Author Archives: Jessie C.

Martha Clara Vineyard – Jessie Chen

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The vineyard that I went to was Martha Clara Vineyard, which is located in 6025 Sound Ave, Riverhead. I went there with my friends and their parents.

This is me in front of the Martha Clara Vineyard sign.

Right when we enter building, I saw how beautiful the inside is. One side of the building is a gift shop area, whereas the other side is where they sell their wines. The gift shop reminded me of Autumn and it seems very homey.

This is the entrance of the building.

This is the gift shop side.

The gift shop is selling many items related to wine.

Books are displayed near the entrance door

One of the wine displayed in the gift shop

We explained to the worker that we emailed beforehand before visiting. One of the employee named Margaret decided to give us a little tour and told us the history behind this vineyard.

The people from left to right are Irene, me, Margaret, and Tiffany.

Margaret explained that Martha Clara Vineyard was first owned by the Entenmann’s family (the pastry company), who were planning to open the place for horses. However, they noticed the vines growing in their land so they changed it to a vineyard. The owner, Robert Entenmann decided to name the vineyard after his mother. Thus, this place was named Martha Clara Vineyard. Afterwards, they sold the place to the Rivero Gonzalez, a Mexican family.

As Margaret continued to guide us to the building, we saw a wine tasting area and an upstairs to where guests can taste their wine privately. It also cost money to do wine tasting.

Tasting counters and area

Tasting counter

A private wine tasting room that is upstairs

As we continued further in, we saw a dining room and an outdoor chilling area to drink wine.

A sign in front of the dining room

The dining room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guests can chill outside with their wine

The back side of the building along with chairs and tables for guests to hang out in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Margaret lead us outside, she provided us information about the vineyard. She mentioned that they have 200 acres in total, where 100 is used on the vineyard. She also mentioned the soil they grow their vines in is sandy loam. Since they are surrounded by water, the Peconic Bay and Atlantic Ocean keeps the temperature steady. According to their website, “temperatures in the area are controlled by seabreezes that aerate the vineyards” (Martha Clara Vineyards, 2015). They have a maritime climate. Their fall are warmer as well, which helps avoid frost in the winter. She warned us to not go near where the vines are. However, we can look at it in a far distance. When we asked her where the equipment or brewery is, she told us that it is 2 miles away in another location called Premium Wine Group.

*An interesting advice that Margaret gave us when we asked how she became successful is to not have a boyfriend because they will get in your way.

There are Peach trees and sunflower fields.

There is a stop sign to warn us to stay away from the vines.

This is a zoomed in picture of the grape vines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After looking at the vines, we decided to go back into the building to purchase wine. Margaret told us that Long island wine prices are higher than other places. Although they are more expensive, my friend’s father still bought some bottles for the hell of it. As we looked at the wine, we saw awards and medal plates hanging on the bottles. This tells us that, their wines are good. There are also signs that listed the dryness of the wine to how sweet they are. The signs also listed if they are aged or fermented in oat barrels along with the percentage of the grape varieties.

This is the cashier counter

Wines that are stacked nicely to be sold. The 2015 Solstice Rose wine are 40% off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medals on the wine bottles

The sign tells if the wine is aged or fermented in an oat barrel along with the grape variety. The sweetness level is also shown.

After leaving the vineyard, we went to visit the Premium Wine Group. Right when we arrived there, we only saw the tasting room. We asked an employee where the production and their equipment are. They told us that they do their productions and have their equipment in another location called Jamesport. We didn’t know where that is nor do we have enough time to go, so we left afterwards.

This is the Premium Wine Group building

Entrance to the tasting room

Inside the tasting room

Since we didn’t see any production facility nor find any equipment that was used to make their wine, I researched a bit about it. In the video, Fermentation – MCV Farm News Bulletin, Juan Micieli- Martinez, a winemaker stated that they have picked “Pinot Grigio, Gewurztraminer. Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling” for their white wine and “Pinot Noir and Merlot for Rose” (Martha Clara Vineyards, 2017). He also mentioned that they do hand and machine picking and mixed them up, resulting “lower average brix levels” (Martha Clara Vineyards, 2017) for taste. He said that for white wine, they put the fruit in a “distend and put into the press. While in the press, the grapes are gently squeezed. The juice then falls into the press tray where it is collected into a receiving tank. The juice is then chilled and allowed to settle for a short period of time. The clean juice is transferred to another tank. Once transferred, heat is lightly applied to the tank to warm the juice to about 55 to 60 degrees. At this temperature the yeast is hydrated and then added to the tank” (Martha Clara Vineyards, 2017). According to the video, they use steel tanks and press trays as their equipment.

Juices are being pumped into the receiving tank. This is taken from the video, Fermentation – MCV Farm News Bulletin

This is the steel tanks taken from the video, Fermentation – MCV Farm News Bulletin

In another video called Red Grapes – MCV Farm News Bulletin, Juan Micieli- Martinez mentioned that “Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, these two varietals takes the longest of time to ripen” (Martha Clara Vineyards, 2017). He also mentioned that red wines are harvested by hands and machines and are destemmed to tanks with their seeds and skins. The wine gets their tannin from the whole grape. After fermentation, they drain the tank and transfer the skin to the press. After pressing, they transfer the wine to a barrel and added bacteria for second fermentation. This softens their red wines.

The grapes are being pressed in the tank for red wine. This is taken from the video, Red Grapes – MCV Farm News Bulletin

Reference

Martha Clara Vineyards. (2015). ABOUT US. Retrieved from http://www.marthaclaravineyards.com/about.php

[Martha Clara Vineyards]. (2017, October 5, 2017). Fermentation – MCV Farm News Bulletin [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKNCQ4sRlas

[Martha Clara Vineyards]. (2017, October 19, 2017). Red Grapes – MCV Farm News Bulletin [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n_HiiMEwF8

Heights Chateau – Jessie Chen

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I have actually visited two retail wine shops with my friends. However, I will mainly focus on one, which is Heights Chateau.

This is me in front of the Heights Chateau. Don’t mind Irene’s face on the side.

Heights Chateau is located in 123 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn. It takes a couple of minutes to walk from the school to get to this retail store. It has very good reviews online and the employees spoke politely to me on the phone when I gave them a call for an interview. When I first arrived in the retail store, I was surprised by how nice the placed looked with rock music being played. The beverages are organized neatly by their country and regions. An employee named Dave greeted me and answered all of my questions that I had for him. He included interesting information about Heights Chateau. Dave told me that Heights Chateau used to be located in another place, but they moved here for more space. Currently 15 staff members are working here. Dave also mentioned that the younger crowds of their customers prefer American wines, while the older crowds prefer France wine and Scotch whiskey. The older crowd prefers their alcohol on the sweeter side. In the back of the store, there is a tasting table for customers. Dave commented that people who are planning events usually go to the back to taste wines so they can use it for those events. After interviewing Dave, he allowed us to look around the store.

This was displayed in front of the counter. The sign recommended which alcohol to try/buy.

The wines are organized by their countries and regions. Shown above is France wine.

Shown above are wines from Rhone Valley.

Here are the questions that I asked Dave:

Which wine did you sell the most? Like what is the most popular wine you are selling?

“I can’t think of the most popular wine on top the of my head, but the cheapest and most popular bottle sold is the $7 Astica Malbec wine.”

What wine is your all time favorite? Like what wine do you recommend?

“My favorite wine is from Italy.” (After saying that, Dave showed me the wine)

Dave’s favorite wine from Italy.

 

How would you guys compare your prices to other retail stores?

“I consider our prices to be good pricing. We have many loyal customers who help us spread our popularity by talking about our store to their friends and acquaintances.”

Does your staff taste every wine in the store?

“Our staff tried most of the wines and whiskey.”

Where do you buy your wine?

“We actually buy our wine from a lot of places. The ones that I could think off of my head are Opici, Winebow, and Wine Universe.”

 

These are $13 wines from Marlborough, New Zealand. The vintage year is 2017 and the grape variety of this wine is Sauvignon Blanc. The producer is the Babich.

Closer look of the New Zealand wine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are $14 sparkling rose wines from France. The producer is Rene Briand. The vintage was not mentioned nor was the region. This is also mentioned to be brut rose (dry).

 

This is the shelf for dessert wines.

This is the shelf for Sake. It is located across from the dessert wine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a $67 red wine from Rhone Valley, France. The producer is Domaine Louis Clerc and the vintage year is 2010. The grape variety of this wine is 100% Syrah.

Closer look to the $67 red wine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are maps of regions shown next to wine bottles. The maps show regions and appellations of those regions. Doing this can teach customers where their wines come from and how the regions look like.

Overall, I had a great time and learned a lot from this store. The employees are polite and I gained connections from this place. Once I turn 21, I would definitely come back and buy alcohol from this place.

The second retail store I went to was Gnarly Wines and Spirits located in 350 Myrtle Avenue. I wasn’t too fond of this place since their customer service were not so great. My friends called and made an appointment for an interview for this place, but the employees forgot and acted as if we were a nuisance. They acted as if they wanted us to hurry up and leave. The employee didn’t really know how to answer our questions. In my opinion, the only good thing about this place are the varieties of the wine and how there are descriptions about the wines near the bottles. Those descriptions are useful and interesting. Heights Chateau didn’t have any description of their wines near their bottles so maybe they should do the same thing so people can understand their wines more.

This is a $27.50 Apricot liqueur from Austria.

This description explains information about the Apricot liqueur. This is considered a “shelf talker” that explained how treasured the fruit apricots are. It explained how Austria has an annual summer fest dedicated to the fruit.