Author Archives: Johanna

Posted on by
2

Visit to Pindar Winery

Picture of their vineyard

For my wine and beverage class, I decided to visit a winery called Pindar. This winery is located in the heart of North Fork wine country, about 90 miles east of Manhattan. Because I went on a Monday early in the morning, there was no much traffic and it took me about 1:30-2hrs to get there. Public transportation does not take you there for which I had to ask my uncle to take me there.

Initially, I was looking to visit Brotherhood winery. However, I could not go there because I work and study, both full time. Therefore, my schedule only allowed me to request off on a Monday which is the day Brotherhood winery closes. For this reason, I had to look for an alternative winery. Then, I found Pindar winery, which I thought it could be interesting due to the fact that this is a family owned business and it is Long Island’s best-known wine producer. Furthermore, I was even more impressed when I saw all the medals they won.

These are the multiple medals they won. This is display before entering their tasting room as soon as you enter the winery

This winery was founded in 1979 with Dr. Herodotus “Dan” Damianos, who helped to create the winemaking industry on Long Island in the early 1980’s. They started with 30 acres of farmland and now they have over 500 acres. This winery continues to be owned and operated by the Damiano’s family.

During my visit to the vineyard, I was impressed by the size of the winery. Of course, 500 acres is a big number, but once I got there it was, the vineyard looks like it has no ending part. This winery has a tasting room together with a wine shop, a production facility and the vineyard.

I visited the winery on March 26th and unfortunately, because it was March I was advised they do not offer any wine tasting so early in the year. However, the personnel of the winery, John, still welcomed me to see the wine tasting room, the vineyard and the outside of the production facility because the facility is open to see it inside only with the tours.

This is the Production facility

Entrance of tasting room

The tasting room can accommodate 3,000 guests. The tasting-room light bulbs are efficient, compact fluorescents, tasting sheets are recycled, and tasting glasses are washed in a modern, high-efficiency dishwasher that uses a fraction of the water a conventional dishwasher does.

This is a picture of the tasting room with the inside seating area

This is an outside deck which is still part/attached to the tasting room

The employee, John, mentioned when they have wine tasting, the regular price for 5 choices of wines from the menu they provide is only twelve dollars, which I found it very reasonable.

This is a picture of the menu showing the wines and blends they sell in bottles and offer in the tasting bar when there is a tasting tour.

About the employee, I have to say he was knowledgeable and he provided me with some pamphlets and reinforced the information I saw it in their website before my visit. For instance, he reconfirmed in the vineyard, they grow 17 varieties of grapes and about 23 together with blends varietals. Their maritime climate helps them to grow different grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Riesling, Chardonnay and more. Of course as it was March, it was still cold and a little windy.

In terms of vinification, he indicated for fermentation they have both oak barrels and stainless steel tanks.

Oak barrels I could see on this winery

Stain Steel tanks

Moreover, even though, the process in all long island wineries is about the same, he pointed out their Champagne process can outstand comparing to other wineries. Their Champagne differentiate them from others because they utilize the classic method “Champenoise” and they use 100% Pinot Meunier grapes. In addition, this Champagne is cellared on its own lees.

This is their Champagne. On this case, I used the picture from their website because the one I took was note clear

Furthermore, they have a limited production call Dan’s collection. Their Dan’s Signature Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are both made in a reserve style, using handpicked grapes and aged in American oak.

The employee, had a good customer service skill and he said he had 7 years of experience in this winery and it took him about two to three years until he started developing his palate to distinguish wines. This reinforced what my professor mentioned in class and the employee reconfirmed “the more you taste a wine, the more you develop your taste”.

This winery produces 70,000 cases of wine a year, making them the largest vineyard on Long Island. Theyir selection of wines includes wine from bold red blends, to steel fermented, fruit-forward whites.

Sustainable agriculture is used, from the vineyards to the tasting rooms. For this reason, the organic waste in this winery is being returned to the earth instead of wasted in landfills. They are pioneers in the movement away from chemical fertilizers and pesticides that benefits both grapes and the community. They utilize a geothermal heating and cooling system for its wine-making tanks -a zero-emissions system that reduces the use of fossil fuels.

Throughout this unique experience, I would certainly recommend everyone to visit a vineyard and I would definitely want to come back for the wine tasting tour. After my visit, I realized sometimes we ignored many great and interesting places that we have within few a hours away. Like in this case, this winery is only about 1:30-2hrs from New York, but once you get there you feel like in a completely different place. This winery has great things to offer in addition to their wines, such as, their production facility and vineyard itself. Anyone can be impressed by the size of this winery, which gives a contrasting view from the city and it is worth the visit.

Reference:

Pindar Vineyards. (n.d.). Pindar Vineyards. Retrieved on March 20, 2018 from https://www.pindar.net/

Johanna Ortiz- Retail Wine shop visit

Posted on by
5

For this project, I decided to visit a retail wine store called Heights Chateau. This store is located in Brooklyn on Atlantic Avenue, about 15-20 minutes walking distance from New York City College of Technology. About the location, I have to say that even though I am not good at finding places, this was not hard to find it at all. From the outside, I was able to recognize the store immediately by their big sign displaying their name. Furthermore, outside I noticed they have an extra post stand promoting future wine tasting, but later they explained they also use it for any specials and promotions they always have. Moreover, the store uses their two big glass windows to display and promote their wines. In this way, any one passing by the store will be able to see some wines from the outside engaging future customers to go inside and buy it. In fact, the sales person with whom I spoke “Chis” mentioned they have many local customers who at the beginning just stare in the windows, but later will proceed to enter and end up buying.

I have to point out that, as soon as I walked into the store, the sales person, Chris, was very attentive and answered my questions. Then, when I was inside enter the store, it impressed me the amount of wines they possess, over two thousand wines, which I did not expect at all. In addition, about the ambient itself, I had the impression of a cozy store with a moderate low light and the wooden shelves used for display work in accordance with the store design making it feel like a wine storage more than a regular retail store.

The temperature in the store ranges from 60 to 68 degrees, but especially during summer, they make sure the temperate is 60 degrees inside to maintain the wines. Nevertheless, their cellar, which I was not able to see because the store was busy, is kept at 37-55 degrees. At the same time, when I realized they had a mini refrigerator, I questioned the employee if that was because those wines needed to be cold, but he explained that is not the case. They just have it there for guest convenience. As they experienced in the past, mainly with local

Picture of the store lay out. The person on the right side is Chris the employee who assisted me

customers, sometimes they prefer their wines to be cold. For instance, they know champagne is popular requested to be chilled. Besides, they will use the refrigerator during and for wine tasting. In this way, the wines offer during wine tasting will be offered to be cold and ready for immediate consumption if needed. At the same time, the employee of the store explained me that in general, the store organizes their wines by countries, regions and varieties such as red, white, rose and sparkling, which reminds me the same way we study w

Label for France showing the name of the region Loire

ine in our class, starting by regions. However, he clarified when it comes to Italy it is a little different and they did not put the names of the regions. Instead, they just mention North or South and organize it on this way to make it easier for their customers.

This is how the labels are and how Italy shows “North” instead of the exact region

On the other hand, I did notice that in some parts, few labels were a little bit loose or for example one that was a dessert wine was even on the side hanging in the middle of nowhere exactly and I only saw the map of the region in France, but not for other places. Of course, later the employee explained they took care of France and add the region map as this is the country that sells more in the store, together with wines from California in the US and Italy.

This is a picture of a wine from Bourdeaux – France. The producer is Château Les Arromans – Entre-Deux-Mers with vintage date 2016. It has an equal blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. This is a white wine with great aromatic intensity. Notes of citrus jump from the glass, and the wine is round on the palate, with flavors of dried fruits, almonds, and honey

This is a picture of a Sparkling Wine from Veneto Italy. The producer is call Hi and this is made with the grape Glera. On the label it mentions it is extra dry. However, this aromatic sparkling wine have bright notes of green apple, citrus fruit, peach, lemongrass and acacia blossom that lead to crisp, refreshing acidity and a lovely, mineral-laden finish

 

This is a wine from Slovenia we did not study in class. I thought it was interesting to see right in the front of the label that it describes itself as dry and have the local language as well as the translation in English. The producer name is Kobal. Vintage year is 2016. This wine is made with Sauvignon Blanc and has the characteristic aromas of passionfruit, gooseberry and grapefruit, and is richly flavored, with a long aftertaste

Picture of the refrigerator to satisfy guest demands and for wine tasting

When I asked about the average price per bottle, the employer advised it ranges from 10 to 15 dollars and they have free delivery not only in Brooklyn, but also in Manhattan and Queens. Consequently, when I asked the employer for a recommendation for a red wine, of which region he will consider to offer for someone that is not a wine drinker, he suggested a wine from Burgundy in France, Pinot Noir. When I noticed how knowledgeable he was, I asked how he started in the wine industry. He explained he used to have older friends since he was younger, his friends had a lot of knowledge about wine, and one of them even had a vineyard. Then, after he start getting information from his friends he became interested in wines and with the years he started studying it himself and developing his palate by assisting to several wine tasting with his friends who will keep teaching him.

Finally, after this experience and by taking now a wine class, I changed my perspective about wine retail stores because I was amazed first by the knowledge acquired by the people in the store. Not to mention, I will never imagine how much wines are stored and sell it on a daily basis and how organization, it’s a key to this kind of business in order to differentiate and display not only the variety of wines, but also the different region for customer’s convenience.

https://www.heightschateau.com