For this assignment I decided to stay close to home and go just about an hour and a half away from my area in the Bronx to a little upstate to visit Millbrook Vineyard &Winery located in the Hudson Valley ava. This location was once a dairy farm, which in turn has provided well nourished soil for a better product. The Vineyard has been in production since the late 70’s and its first vintage was 1985 putting them in their 30th year of producing award winning wines. Through the years they’ve had exceptional wines and have always been proud of their work. But won double gold metals for the very first time on their Dry Riesling which means that it wasn’t a majority win, it was an all across the board win. Finally beating out the multiple time winner in the “Finger Lakes” area.

Double Gold Metal winning Dry Riesling along with souvenir glasses.

John Dyson, former Commissioner of Commerce for the state of New York, is the proprietor of this facility, and not only should he be known for his great production of wine but many might not know that he is responsible for a lot of vineyard setups. His Goblet Trellis design was patent in April 19, 1988 and is the setup/arrangement of the vines grown at Millbrook. It is a design to allow more air flow to the vines, grapes and leaves in the field. They end up looking like a curved “V”. At Millbrook they practice no fertilization and no irrigation but at times do use some fungicide. 

Patent of the Goblet Trellis and actually image of a vine row at the Millbrook estate

As a gift from the winery, the tasting glasses which say “I Love NY” on one side and then has the Millbrook name and design on the other were ours to keep. According to our director of the wine tasting and tour (Jean), the reason for the “I Love NY” being on the glass is that Millbrook Winery and Vineyard had just been featured on the latest “I Love NY” commercial featuring Bobby Flay. Through out our tasting of 6 wines, Jean was very knowledgeable about the history of each grape and its tasting and pairings as well as the significance the grape vine itself had with the Millbrook facility. The different grapes grown at Millbrook are Chardonnay, Tocai Friulano, Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and Traminette.

The last remaining grapes of this years harvest.

After our tasting or both wines and olive oil, we were given a tour of the actually facility. We got to get an up close look at they’re way of stacking the oak barrels and where they set the stainless steel tanks. Which are all actually located in what use to be the barn house of the former dairy farm. It was quite an experience to be able to see where everything gets done and actually understand the process the workers go through. We were explained how all grapes are hand picked and that the fermentation processes they put their grapes through can vary from 6 to 20 months. The skins from their white grapes are composted in the back of their field and the red skins are kept with the juice from the grapes to add color and tannin. On a shelf there were bottles that actually showed the change in the juice from sitting with the skins from day one to day two and the change is quite intense. According to Jean, the grapes are harvested at a certain sugar level call Brix and is anywhere from 20-24%. We were able to see up close the tartaric acid that comes into play due to cold stabilization in white wine. Millbrook vineyards and Winery takes a step to remove these particles and then is sent to a spice company and turned into cream or tartar.

The winery uses American oak ( $800 each) which give tropical notes and French oak ($1500 each) which give earthy notes. Each 60 gallons is the equivalent to 300 bottles of wine. We also got to see a barrel going through Malolactic Fermentation through a glass topped oak barrel. I will definitely be visiting Millbrook Vineyards and Winery again, and I am glad I got to experience this tasting and tour.

Stainless Steel tanks and Oak barrels used at Millbrook

Malolactic Fermentation in Oak barrel

life cycle of vines

Stopper that allows carbon dioxide out of barrel but nothing else in or out.

On the left is the current image of the vineyard. On the right is the dairy farm.

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I visited the Sand Castle winery in Erwinna, Pennsylvania. I took a tour and tasted all their wines. The employee was very knowledgeable and answered all my questions.

The winery was established by two brothers who emigrated from Slovakia in 1969. They bought the property in 1974 and produced their first bottle of wine in 1988.

The vines come from New York State. There are 62,000 vines, some of which are 30 years old. The soil is mostly clay. The vineyard is surrounded by the Delaware River. The vines grow from north to south and are 8-9 feet apart to prevent shadowing. The vineyard basically maintains itself because the wind from the Pocono Mountains kills the mold. From December through May, the winemakers prune by hand. They use a harvester from 1949 but only for white grapes because Pinot Noir would get ruined. Therefore red grapes are harvested by hand. They also use a crusher “Lucy” which transports the juice to the cellar.

There are two white and two red wine varieties grown at Sand Castle – Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Pinot Noir. They also make ‘cuvee’ – white wine soaked with red skins. They use French oak barrels. Wine ferments in steel for 4-6 years or barrels for 2 years. They top the barrels off every two months.

After I took a tour of the vineyard and winery, I tasted all the wines on their list. I especially enjoyed (and purchased) these unique wines:

• Claret – the personnel call it “a breakfast wine”, they recommend mixing one bottle with one sliced orange and serve it with pancakes
• Cuvee Blush – the color comes from Cabernet skin, it’s slightly sweet and pairs well with Thai or Mexican food
• Johannisberg Riesling Late Harvest – select harvest from Botrytis grapes, superb balance of acidity and sweetness, pairs well with cheesecake
• Alpine Spice – Chardonnay and Riesling with spices, can be served warm in winter or on ice in summer, tastes great with vanilla ice cream or with a touch of Bacardi

www.sandcastlewinery.com

The lobby

The vineyard

The cellar

The crusher “Lucy”

The harvester

The front desk

For this assignment I decided to go to Bedell Cellars located in North Fork of Long Island. Before I went to the Vineyard I did a little bit of research on the history of the vineyard and I found very interested things about the vineyard and the team that runs this beautiful place. The Vineyard is 30 years old and is owned by Michael Lynn and his family.  Lynn is a film producer and also responsible for creating the labels for their wine. Another members of the team are Rich Olsen Harwich who is the winemaker and Molly Deegan she is the SVP Marketing & sales Development, Wine club Director. She has over 18 years of experience in marketing. Before she started working on Bedell Cellars she used to be work for Cosmopolitan Magazine. I also have to mention that in my visit to the Vineyard I had the pleasure of meeting Deegan, she welcome me very nicely and since I looked a little lost she directed me where I needed to go.

They only do tours on weekends and since I did my visit on a week day there was no tour available for me, but Lisa an employee at the tasting room was kind enough to answer my questions and give me more details about the Vineyard. She told me that they grow many different grapes: Malbec, chardonnay, Syrah, sauvignon Blanc, merlot, gewürztraminer, cybernetic franc, and viognier. Unfortunately I couldn’t see the grapes in the vine because they had just harvested the day before and for that reason too I couldn’t talked to the winemaker because he was very busy making the wine, but I asked Lisa and she was able to answer. I asked her what makes their wine so special and she told me a couple of things that surprised me. She said that the Vineyard was under the Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing and I asked her what does that mean. She said that sustainable viticulture is a concept. This concept is composed of three parts environmental Stewardship, Social Equity and Economic Viability.  This concept basically teaches winemakers how to plant quality grapes without compromising the ecosystem. This program is been working for almost 40 years and their goal is to produce high quality fruit and take care of the planet at the same time. Their slogan is basically that you don’t have to damage you ecosystem to make something good.

While walking around the place I saw the tanks were they keep the wine and she told me that they fermented all of their wines in steel tanks like the viognier and sauvignon Blanc. With a few exceptions like chardonnay which is fermented on French oak barrels. The most planted grapes are cabernet and merlot, chardonnay is one of the oldest vine they have which was planted on 1980. After that is viognier which was planted in 1994. In this vineyard wines are fermented from six to eight months in barrels. That particular area of Long Island has a maritime climate and it rains a lot. I also took some pictures of the beautiful 2 floor tasting room they have. For me this assignment was very fun because I felt like I was a tourist in my own city and I will try to plan a trip to Bedell Cellar again so I can have a tour.

Citation

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lisustainablewine.org/

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2015, from http://www.bedellcellars.com/

Long Island Wine Country | Wineries, Events, Shopping, Accommodations, Dining, Attractions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.liwines.com/

backyard with a view to the vines

vines

vines

backyard

vines

barrels

entrance

tasting room

tasting room

second floor of tasting room

I went to Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery, Visitor Center, and Restaurant, which located at 320 14 Grist Mill Lane, Gardiner, NY 12525 for my winery and analysis blog assignment. We drive for about 2 hours to attend this winery.

Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery is a whiskey winery that first used the distillation technology in the US. This winery use fruits and grains as raw materials, and without pigmented and flavors, it taste different with scotch whiskey. The whiskey make by Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery are contains a lot of raw materials, the wealth of raw materials makes the wine taste more mellow.

Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery is co-operation by Ralph J. Erenzo and his partner Brian Lee. Ralph J. Erenzo established the first distillery in 2001. But the winery was not operating very well until Brian Lee join in on 2004. Now, Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery is developing into a winery that can brewing whiskey, vodka and gin, and brandy instead of the one production line at the beginning.

Brandy in France is brewing with grapes but in this winery is brewing with apple. The raw materials of Scotch whiskey are wheat, yeast and water. But the special climate and the soil characteristics of the land make the harvest of the corn is more than the wheat, therefore the raw material of the whiskey are use the corn instead the wheat.

Fermentation after heated the polenta, the starch into the corn will change into the simple sugars. After fermentation for 4-5 days, it will have 10% of alcohol and then put them inside the distillation apparatus to repeatedly purification. We tasted the liquid that are purify, I feel kind of sweet, and can feel the smell of corn.

Workcited

• “History.” Tuthilltown Spirits RSS. N.p., 06 Dec. 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015
• “Behind the Scenes at Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery in the Hudson Valley.” Behind the Scenes at Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery in the Hudson Valley. ERIN ZIMMER, 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.

– Entrance to the Vineyard

I decided to go to the Shinn Estate Vineyards located in Mattituck, New York for my winery visit assignment because it was conveniently one of the many wineries that was in a closer proximity to my residence. Originally, I was going to take public transportation to get there but it would’ve been too expensive so my mother volunteered to drive me instead. I opted to do a winery tour but could not partake in the wine tasting as I am not of drinking age yet. The winery provided me with a great learning experience yet neither Barbara nor David, the owners of the vineyard was present when I visited which ultimately ruined my time spent at the vineyard. The tour guide that I had was not very patient with me and when I asked him questions about the vineyards such as the grapes grown or the history of the vineyard, he nonchalantly told me that he did not have much knowledge about the vineyard at all. He simply instructed me to use the website to receive the information that I needed. So I continue to walk around the vineyard but was, unfortunately, finished with the tour in about a half hour yet I was still uninformed about the vineyard.

– The Wine Tasting Room

– The Stainless Steel Barrel with a Traditional Oak Barrel Behind It

I later called the vineyard and told them about my uneventful visit and I had finally gotten my question answered over the phone. I forgot to get the woman’s name but she informed me that when the Shinn Estate Vineyards opened, it was the first farm winery to open in Long Island and one of the first to use alternative energy whether solar or wind powered. She described to me that the vineyards houses many grape varieties, the grapes grown are Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, and Malbec. The grapes even naturally have yeast in them that directly help in the production of wine by rapidly improving the fermentation process. She widely talked about the vintage wines that are available despite its specifications; they still have vibrant, fruitful undertones. The vineyard uses reclaimed ancient heartwood pine to age the wine diligently in the cellar. She further explained that the vineyard struggled over the past summer as it was extremely dry for the soil which lead them to irrigate which they usually do not readily do to nourish the vines. She also informed that about the American Viticultural Area (AVA) which was the “North Fork of Long Island and how it must be placed on the label of the bottle, I explained to her how we studied this in our wine class and she was thoroughly intrigued by the methods used in the class.

– The Rows of the Vines

– The Grapes on the Vines

Honestly, this trip surprised me as I couldn’t believe how much I understood the wine terminology that was being used. If I had taken this trip just this past summer, I would’ve been so confused by the beautiful process of wine production. I love that I understand this much information about wine despite not being of drinking age yet. I hope that many other people learn about wine production as it is very interesting and it makes for drinking wine, beer, or spirits to be a better experience as you have a greater understanding of the lengthy process that was endured before it made it into the glass in front of you.

References:

Kolpan, S. (n.d.). Exploring Wine (3rd ed.). Wiley.

Shinn estate vineyard and farmhouse. (2015, November 29). shinn estate vineyard and farmhouse. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from shinn estate vineyard and farmhouse: http://shinnestatevineyards.com

we had a great time

When choosing a vineyard for this project it was very difficult. Long island has so many of them with different agricultures and ways of making there wine. Jason’s vine yard is located on 1785 Main road Jamesport. This vineyard I had hear about from my cousin in which he did his engagement photos at. Jason’s Vineyard was established in 1996. They are producers of old wine making. There vineyard grows French clones of chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and Malbec. This consist of 20 acres of vines, the vines are one by two meter spacing between the vines and rows produces superior fruit.(Jason,1994) The owner has Meritage blends, which consist of merlot, cabernet franc, and cabernet Sauvignon. They are put in French oak to be aged. In this vineyard they have large fermentation rooms with steel tanks. These steel tanks has space to creature the uniqueness of Jason’s wines. When you walk into the tasting room you will approach this built in ship in which you do your wine tasting. You are given a tasting sheet. For $20.00, you are able to taste 8 different wines. This sheet had the food pairing. It also gave you the taste you would most likely get. It also gave you what you would most likely smell. This tasting sheet was very detailed. Made me feel as if I had no reason to taste, they told me everything I had to know. Most people at the end at this time I could tell were not there to experience the tasting. The customers there were more into a social gathering. Wine is one of the most social drink to bring. Which is understandable. On the Left they have a lounging area in which there was live music. This lounge area has windows to see the vineyard and also the animals that are held next to the vineyard. When it comes to the customer service since I went on a Saturday it was packed. They did the best they could, they had only 3 servers. They did not know much about the vineyard but they had good knowledge on what was being served. I would have more servers that had knowledge of the place itself. This vineyard also had varies cheese and crackers. Most customers did not get this meal plan with the wine. It is a great thing to have. They also had varies gifts you can get. For example baskets and cheese boards. The overall analysis of this vineyard is to come on the week days if you are into wine tasting. If you want to be a part of a social event come on the weekends. This vineyard was very beautiful and offers a lot to their customers. I would want better staff to give their customers the knowledge they would get out of the experience. I would go back to this vineyard. I recommend others to as well.

Kolpan, S. (n.d.). Exploring Wine (Third ed.). Wiley.
(n.d.). Retrieved from www.jasonvineyard.com

where we tasted

1785 main road Jamesport

Vines in Jason’s vineyard

Tasting sheet

Vineyard

The vineyard that I traveled all the way to was Head of the Harbor, in Long Island. The destination was Harmony Vineyards, a small vineyard with a small selection of wines, it took awhile due to the long train ride but as the scenery changed from the concrete jungle of New York City seeing the natural beauty of Long Island which is rare in New York City. Going to this vineyard was going to be a new adventure for my friends and I but only being 20 this will be a sober day.

We entered the country home that served as both tasting room and lounge. The tasting room was located on the left side of the house, via a partition. On the counter, there were bottles of the house wines, already opened, but sealed, meant for immediate use. The back wall held a window, that allowed you to see a part of the picnic area outside, and the bottom half of the wall held unopened wine bottles. There were three ladies at the tasting room, working as bartenders. One of the ladies was Ms. Nita Simoes, the tasting room manager. As we introduced ourselves, as well as our purpose for coming there, I could tell that their service carried a sense of genuine hospitality. There was nothing forced in our encounter with them, as they made every guest who walked into the tasting room feel welcome.

As we took a space at the table, we were given menus, which contained a section each for small plates, starters, red wines, and white wines. There were far more red wines than white wines from what I noticed. In order to make the best of the situation, we chose to go with the Flight option three vintages for one low price. Luckily for good friends they drank on my behalf and maybe taking a few sips here and there. Some of the wine they drank and was presented to us were 2011 reserve had notes of citrus, fruits, and pineapple on the nose. The wine itself was bright, clear, had low viscosity, and had a yellow tint to it. On the palate, I could taste no acidity, however it did linger. The wine was fruity due to the pineapple was smooth, very refreshing, and contained hints of citrus like a grapefruit as  the dominant citrus taste. The usual food that a white wine would pair well with would apply here, such as a salad, fish like salmon, and my personal favorite: chicken parmesan. The other wine was a 2009 vintage Bordeaux we had near the end of our visit for tasting, but for the sake of chronological order via vintage year, it seems fitting to discuss it now. The wine appeared to have a bright garnet color, medium viscosity, some room variation, causing a light watery red outer rim. The wine had hints of a smoky oak, dark cherries, a slight hint of granite, and citrus fruits. When we tasted it, the wine lingers on the tongue, being slightly dry yet smooth at the same time. The taste is strong, due to the higher level of alcohol, yet is pleasant to the palate. Once again, a grilled steak, or char broiled burger would be a fitting companion to this lovely wine.

Harmony Vineyards has four acres of land, so their production is actually small, with a production of 750 cases a year. Chardonnay is their main focus, as the red grapes that they grow are cabernet franc, sauvignon, and merlot. Harmony Vineyards donates their profits to charity, which they have a list of in the tasting room. Some of the charities include: Stonybrook foundation, pink crop foundation, NYC and Long Island Harvest. The red wines are aged in French oak barrels, while the white wines are aged in stainless steel barrels. Due to the elevation of the vineyard, which happens to be below sea-level, the growing period is shorter, and they use less drying agents due to that.

If there is one thing I will not forget about Harmony Vineyards, it is the picnic area that they have available. There was a group playing live jazz music that day, as well as tables all around the backyard of the house for wine tasting, and a picnic. There is a path that will allow you to walk next to the grape vines, and reaches all the way to the waterfront. We did actually manage to make it all the way to the beach, which could have used some upkeep. The path itself has been marked via the obvious flattened grass from previous visitors. This was an incredibly enjoyable trip for me, and I would definitely return just to buy a few wine bottles.