Author Archives: Jeanine Livermore

Channing Daughters Winery

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On April 27 a group of friends and I decided to visit Channing’s Daughters winery, located at 1927 Scuttle Hole Rd in the Hamptons. Their 28 acres of vines grows grape varieties such as Chardonnay, merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc. According to Channing daughter’s website there are six vineyards on the farm planted across a span of 25 years. Most of their wines are named after the vineyard in which the grapes are grown and the vineyards are named after the surrounding street names. Their winemaker Christopher Tracy ages their wines in either stainless steel tanks or oak barrels.

Channing Daughters takes an pro environmental approach to their wine growing practices, implementing Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing an Independent, Third Party-Certified Sustainable Viticulture Program. They recycle, using grape pulp, skins, seeds and manure from neighbors to make compost. Then used the compost as an organic source of nitrogen and also cover crops and social responsibility.

We took a $14 flight piloted by a young man by the name of Anthony Persico that was initially supposed to be 6 wines; 2013 Sylvanus a blend of three grapes, 2014 Scuttlehole stainless steel fermented without any secondary fermentation meaning that fermentation is stopped before it gets to the malolactic stage producing a more crisp fruit forward wine, 2013 Sauvignon oak aged , 2013 Vino Bianco, Variation 8 Over and Over and a vermouth. But our guy added a stainless steel Cabernet franc Provence style rose, drier more aromatic than fruity tasting. Can be paired with most barbecued foods. Another vermouth and their wine Brick Kiln to our flight. I’d say that Anthony is very skilled at what he does,with his extensive wine knowledge he carried out three flights to three different groups at the same time all while making sure everyone got all the information they needed without the other groups getting restless.

Their wine Over and over was my favorite and most interesting. According to the website they have combined the ripaso and solera method where they take a year’s harvest of merlot and repass it over fresh merlot and dornfelder this is what they called variation one. They then save some of this blend and repass it over their next year’s harvest and call it variation two this is one over and over to make variation 3 and 4 and so on. Hence the witty and clever name over and over.

Overall I had a great experience, it was a bit rocky to start, but when we finally got there and had a chance to do our tasting and take a look at the vineyards I was satisfied. I would definitely make this trip again, without having to be concerned with taking notes. The drive away from the city was comforting and it was a nice getaway.

Wine Flight

Wine Flight

White wine option

White wine option

 

 

Midtown 38 Wines

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After not being able to visit one the wine shops listed, a friend and I decided to visit the Midtown 38 wine shop, located on 38th street between 6th and 7th avenue. Upon entering the store I noticed that it was spacious and organized. Youssef, one of the workers in the store, immediately asked if we’d like assistance. We told him that we were visiting for an assignment and we were hospitality students from New York City College of Technology, and we’d like to know the selection of wine they had and how the store operates. He proceeded to answer our questions and give us a tour of the establishment.

He informed us that the store receives shipments and replenishments from sales representatives every day. They would also offer tastings of new varieties that they think would serve the store’s clientele. The average price for a bottle of wine sold ranged from $35-$90. To me that sounded a bit a high but then I’m only used to buying Barefoot and Yellowtail brands.

On the right side of the store, the wines were neatly organized by grape varieties, beginning with red then moving on to white. This is was all on a 12ft wall that occupied almost half of the store. Youssef informed us that because of the store’s location they mostly catered to a more commercial group than residential. And the most commonly bought red grape variety was Pinot Noir. Because it was versatile enough that it satisfied a wide range of their customers. And Merlot was a close second. Next was the sparkling wine section that was located closer to the rear of the store, with some selections being in a refrigerator. Of the sparkling wines Prosseco was the most bought by clients who had to entertain during meetings. On the left side of the shop was their vintage wines organized by countries such as; France, Germany, Italy and Spain just to name a few. The rest of that wall was stocked with the spirits they offered.

After my visit I decided that, this is a store I’d love to patronize. Some wine shops that I had visited before were cluttered and had somewhat of a stuffy feel to it. But here at Midtown 38, it was spacious and airy, and that accompanied by the service would make for an exceptional shopping experience.

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