Author Archives: Reena Liang

Shinn Estate Vineyard – Reena

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I visited Shinn Estate Vineyard on April 11th with Sharan and one of his friend, which the day we didn’t have Wednesday schedule. This vineyard located at 2000 Oregon Rd, Mattituck in Long Island. It was a family-owned vineyard which just purchased by Randy & Barbara Frankel in 2017. It took us at least two hours’ drive to get there. They were very welcoming and friendly when we got there. The staff pointed us the direction to the Tasting room. But we didn’t get a tour because their Barrel Tours only offer on Saturdays & Sundays at 1:30 pm. And they said they could provide a private tour which cost $50 per person. Therefore, we decided to walk around by ourselves. The ladies in the tasting room gave us a self-tour booklet with the map of their vineyard.

It was still freezing in April, so all the vines were still sleeping. These are the equipment they put outside. But because we didn’t have a tourist to explain everything, what I could identify were the French oak Barrels, Fruit Presses, and Stainless-steel Wine Tanks. 

The vineyard was big, we walked in the farm, and we couldn’t identify what grape varieties they planted there until we saw a man who was painting the mark on the stakes. His name is Joe, and he was a staff who worked for this vineyard about 18 years. He said they have mix vines planted here, both blanc and noir grape varieties, include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Pinot blanc which has most planted amount. He asked us ” Do you know why we leave four canes for one grapevine?” And then he explained that, because of the uncertainty, they need to leave two extra to check and see which cane will grow better in case they can replace. He also told us they mostly use the machine to harvest, but he personally prefers the hand harvest. I can feel his passion, he loves his job and enjoys to work here.

We didn’t have a chance to look at the place that they make and store wine. We walked around by the farm and got back to the tasting room. The tasting room is small but delicate. It’s a home feel place which can make people feel relax and comfortable.

The wine tasting for four wine is 15 dollar. And we ordered a cheese plate with it. They provided 5 Whites, 2 Rosés, and 4 Red wines in total. I can see on the menu that not all the grapes are from their vineyard. The knowledge of tasting room personnel was pretty good. They asked us what kind of wine we like, the flavor and the mouthfeel and then they recommended which wine each of us to taste. I chose the 2013 Sparking Brut, 2016 Riesling, 2016 Rose Hill Rosé and the 2015 Estate Merlot. The Sparkling wine made by 100% Chardonnay which used Methode Champanoise. It has pale yellow color and a nice med-high acidity. I haven’t learned sparkling wine at the time I been there, so I want to try something I never taste before. The grapes of 2016 Riesling was from the Robert Schreiber Vineyard. The light and crisp 2016 Rose Hill Rosé was made by 95% Merlot.

Overall, my experience in Shinn Estate Vineyard was very impressed. Unfortunately, we didn’t go there at the right time. I think it will be much better to have a tour in summer and take a look at the growing vines. I will recommend this vineyard to everyone. The staffs are very friendly and knowledgeable. You will learn a lot from them. They also have Farmhouse Inn which you can stay overnight. But don’t forget to make a reservation before you go, therefore you will not miss any event.

References

https://shinnestatevineyards.com/about/

https://vinepair.com/articles/why-did-shinn-estate-vineyards-sell/

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/dining/17pour.html

Astor Wine & Spirits

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After the end of the hard study this week, I visited two wine retail stores on Friday, the Astor and the Flatiron. I did some online research about both of them, but I will focus on Astor. Astor Wine & Spirits is a great place to purchase wines and to learn about wines. Because this store has a lot of categories of wines, especially for the French Wine lover. Astor is more focused on French wines, so they have the separate shelves of different regions in France. They also have wines from different countries. Such as Italy, Germany(doesn’t have an independent self), Spain, Cava, Greece, California, New York, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Argentina. By reading these “Shelf Talkers” you will learn some interesting facts about the country.

I like the way they organized the wines and provided a lot of information on the shelf because this place is so big, which means they won’t have enough staff available for all customer. And the customers can read and desire which wine they will like to purchase.

Except for the information tag of the wine, some of them will have “staff pick” next to it. This card explains to the customer why they personally recommend this wine.

I’m glad to have a chance to talk to Ms. Laura Atbashian, she is the wine buyer assistant, very friendly and knowledgeable. She showed me the best seller shelf which they put the wines that are popular.

Best Value Red Wine

Best Value White Wine

I asked Ms. Atbashian about how they store certain wines, she said the room temperature in their store should be kept at 65°F, which was the temperature for most of the wines. And they have a row of refrigerators for Japanese Sake and others. And the temperature control room which controls the temperature at 55°F for the expansive wines and the wines need to stay at the particular temperature.                       

In this temperature control room, you can find the high-quality wines, low sulfur and no sulfur wines included. Those wines that place on the wall are the most expensive wines in the store.

 

 

She also told me how to store the opened bottles, the most important thing is to keep the oxygen out and don’t leave the opened bottles of wines for more than 3 days. And then she showed me how they store the opened bottles for the guest tasting event.

Ms. Atbashian told me she developed her wine knowledge from the WSET course, it is a 10 weeks course to study wine which she could go to different countries to taste and learn about different wines. And she also enjoys to work in Astor and keeps developing her knowledge by tasting wines in their store.

These are some wines from the countries we haven’t learned.

Overall, I enjoyed this experience to visit Astor, it expanded my vision and knowledge about wines.