Posts Tagged ‘RGNY’

Wines, Wine Experiences and Wine Tools for the Holidays

Celebrating any other milestone always goes better with a good wine. Here are some interesting wines, experiences and gifts to enhance your sipping enjoyment.

WINES FOR THE CURIOUS AND EPICUREAN

Orange Glou

For something less familiar, orange wines offer a distinctively colored wine with a taste that’s all their own. The international collection of wines curated by Orange Glou are skin-contact white wines made from white grapes fermented with the grape skins, producing orange natural wines. Options include three and six bottles monthly or a one-time option for the orange curious.

Tolenas Winery

A dessert wine is a lovely finish to any meal. Tolenas Winery newest is a 100% Zinfandel port, lighter and fruitier than usual due to the 2020 heat spell but still taking advantage of the cool California coastal breezes. A female star in the industry, winemaker Lisa Howard is committed to producing wines without chemicals or additives.

Collection Privée from Francois-Louis Vuitton

If your goal is to be the first in line for unusual experiences and a trip to France won’t happen any time soon, you might want to consider investing in the first edition Bordeaux Collection Privée from Francois-Louis Vuitton, the great, great grandson of Louis Vuitton.  Newly introduced to the United States this winter, the collection reflects the terroir of Bordeaux and the elegance of the Parisian lifestyle with Private Cuvée wines from top châteaux such as Léoville-Poyferré (Saint-Julien), Lascombes (Margaux), Faugères (Saint-Émilion), Beauregard (Pomerol), and Lafaurie-Peraguey (Sauternes). Each comes gorgeously boxed.

Dough Wines

Created with Distinguished Vineyards & Wine Partners, Dough Wines is the first collaborative wine brand from the James Beard Foundation. Dough Wines supports the culinary arts and beverage professions, currently focusing on assisting the Foundation with restaurant recovery, equality in the kitchen and food sustainability. The appellation wines are bundled into three-pack sets: Red Blend Pack, Chardonnay Pack, Pinot Noir Pack, Napa Valley Pack and Best of Napa Valley Pack.

Wines of Sicily

Wines of Sicily is a consortium that works with more than 400 different producers in Sicily who preserve the art of winemaking with sustainable practices. You’ll want to try Nero d’Avola, a versatile wine with an aroma of red floral notes accompanied by flavors of sweet spices and cocoa. Do as the Sicilians do and chill Frappato to bring out its depth and spice and red cherry notes.  For white wine fans, Grillo is a food-friendly blend with citrus blossom and fruity aromas. Lucido (also called Catarrato) pairs well with seafood and veggies with its hints of yellow and green and white flowers and citrus aromas.

Ao Yun

An unusual, stylish wine, Ao Yun (“roaming above the clouds”) is a full-bodied Cabernet blend from the first wine estate in China’s Yunnan province on the foothills of the Himalayas. The 2016 vintage combines Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with notes of sandalwood, Dhofar incense, and crushed strawberries. Ao Yun has partnered with renowned crystal maker Riedel to design an exclusive wine glass for the optimal tasting experience for this Cab blend.

DISTINCTIVE TASTING EXPERIENCES

Macari Vineyards

Macari Vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island takes glamping to a new level of luxury with individual bungalows for a personal wine tasting. Customize your experience with a selection of wines including their popular Cabernet Franc, Dos Aguas red blend, Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé. Add to that a Mediterranean snack spread, your own playlist streamed through a Bluetooth retro radio, comfy throw-covered chairs and sofas and your gang will enjoy a wine experience like no other. The beautiful vineyard is celebrated for its biodynamic approach to winemaking and is run by three generations of the Macari family.

Far Niente family of wines

The Far Niente family of wines from Napa Valley includes some of the finest vineyards in the country.  You can experience all with a variety of three-wine samplers and a pre-arranged virtual wine tasting subscription. The Far Niente range includes Cabernet Sauvignon from Nickel & Nickel, Far Niente and Bella Union; or Chardonnay from Nickel & Nickel and Far Niente. The happy hour experience includes explanations by wine educators, Far Niente family winemakers and wine experts, plus instruction by chefs on how to create perfect wine and meal pairings.

WINE EXPERIENCE ADD-ONS

Quilt Wines

Add a fun touch to stay-at-home entertaining with Quilt Wines’ Puzzle Pack. Along with a selection of wine, you’ll get a limited-edition 500-piece Napa Valley Quilt Wines puzzle. The wine collection gives you a range of white and red wines including rosé, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and the popular Red Blend.

RGNY

You can be your own winemaker with the new blending kit from RGNY, an innovative winery located on Long Island’s North Fork. The kit comes with curated videos, featuring lead winemaker, Lilia Pérez to help guide you through the almost-scientific exercise of blending RGNYs Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The kit also includes a beaker, four carafes of wine for blending and tasting, glasses and tasting note cards.

TaZa

For safe drinking, unbreakable wine glasses are the smart choice if you’re planning to dine outdoors. TaZa’s chic plastic versions mimic the feel of traditional glasses and come in stemmed and stemless to please all preferences. A must for serious wine drinkers, the ArT Wine Preserver will keep an opened bottle of wine fresh for up to 30 days. Using pure argon gas, this smart device displaces oxygen while maintaining taste.

If you still prefer glass, Empire State of Wine has you covered for no-spill drinking. The shop’s Signature NO-SPILL Stemless Wine and Cocktail Glasses feature Lady Liberty herself with each glass a different color so you can remember whose wine is whose. Even if you manage to tip them over, they still won’t spill as they balance to the side.

And lastly, Repour’s wine stoppers utilize oxygen absorption in an easy-to-use wine stopper for lasting wine freshness for up to two months. Although, in all honesty, I don’t know many people who keep an open bottle that long!

Where to Buy Wine in New York City

Here are four of my favorite shops that carry wide varieties of wine and have staff who are far more knowledgeable than I:

Mister Wright

Sherrry-Lehmann

Astor Wines

Empire State of Wine

Empire State of Wine Courtesy of Empire State Wine

Happy Holidays – drink up!

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Touring the North Fork and the Hamptons Wine Trails

It’s a beautiful time to be outdoors, and the vineyards of The North Fork and the Hamptons in New York offer the perfect opportunity for socially distant enjoyment. The vineyards are open for tastings, some by reservation only, and some still offering outdoor seating. The selection of whites, reds and rosés varies, and each has some limited-edition wines on offer. If you discover a new favorite, I advise you to buy some bottles to take home.

The North Fork

Croteaux

Croteaux

For a touch of romance, Croteaux will transport you to Provence in an instant. Off the main drag, away from the other vineyards lining the route from Riverhead to Greenport, Croteaux is a smaller oasis with beautiful grounds and a very private setting for enjoying rosés and nibbles. Rosé is all they produce here, and you can get a flight ranging from white rosé to sparkling that will open your eyes and taste buds to more rosé nuances than you might have known. Tables in the romantic garden are set next to small open-air salon-like rooms and the Tasting Barn.

Kontakosta

Kontakosta

The North Fork’s only waterfront vineyard and one of the area’s most exclusive sits a ways off the main Wine Trail as well. Requiring reservations and an initial booking fee, Kontakosta is in its own league when it comes to vineyards. At the moment, no tastings are available so you’ll need to purchase a bottle, which, together with the price of a glass, can be rather pricy. But, as the adage goes, you get what you pay for. Kontakosta’s white Anemometer  is a crisp blend of viognier and chardonnay that’s perfect with the area’s seafood and befits its maritime location. The setting is gorgeous, you’ll be socially distanced, and where else can you sip your wine and have a view of the bluffs of Long Island Sound?

RGNY

RGNY

The Rivero González family and winemaker Lilia Perez of RGNY have their birth roots in Mexico but their winemaking firmly planted in the North Fork. Set in Riverhead on an expansive plot of land, RGNY offers an exciting option for those looking to expand their wine knowledge. Wines include white merlot, cabernet franc, pinot noir and viognier. But here you’ll find that the tastes and textures might be a bit different from what you know. The pinot noir and cabernet franc, for instance, are unfiltered, creating a nose, color and body that isn’t the expected. Live music is presented outdoors in warmer weather and provides a lively accompaniment for enjoying the vineyard’s artisanal charcuterie and cheese plates. Look for new vintages to come as Perez takes her Bordeaux training and Mexican heritage and mixes it with the terroir of the North Fork to create orange wines in amphora and more.

Pindar Vineyards

Pindar Vineyards

Now in its 40th year, Pindar Vineyards is quite an entity with acres of vineyards and a tasting room and outdoor area as expansive as you’ll find on the North Fork.  Long Island’s most well-known wine producer, Pindar is family-owned and overseen by

Barbara and Pindar Damianos, keeping alive the vision and traditions begun by Barbara’s husband Dan Damianos. As with Duck Walk, labels on Pindar vintages are works of art, and you should spend some time perusing the bottles and cans (yes, they have wine in cans!) as you decide what to sample. The knowledgeable servers will arrange a tasting for you with a range of the vineyard’s whites, reds and rosés.  Ask for recommendations — Pindar grows 17 varieties of grapes, producing some 23 varietals and proprietary blends. On warm weekends, live music will entertain you and there is often an outdoor stand with oysters on the half. A third part of the Pindar empire, Jason’s Vineyard, a few miles away, offers a more intimate setting.

Bedell Cellars

Bedell Cellars

Bedell has matured over its 40 years into a lovely setting for enjoying its red, white and rosé wines. The well-orchestrated vineyard allows small pets so you can bring the extended family to enjoy the gorgeous outdoor setting with live music on select weekends. Popular features are the vineyard’s First Crush wines made with young vines, contrasting with older vintages like the prized oak-aged Musée 2014 (with a label by  Chuck Close) and the 2018 petit verdot. Bedell’s albariño pairs perfectly with their charcuterie and cheese plates. In cooler times, the vineyard’s expansive deck is a welcoming space for tastings and small bites.

The Hamptons

Wölffer Estate Vineyard

Wölffer Estate Vineyard

The premier vineyard on the South Fork, Wölffer Estate Vineyard is a formal affair overseen by winemaker Roman Roth. Thanks to its gorgeous estate, terrace and acres of vineyards, you might think you’ve arrived under the Tuscan sun. The vineyard produces whites, reds, and rosés from its vineyards just a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Tastings are offered outdoors, weather permitting, with reservations. A drive-through rosé truck sells the Wolffer’s pretty Summer in a Bottle and is also located at the vineyard’s casual Wine Stand. You can schedule private tours of the vineyards through the Wine Stand with a small-bite and wine tasting included. Adding to its repertoire, Wölffer also makes ciders and a surprising gin.

Duck Walk Vineyards

Duck Walk Vineyard

With an unobstructed view of the Parrish Museum, Duck Walk Vineyards’ Water Mill location offers a serene alternative to its busier North Fork counterpart. The smaller vineyard is an intimate setting for taking in the beautiful artwork on the labels and the gorgeous landscape while enjoying a tasting of reds, whites and rosés. The family-owned winery is part of the Pindar group. If you time it right, an outdoor seat will let you hear the rehearsals for the Parrish’s Friday night jazz. In warmer months, Duck Walk Hampton and Duck Walk North both present live music, too, on weekends.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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