. If diners admire small farmers and value local producers of cheese or bread, why not regional wine?

A tough sell, but New York wineries may have the best chance to make it. The state's wine shelf now covers a complete range from sweet reds, fruit wines, port and meads to late harvest viogniers, chardonnay oaky and not so, rieslings dry and sweet, and a rainbow of reds from pinot noir to husky baco noir.

Like Ohio and Missouri, New York has a long but little known wine history. The Dutch planted grapes when they settled New York, and the Brotherhood Winery on the Hudson boasts a 350-year history of wine. Yes, it's cold and occasionally grapes don't ripen and wineries "chaptalize" and add sugar as in Burgundy and Oregon.

Upstate vineyards grew much of America's jug wine in the first half of the 20th century. Those big bottles of Lake Country White were from the Finger Lakes; similar wines came from Canandaigua, often from native grapes such as Catawba or hybrids such as seyval blanc and Marechal Foch. Meanwhile, many consumers got a more refined taste for the classic French varietals coming from California.

New York's small vineyards started to catch up and mend their ways late and slowly, thanks to a few pioneers, like the German expert Dr. Konstantin Frank and Walter S. Taylor, the black sheep who went back to his family's first winery at Bully Hill. They knew the Finger Lakes could do better.

Over the years they did, first with the hybrid grapes and cold weather varieties like riesling, dessert wines and sparklers. By the 1980s they were joined by ambitious winemakers from Long Island to Lake Erie, eager to make good wines, including all the popular French reds and whites.

With a further burst of energy in the last 10 years, 150 wineries now work with grapes from four main areas. Niagara and the Hudson Valley do best with whites and Finger Lakes and Long Island grow a broad range of grapes including merlot and other Bordeaux varieties.

And New Yorkers, even Manhattanites, are slowly beginning to appreciate what lies out there beyond the Hudson on one side or in "bridge and tunnel country" on the other. The discovery often comes through vineyard visits by wine trail tourists through the Finger Lakes.

New York wines can be found in the city, too. "They're impressive and good value," says sommelier Guy Goldstein, who keeps four or five on his wine list at Nice Matin, and others in a small group of French brasseries with regional French cooking. "I could do just southern regional wines, but there are great wines made all around the world, and in our own back yard."

The best sampling of New York wines, however, is at Vintage New York, two wine shops opened in SoHo and the Upper West Side by Rivendell Winery. It has almost 200 bottles from its label and all its competitors ready for tasting at $1 per wine with hip black-clad young staffers who talk about the wines as passionately as gran cru Burgundy.

Some labels get modern cool and funk such as Red Newt, City Cab and Potato Barn; others have proud traditional names and blends - Wolffer, Pindar Pythagoras, Le Breton and Paumanok.

Many are priced under $15, but the best top $40. That includes Dr. Frank's finest sparkling wine, a 1999 brut, and two merlots from Long Island's top 2000 vintage, an old vines bottling by Lenz and the first release from Rafael made with help from Ch. Margaux.

If that's not enough to win over picky New Yorkers, Vintage New York has one clincher: Because the shop is part of a New York winery, it's open on Sunday, one of the only places to buy wine in the city.

Such a deal.

- Chris Sherman can be reached at 727 893-8585 or by e-mail at sherman@sptimes.com

New York's large-production wines, such as Great Western, Arbor Mist and Widmer, can be found in many supermarkets and liquor stores.

Its finer wines are more scarce in Florida, but Bully Hill, Palmer, Laurel Lake, Pindar and Wolffer are available.

The tastings notes are divided between wines available in Florida, and a second listing of wines tasted at Vintage New York, to give an idea of the state's new range.

Bully Hill Bull Dog Baco, NV (Finger Lakes), $10. Dry red from baco noir has a big fruity nose, with a full taste of cranberries and plums, smoothly textured, light in the mouth and modest clean finish. Pleasant no-shame red.

Bully Hill Fish Market White, NV, $10. There's only a faint bouquet but behind it is a smooth wine like a dry chenin blanc. Melony but with a lemon edge to keep it crisp. An easy drink that would be at home on the Loire.

Pindar Sweet Scarlet, NV (Long Island), $13. Unabashed sugar and fruit, this ripe, red blend of unnamed grapes is surprisingly neither cloying nor overweight. Plum fun with rich texture and a long, smooth finish. A light ruby port you could drink with and after a meal.

Salmon Run Johannisberg riesling 2001 (Finger Lakes), $13. The nose is as honeyed and fruity as gewurztraminer, but this is clean riesling by Dr. Konstantin Frank, light golden color, peachy pear flavors and crisp clean Mosel finish.

REDS

Rivendell City Cab (Finger Lakes), $10. A blend of cabernet sauvignon and franc that's street smart; clipped crisp tones, sharp and smoky. Not for everyone.

Paumanok cabernet sauvignon 2002 (Long Island), $20. Rich with ripe berry flavors, strong tannins and a buttery milk chocolate texture. New York cabernet sauvignon comes true.

Rafael merlot 2000 (Long Island), $40. Lots of berries, floral bouquet and smooth texture. A definite effort at a real Bordeaux. Made with Margaux advice; also shows that 2000 was Long Island's best vintage.

Lenz merlot 2000 (Long Island), $60. Heavy with dark fruit and a jammy nose, this is merlot the macho. Strong tannins, hints of cedar and tobacco, this calls for a big steak or a long wait. Not a softie.

McGregor Black Russian 2002 (Finger Lakes), $45. A rare blend of two hearty Russian varietals. Dark colors with tastes of cherry but ultimately thin, salty and sharp in its youth. Keep in mausoleum.

Osprey's Dominion cabernet franc 2000 (Long Island), $17.99. Rich and jammy in taste and aroma with touches of chocolate; silky texture and easy to drink. Great case for New York cab franc.

Schneider Potato Barn Red 2003 (Long Island), $14. Merlot and cabernet franc make a rich plummy red that is as sturdy as old barnwood. Stout-hearted fun.

Pellegrini merlot 2000 (Long Island), $12. Merlot with bite - and a touch of cedar bark too, deep purple fruits and smoky tastes. Earthy stuff worth keeping in the potato barn.

Schneider Le Breton 2002 (Long Island), $20: Cabernet franc like you rarely taste it, lots of cherries, spiced with pepper in a sleek silky body. Rethink your prejudices.

ROSE

Lakewood Abby Rose (Ginger Lakes), $8: All ugly duckling native grapes redeem themselves in a shiny cherry pink that is sweet and crisp. A good time in the sun.

WHITE

Chateau Frank Brut 1999 (Finger Lakes), $28. This will surprise you, a big toasty bottle of bubbly that's easy on the tongue with a slight touch of sweetness and fine finish. Close to Champagne and way ahead of New York's $5 sparklers.

Clinton Seyval Blanc 2003 (Hudson Valley), $16. A white that gets no respect turns out to have class and approachability, crisp tart and lemony. Twice the wine pinot grigio is.

Peconic Bay La Barrique chardonnay 2001 (Long Island), $18. A big lush chard full of fruit and toasty nuts. Not an imitation.

Hunt Country Late Harvest vignole 2002 (Finger Lakes), $20. Another forgotten grape turns out to have as much aroma and flavor as muscat: peach at first and then ripe pineapple in a lovely round after-dinner drink.

Rivendell dry riesling 2004 (Finger Lakes), $16. Very dry and crisp, more like a wine from Alsace or a sharp sauvignon blanc, but flavors of peach, apple and lime with a spritzy edge.

[Last modified May 17, 2005, 09:41:05]