At first choosing a vineyard to visit was a little difficult to round up until two other classmates and I found a well-known vineyard in upstate called Shinn Estate Vineyards and Farmhouse an ava of the New York region. This place is located in upstate New York and was not till the early 2000’s when Barbara and her husband David decided to move from California to New York and begin their life as winemakers. Knowing that they are originally from California tells a lot about their way of looking at life with an environment conservation mentality.

Before arriving to the vineyard I did a little research about their practices of wine making and one thing that Barbara feels very strong about and comes up in both her website and articles written is that they practice sustainable farming (Shinn estate vineyard and farmhouse, 2015). No harsh chemicals are used when growing the grapes or maintaining the soil and vines health (Shinn estate vineyard and farmhouse, 2015). One thing she mentioned as we did the vineyard walk was that as time has passed from when they first started growing grapes not only has she noticed a pattern of needing to irrigate more throughout the beginning of the season but how the colors of the leaves change now earlier in September than before. Other winemakers around her have asked her why she doesn’t use nitrogen to enhance the green leaves and keep them like that for longer but she responds saying how nature has a mind of its own you don’t want to throw a harsh chemical just to make it look better then have a bad influence on your soil and grape taste. Other practices she invokes within her vineyard are organic farming, biodynamic practices, and perma culture.

While doing the vineyard walk we were a little upset that we were in the middle of harvesting and all the grapes had been picked except a few that were not ripe at the moment of grape picking. In this location they grow red grapes such as merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec, and petite verdo. For white grapes they grow sauvignon blanc, Semillon, pinot blanc, chardonnay and Riesling. Barbara also mentioned that their soil could be related to soils in France Boudreaux.

When walking through the vineyard we were able to find a cluster of grapes that were left behind and lucky they were chardonnay. Before tasting them she informed us about the visual aspect of the grape. As you first look at it they’re dull but when you rub them it gets shinny. What rubbed off when it got shinny was the natural yeast of the grape, which helps enhancing the flavor of the grape during the fermentation process.

A complimentary wine wasting was also part of our vineyard walk that was not as good as I had intended it to be. Not only did our server not know what she was speaking about but the taste for the whites were not pleasing. We had four choices, for mine I started with their Chardonnay, which had buttery notes and I’m sorry, but butter is not a taste I would intentionally drink which is something unique for their wine since it’s a first for me to try a chardonnay as that one. Then I followed with the fruit fruit sauvignon blanc thinking it was going to be better but it was so flat that I could not even identify the tasting notes within. I finally gave up on whites and tried their red blend called nine barrels and tasted pretty nice. Definitely tasted the oak, which it was fermented in, and red berries undertone. My last taste was their merlot and again tasted very delightful.

The trip to this vineyard was very insightful and pleasing. The staff was very welcoming as well as attentive to us coming over from a hospitality program. After visiting this estate I would definitely love to enjoy what others have to offer.

Bibliography

Shinn estate vineyard and farmhouse. (2015, december 1). shinn estate vineyard and farmhouse. Retrieved december 1, 2015, from shinn estate vineyard and farmhouse: http://shinnestatevineyards.com

Winemaker Barbara herself during the vineyard walk through

In this image is the cellar where the oak cask are kept during fermentation

On every oak cask or cart that holds gapes has to contain this sheet showing whats in it, when it was last checked, and temperatures

As we walk into the tasting room the vineyards markets their tours and as well as latest wine creations

This is an image of the steel tanks located outside

Nine barrel wine tasting and table top in tasting room

Trip to Winery

When I decided on what winery to go to I decided to go to Bedell Cellars located at North Folk Long Island. I decided to go with my classmate Gusmary. We had done some research online for several wineries but for some reason this one was the one we wanted to go to because of their availability. We thought about taking the LIRR over there but we realized that it would be too much because after the LIRR we had to take a cab. So we decided on having my father drive us. The drive was about two and half hours. When we got to the place the outside had a small parking lot that was empty because there weren’t many people in the winery.

The entrance was very nice the floor was small rocks and the out door was white on the inside to the left was a bar with person that was giving out samples of different types of wine. They had displays of wine, one thing that all the wine bottles had an artwork by Michael Lin who is an artist at MOMA. The person that was showing us around was telling us that their most grown grapes are Chardonnay, Viogner, Cabernet Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc is being increased and planted more. We were very lucky because the person that was giving us information had a lot of knowledge of wine.

They make stainless steel tank aged white wines, examples like sauvignon Blanc. Their vineyard management is sustainable farming and they have also practice on the LISW which is Long Island Sustainable Wine growing which is types of low impact farming. They also have integrated pest management which is a low impact farming that they also do in the winery. The life cycle of the vine is different depending on the vine some of the oldest are 35 years and they have replanted vines that are 30 years old too an example are merlot and cabernet last about 75 years. He had also said that Zinfandel is more resistant to certain viruses. For the vinification practice is mostly fermented in steel tank with the exception of chardonnay, which is fermented in older French oak barrels. This is because chardonnay needs a little bit more flavor so that is why they keep it in an oak barrel.

We were allowed to go to vineyard but not allowed to go too much into it because there weren’t many grapes to look for while being in the vineyard. At the front of the vineyard there were a lot of sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay and all the way in the back they Cabernet grapes and mostly all the red grapes that they grow. I decided to buy a wine bottle to try it. The label was very nice and creative. The guy had told us that the wine that I had bought was served at the white house for an event that had occurred. This wine had a combination of red grapes and was described as fruity and not too dry because of its complex fruity flavors that it had. They also carry Syrah with a 2013 vintage.This is the wine that I purchased described as red fruit and berry flavors. By the way it was really good.

These were the only grapes that I was able to catch a picture of.

These are the oak barrels in which the wine is being aged.

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It was few days after it started to get cold when I made a trip to Wolffer Estate Vineyard, Sapagonack, New York. It took about two hours from the city. Movie bottle shock was playing in the bus. It is very touching story of first American Chardonnay that won the international wine competition, but I only have tasted their Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 vintage. It is my first love and it had strong impact to pull me into the wine industry.

When we got there, a lady was waiting to guide my group. She first took us to the vineyard. She said that the vineyard grows Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Chardonnay and started to grow Trebbiano from 2010. She said that they started the vineyard with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot in 1974. It seemed to be a bit too cold to grow thick skinned grape but she said that Long Island makes great Cabernet Franc. She picked a cluster of Chardonnay grape and handed over to our group so that we can taste fresh grapes off the vine. She clearly and confidently mentioned that she does not practice organic farming while I was enjoying the grape. She stressed that she does not use harmful chemical so that we have no problem eating fresh grapes. The day we got there was only few days after most grapes were picked and few grapes were still hanging around the trees and waiting to be dessert wines. She mentioned that they hand pick their grapes. Her vineyard has rich top soil and it drains very well while it holds water for long enough and then dries out. The root of vines go forty feet down. They do not need irrigation because they usually have enough rain, however, this summer was awfully dry and they had to irrigate for the first time. She also picks the leaves so that grapes are exposed to sunlight. She jokingly said that Deer ate about a ton of grapes last year and she brought nets to protect vines this year but I know that loss of grape to wild animal can be serious damage to the winery. The way she protects the grapes from deer looked very nature friendly because I know that some vineyards install electric fence or hunt deer. Grass is unusual in vineyard but Wolffer vineyard has plenty of grass around the yard.
They pick Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in early September for sparkling wine while the grape still have good amount of acidity and then harvest the rest in later of the month. Then she took us to winery and showed us how they make their wine. Luckily I had a chance to freshly pressed Chardonnay juice. It was very high in acid and sweet. The machine was destemming Chardonay grapes very quickly. I know that some winemakers use the stems to create tannins for red wines but it was not the case since it was Chardonnay.

They use Tank Method for their sparkling wine. The huge stainless steel tank was very cold and it formed water drops outside of it. She said that one of the job that takes some time is punching down or pumping over red wine every six hours during maceration. Red grapes for Rose does not have to be macerated.
Then I had a chance to look at their barrels. They buy new barrels every year. She said the first thing she does after she buys the barrel is to put water in them and check if they leak. I truthfully can not imagine how much work and time that would take. It is such a huge barrels and they have so many of them. She said that once they place the barrels, they never get moved because it is too heavy. They were designed to be in one place and she pumps in and out all the wine. They have to top off the barrels once in a while because the wine evaporates.
Then we headed to the tasting room. We had about sixteen people and it was impossible that we have seats inside the room. Instead, we decided to sit outside tables. I tasted their Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc. I can not judge tasting room personnel’s skill and knowledge because we were such a huge group for one person to serve. However, she still tried to explain how the each wine was made but the other side of the table could not hear it. It was still a great experience overall.

Master Sommelier Laura Williamson accompanied our group to the vineyard trip. She certainly put more time to study wines than vineyard owners and knows more wines. However, she is nobody to judge efforts that farmers put in to plant and harvest to make great fermented grape juice. I think she understands that. She was there and stayed humble and very respectful the whole time. Masters certainly understand the hard works of farmers and wine makers. In reality, it all comes down to one bottle and that is it. The bottle gets graded and price gets decided according to that many times. How about if we give stories to each bottle? How about if we think of the time the winemakers and the wine have been through and the time they waited before they show themselves. I like to appreciate the phenomenon of nature and the vineyard trip was a great chance for me to do so.

Works Cited

Oklahoma Grape Growers Deal With Deer. (2014). Retrieved October 31, 2015.
Crushing and Destemming Grapes – Winemaker’s Academy. (2012, June 30). Retrieved October 31, 2015.