We visited 2 different vineyards. Both were at Long Island and 10 minutes away from each other. They were Applewood winery and Clearview Vineyard. Applewood is a very large estate. We drove by many apple trees to get to the wine tasting area.

This was a very large estate with dining areas outside. There was also a cafe stand for those who wanted something to eat but the serving sizes weren’t too heavy. Some of us hadn’t eaten yet so we bought a one serving size pizza and a cheese sandwich.

The picture above was the tasting menu. Each person gets to choose 5 wines from this list to taste. I chose Wawayanda white, summerfields, Citrus cider, Ruby’s kiss and Blackberry.  Surprisingly most of our choices were very similar. We were all curious about what the special names entailed rather than the grape named wines. It invoked a bit of curiosity from first-semester wine students like us because we were all familiar with the taste of wines like Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, but a name like Summer Fields or Ruby’s Kiss intrigued us.

The employee was very friendly towards us and knowledgable about the wines. We asked her about the estate and vineyards, that’s when she said that there wasn’t anyone around at the moment to talk to us about the vineyards. She works there as a bartender and she was very quick and responsive when we asked her about the prices and wines.

This wine bottle was the first of my tastings, It is called Wawayanda white. As we were smelling and tasting the wine, the bartender explained general details about the wine. She told us that it is a fruity white wine of mild intensity. It is grown in the Finger Lakes in cool climates. My second was the summer fields, she explained that it was a semi-sweet wine with melon to the nose. She mentioned peach and melon to the taste and the grape was a sauvignon blanc and full of citrus. I was able to smell the melon but I didn’t taste it. I tasted peach with a strong citrus taste and a light scent of alcohol. My third wine was the Citrus cider, She told us that it was made from champagne yeast and that it had notes of grapefruit and that it was a dry cider. Honestly, I couldn’t taste any other component except a strong sour taste overpowering everything else. She also mentioned that they only have an alcohol content of 6.8% and said it was similar to beer. My next and last wine I tried was the blackberry. She explained that it is a dessert wine with no grapes. It is all blackberries used in this wine and it is tart. My opinion of the wine is that it wasn’t very sweet for my taste and it was very tart. It reminded me of any organic no sugar added fruit juice mixed with alcohol. It was tart but not sour and not considered very sweet with a medium amount of alcohol. The reason I didn’t taste the last wine was because I had work after the vineyard visit so I gave up on my last wine, the Ruby’s kiss. I definitely regret it because Marissa had it as well and she said she really liked it. She said it was sweet and very fruity. She also mentioned that the alcohol wasn’t too strong to overpower the fruit in the drink. She even bought the bottle in the end for $12.99.

At Applewood we were told that they couldn’t give us a tour because they were busy and most importantly the people responsible for winemaking weren’t present at the time. However, we did take pictures of the a small amount of vines that were visible to the public after wine tasting. Also, when we were conversing with the bartender and told her that we were doing a project for our wine class at City Tech, she gave us brochures for Long Island Vineyards and told us about Clearview Vineyard. She said there was a really nice guy named Frank that likes to show people around the vineyards so we decided to take her advice and go.

When we entered Clearview Vineyard the atmosphere was very family oriented, similar to Applewood winery. There were people playing country music in the back and families enjoying a drink.

After we met Frank he brought us to the vineyard but said he couldn’t stay with us for long. He even allowed us to record him as he was explaining his estate to us. He also said they grew their grapes organically for the first 7 years but they couldn’t continue the practice because of a disease called the “black rot.” He mentioned that it impacted 3 of their varieties really badly. A year and a half ago they stopped being organic. He said it didn’t make a difference anyways because they have to use metabisulfite in order to keep the wine at their best qualities and if you don’t use it, the wines can change in taste. He said that in Europe they can still use the a certain amount of metabisulfite and still be called organic but in the US this isn’t the case and he made a quick note saying it was foolish. He then brings us to the vines and told us that they use poles with eagle kites on top of them to scare the small birds and turkeys away. They also put out CDs for sun reflection and scare balloons with eyes drawn on them to keep most of the bird predators out. Some of the grapes they grow are sauvignon blanc, Cayuga white, Vidal blanc, cabernet franc, Monet, Baco Noir, Noiret and New York 81; he said that they call it “divinity” because there isn’t a name for it yet. He also told us that New York 81 was a hybrid developed by Cornell. Frank continues to say that they try to be as organic as possible. They don’t spray anything for bugs and they only spray for diseases like black rot. His last comments were that they strategically wire the vines so they get the right amount of sunlight and that they do a majority of their work manually.

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

White wine option

The Brotherhood Winery is more commonly know as the United States “oldest” winery. It is located in  Washingtonville, New York, a community in the Hudson Valley.  In 2000 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The winery uses the slogan “America’s Oldest Winery.” The winery was started by John Jaques in 1838, who then passed it down to his three sons in 1858.  His sons, John JR, Oren and Charles later renamed it “Jaques Brothers Winery” In 1886, ownership of winery came under the father and son ownership of James M. and Edward R. Emerson, acquiring it from Charles, the last surviving Jaques brother. The Emersons renamed it “Brotherhood” and began expanding it’s facilities which include a large underground winemaking vault. The property has many open spaces meant for rental. It showcases giant barrels of old wine that the winery used to make back when if first opened.

This was the building where the wine was bottled and stored.

Throughout the winery’s history, many different varieties of grapes have been grown on the property. Each time the winery exchanged owners the grapes would change. When the establishment first began they grew Vitis Labrusca, which is a is a species of grapevines belonging to the Vitis genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae, it is a grape known for growing in North America and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba, Concord, Delaware, Isabella, and many hybrid grape varieties such as Agawam, Alexander and Onaka. The winery also produces various specialty wines, including one flavored with ginseng and a May wine with sweet strawberry flavors. The winery also produces a version of wine similar to mead made from wildflower honey and an Ethiopian style honey wine (Tej) named “Sheba Te’j Honey Wine”. Within the 1970’s the winery began producing wines made from French hybrids grapes. The grape; Vitis Vinifera  is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are currently between 5,000 and 10,000 varieties of Vitis vinifera grapes though only a few are of commercial significance for wine and table grape production. Wines produced from the establishment include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir, Merlot, Chardonnay, Riesling and a White Zinfandel.

These vines were used for experimental use.

These were barrels from the underground vault.

                My group and I entered the Wine tasting room and were amazed by the knowledge of the wine experts. It was a group of 10 and we had a chance to try 6 different types of wines from the winery. Wines included a’14 Brotherhood Winery Riesling, ‘13 Brotherhood Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, ’13 Brotherhood Winery Pinot Noir, Carroll’s Mead, Brotherhood Winery Carpe Diem Spumante, and ’14 Brotherhood Winery Chardonnay.

This was a free wine glass.

Each bottle was set with a 1 ounce locking cap and we got to try each. They expressed the tasting notes with much detail and allowed us to have another taste if we really enjoyed it. Each of the workers had extensive knowledge of each of the wines and was very attentive towards us when it came to us buying wine. I believe that this winery was very informative and that I was able to properly understand what it means to study wine for a livening.

This was my faorite wine that I tasted from the Winery, I loved it so much that I bought myself a bottle.

  The paper in the background was a list of wines we could taste.

It was little road trip to get to this wonderful vineyard in Bangor, Pensilvania, it was a one hour-half trip but it was worth it. I when with my family during my birthday weekend and made of this trip more than just an assignment but an adventure as well as a new experience and sure it was becasue in Franklyn Hill they don’t make our typical wine varieties that we are custume to see at our typical wine store. But I will have to f they add there own twist to artisanal wine making and there special blends makes them unique to the pallet. When we arrived to vineyard we got there just in time for there first 12:00 pm tour. First we walked through the vineyards but they were were still in dormit there was not much to look at the soil type in this land is between sandy and gravel very rich in nutrients because if it’s black color and the feel of sand you can feel the different components of the soil.

Vineyards at dormit

Then we went to the cellars were they had steel pots for fermenting there wine, and I will have to say this has been one the most exiting places I have been to because every pot had a unique taste and aroma each steel pot had a surprise inside. One of my favorite wines was the one names Katie’s Creek it was very smooth medium bodied with a hits of golden apples and honeysuckle as well as a crisp clean finish. One of there specialty wines I tried as well that I was surprice was the cotton candy blend it was very sweet for my taste but it would defenetly go well with special funky cocktail.

overall this has been a great expirence. I definitely recommend to visit Fraklin Hills Vineyards on a warmer weather you can enjoy the surroundings also the staff were very atenttive to there guest question and very passionate about there work place.

Tasting sheet and list of different wines to pick out for tasting limited to six as well as the cost per bottle.

My friends and I decided to go to the Channing Daughters Winery. It is located at 1927 Scuttlehole Road, which is in the South Hamptons. The drive to the winery took approximately 2 and a half hours. Channing Daughters Winery has a spectacular story about an upside down tree. I will not ruin the story for people who may want to go, but I must say this story shaped there winery and brought them their main logo.

The Channing Daughters Winery has 28 acres of vines, a small winery, and a tasting room. This winery consist of 15 grape varieties. Some of these grape varieties are Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Tocai Friulano, Malvasia, Muscat Ottonel, Ribolla Gialla, Blaufrankisch, Refosco and Lagrein. This winery produces dry white wines, pinks, oranges, and reds. They do everything by hand in small batches. They also stomp their grapes by foot and punch them down by hand. This provides a good tasting quality wine.

During our wine tasting we tasted 2013 Tocai Friulano, 2014 Scutterhole Chardonnay, 2014 Sauvignon, 2012 Brick Kiln Chardonnay, 2013 Vino Bianco, Over & Over- variation 8, and VerVino Vermouth variation-5. Two wines that grabbed my attention the 2013 Tocai Fruilano and the VerVino Vermouth variation-5. 2013 Tocai Friulano is a delicious white wine that is harvested by hand. This wine was fermented in 60 percent stainless steel barrels and 40 percent French and Slovenian oak for 12 months. I liked this particular wine because it had a great aroma and taste of green apples, grapefruit, pears, and a little bit of spice. I also liked it because it had a medium body, great acidity, and very crisp. This wine would pair nicely with a light citrus salad or nicely grilled salmon with risotto. On the other hand, VerVino Vermouth is a fortified wine. There are six different variations of this wine. These wines are mixed with local botanicals. This is very full bodied. It taste almost velvety and thick like a gravy. This is because it includes botanicals such as basil, dill, lemon balm, lemon verbena and more; which makes this wine a great selection to cook with.

Channing Daughters Wine personnel was excellent! Although he was the only person giving wine tastings, he did an amazing job. He was in charge of preparing wine tastings, providing information and details to the customers, and showing a good time. His service was what I initially expected and it was a pleasure having him as a host. Even though they had certain wines for us to taste, we had the chance to taste more because he acknowledged the fact we were college students. Overall, I really enjoyed this trip because I was surrounded by great friends and the day was well spent. Going to this winery taught me a lot and made me want to enhance my knowledge as a wine professional.

Upside down tree logo

Wine Tasting area

Wine tasting list

The vines in the beginning stages

The blooms have started to form

My experience at the Heritage Winery and Vineyard was educational and fun because of the people I was grouped with in the tour. I first came across the vineyard when I googled vineyards around New York city, and the vineyard had popped up. I decided to choose that vineyard instead of other vineyards because of the time it took to travel there and back with all together was going to a four hour drive. My first interaction with the vineyard was over the phone double checking if the tour fit the guidelines of the project. The woman who answered the phone was very sweet and knowledge about the tour. At the time of going to the tour I was under age, the vineyard allowed to me to take the tour for free for educational purposes. On Saturday the only day the tour is given was dark and looked as if was going to rain however after being on the vineyard property for a little the day turned out to be sunny and made the tour more enjoyable.  The vineyard does not market themselves through television advertisements expect for the Heritage Winery and Vineyard website, their Facebook page and word of mouth of people going there.

The inside of the winery

When you first drive up to the vineyard it does not look like anything expect a farmhouse and you start to question if it’s a vineyard. However, if you look up the hill you will see the rows of different varieties of grapes. The tour guild Tom was very proud of the vineyards because he had helped the company and was comparing and referring  back to Robert Mondavi  between the similar both wine makers do. When we were going through the grape vineyards the vines were starting to bloom in to tiny appearing flowers. The vines within the vineyards were referred to as vertical canes that grew between six and half to seven feet tall and the removal of the leaves to allow air to reach the grapes to prevent mold. The first grape varieties the vineyard started off with was Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay. The growth of grapes are affected by the conditions in the area it is grown from the type of soil to the time of harvest. The longer the grapes are left on the vines they will continue to suck up water which will make a larger grape in size however the flavor of the grapes will be bitter. One problem the vineyard experiences when the grapes are ripe is sourflies because they become attracted to the sweet smell of the grape and want to eat the grapes.

Harvest time for wine grapes are hurricane season, the wine growers has to take the risk on long to keep the grapes on the vines because if they take them off too soon the grapes will be unripe. However, if the grapes are left on the vines during hurricane season you are chancing the risk of getting bitter grapes and or getting your entire crop of grapes wrapped out . Grapes vines can continue to grapes for fifty or hundred years the vines will produce less yield but an intense flavor of wine. It takes ten years before the grapes actually turned into bottled wines. After the grapes are picked the wine makers need to make a decision either to ferment in American, French oak barrels or steels because it leaves a different taste profile. American oak barrels has a spicy ruff intense flavor, while French oak barrel has a creamy smooth buttery vanilla lemon flavors.  The new trend in wine is boxed wines because the wine makers can get more wine into their production because a box holds six bottles while boxed wines holds two half “bottles”. In the steel tank room is where the tour guild talked methode champenoise of turning the wines bottles slowly to lay the bottle to form lees. It was sort of embarrassing because I was the only person rise their hand if anyone knew about methode champenoise .  The tour ended with two different wines the first wine, a dessert wine that paired well with Oreo cookies and wine for brunch. I ended up tasting the grapes in the brunch wine because it was the raspberry preserves I brought….it was amazing! The tartness of the raspberries syrah grapes reminded me of French wine.

The barrel room

The steel tanks in the cellar room

The sparkling wine bottler

Heritage Winery and Vineyard Advertisement  

The indoor wine tasting

The bottle room with the tour guild Tom

On a Friday morning, I took a drive out to exit 73 (and then some), and found myself parked outside of a beautiful wooden old house surrounded by dormant  vines, on a trellis structure.   The whole town was farmland, vineyards, and local fresh produce stands which is literally a breathe of fresh air being that I was born and raised in the city. Once I walked in I noticed a sign of upcoming events, and to the left of me was some merchandise the family was selling.   All around there were bottles of wine the vineyard had produced. I was shocked by how many different varieties were present. I especially liked their marketing strategies with the different design of the labels on most of  them.

Once greeted,  I introduced myself to the woman behind the bar, and she knew all the scoop on the place. Some questions that were asked and responses  I received:

1. What grapes were grown on the vineyard? Abigail, gave me a list of the wines, and proceeded to list “Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viogner, Grüner Veltliner, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier and Syrah.” (macariwines.com, nd.)
2. What type of soil does the grounds have, and if there are any approaches to sustainable agriculture? She told me she didnt know that one but one of the employees who worked on the grounds near by knew and told me that the soil is  sandy lome,  and that the vineyard tries their best to be sustainable and that they have a compost on the premises, and a small farm.
3.  How are the grapes picked? Some are hand picked for quality and others are machine picked.
4. Are there any irrigation systems in place? She told me there is a drip- irrigation  system in place for emergencies, for the years that are super dry.
5. How long are wines aged for? There is an “early release” wine that is picked and bottled and released to be sold within in 8 weeks, and that other wines can be from 18 months to 26 months.
6. When is harvest? There are two harvest sessions, one in the beginning of September for their “early wine” and the second one occurs at the end of September to the beginning of October.
7. Are all the grapes for the wines grown here? All the grapes for the wines are grown on premise except for the Reisling which is sourced from a family relative that has a vineyard in the Fingerlakes. She told me that they source that grape from there because there is a different microclimate  there and that allows the reisling grape to grow better.
8. What type of barrels are used for fermentation? They use only French oak barrels.
9. Any special wines? She told me all of the ice wines  are dessert wines.
10. How many tasting rooms are there? There are 2 tasting rooms, the one that I was in and then a smaller one in Cathogue NY.
    

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    After the small interview, Abigail, the tasting personnel I had the interview with took me on a tour into the wine making room. We walked in, and immediately to my left I noticed two very big concrete eggs. She told me that those eggs were the only of its kind and that they were specially made for their chardonnays.  There was many stainless steel vats for there white wines. Some of the vats had ice on the outside of them for their sparkling wines. Walking further back into the room were rows of the French oak barrels holding there red wines. To the right of the barrels was the bottling section.

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    After the tour, I went to the area of the tasting room where there was a refrigerator full of goodies. There was cheeses (locally sourced) charcuterie, crackers, and some bottled soda. I grabbed a package of goat cheese, some fig jam, and some crackers. I walked over to the bar and ordered a  flight of medium bodied wines. The flight consisted of five different wines, two white, two red, and a dessert wine. My favorite was the  Cabernet Franc  because it had a beautiful mouth feel, and notes of red berries and finished with a licorice taste.

    

    Dormant Vines

    

    Tasting room looking into the wine making room. Flags represent countries of interns that have worked in the vineyard.

    

    Marketing of their wines.

    
    

    

    French oak barrels

    

    Concrete eggs for Chardonnay

    

    Vats for their sparkling wines are covered with ice.

    
    

    

    My cheese board with Sauvignon Blanc

    
    

Shinn Estate winery and vineyard were contributed by Barbara Shinn and her Husband David Page in a 20 acres land in Long Island in Spring 2000. Owner Barbara Shinn and her husband were immersed in the culture of Northern California art and cuisine. Later on, they decided to move to New York for vine growing and wine making

Green Based Vineyard Looks More Vivid

One of the owners, Barbara Shinn, was hosting the tour. She works as a vine grower on the Shinn Estate. Barbara was welcoming us with her enthusiasm and attentiveness by smiling at us and touching the grass in the vineyard in order to check if the grass was too wet for some of us to walk. During the tour, she explained to us about the methods that they used to feed their vines and protect their vines thoroughly.

Upon arrival to the vineyard, the first thing came to my eyes was not vines. Instead of these vines I saw a green colored sea of meadow and cover crops. Barbara explained that the green meadow and cover crops were the fertilizers that she planted for her grapes, and then she pulled out a clover and introduced it to us as one of the nitrogen makers in her vineyard. She explained that nitrogen works as fertilizer for grapes. There were more than 12 types of clovers planted underneath the vines in order to make just enough nitrogen for grapes by catching air from the leaves, transferring the air into nitrogen, and spreading out the nitrogen from their root to the soil.

Clover’s Root is the Place that Transfer the Nitrogen to the Soil

Nitrogen Came From Here

Beside clover other things that Barbara applied to the vineyard were seaweed, fish liquid, and peanut shells. Peanut shells were also introduced as a nitrogen making agent. Fish liquid and seaweed were used to feed the micro bacteria and soil worms. What Barbara really wanted was the dead bodies of bacteria and soil worms because after they died and decayed, these dead bodies became nutrients for the vines. Based on what she explained to us about her vineyard, I literally connected the process of growing vine with the process of growing fetal. Vines’ grow in Barbara’s vineyard are more like babies grow in their mothers’ wombs while vines from many other vineyards that did not have meadows and cover crops are more like babies that grew in test tube.

There were eight grape varieties growing in this 20 acre vineyard. Red grapes are merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec, cabernet franc and peti verdot; white grapes are sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Semillon. Peti verdot is used for blending because of its unique dark inky red color and spicy on palate. The choice about what to grow in the vineyard is based on agriculture: climate and soil tells you what can grow. White grapes are sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Semillon. The cool climate and lighter gravity, loamy soil are very similar to Loire Valley in Bordeaux so Barbara and her husband chose grapes that were from Bordeaux mostly.

“After a few years’ investments, the first harvest was at 2002” said David Page. He hosted the second tour witch started ride next to the press bladder machine. At this time we learned that during the harvest season the vine growers handpick the grapes, check their quality, and transfer them to the presser bladder. Their juice will be chilled for two to three days in a tank until all the sediment sink to the bottom. They will be transferred to s second tank for fermentation at 55 degree.

Yes, they to protect their grape from browning and discoloration by oxidation, they do use smallest amount of sulfite in the vineyard. David Page explained the issue of using sulfite for wines because there are numbers of people do not like to consume products that contain sulfite because this is chemical. However, what I found from winesandvines.com was that the usage of sulfite is only dangerous for sensitive people and asthmatics.

          David Page brought us to their library and then their cellar (not located underground, but the temperature was around 58 degree in the cellar). Actually we just passed by their library because it’s connected with their cellar and we had to walk through the library to get into the cellar.

There Were No Books in This Library!

David Page liked the French barrels for wine aging because they are tighter than American barrels and so they are able to maintain the uniqueness of the wine.

We were told proudly by David Page about the cellar room’s temperature which was maintained to 58 degree for the wine. They have a lot of wine in their cellar: 75 to 100 barrel for each vintage, and each barrel produces 300 bottles of wine. For each vintages, they keep 50 to 100 bottles for themselves, not to drink, but for their wine industry friends to taste the wine together and compare the wines from different vintages.

These French Barrels Can Only be Used for Three Times

Old French Barrels Became Part of Tasting Area’s Decoration.

They have outdoor tastings, and each of us got chance to taste four different wines. I believed that the servers were all trained to have enough knowledge for wine tasting services because they were able to explain the wine to us thoroughly. The servers’ service speed was very fast, that looked like they wanted us to hurry up.  For an additional comment, I think their outdoor tasting area could be expanded to a larger size so that their tasting room area personnel would not have to rush when they served customers.

After all, I realized that Barbara Shinn and David Page were compliment to each other’s characters. Barbara was more outgoing while David was a little less outgoing. They cooperate with each other very well in their business and in their marriage. Both of them were very knowledgeable on their part of the work and they also knew each other’s work deeply, which means they communicate with each other very well. I think to be successful in this industry, understanding, cooperation, communication and patience are the most important elements. At this case, Mr. and Mrs. Page have all of them.

Patience-David Page Spent Time on Balance these stones

http://shinnestatevineyards.com/vineyard/vineyard-philosophy

http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=features&content=82324

During the beginning of the spring break, four classmates and I visited Shinn Estate Vineyards on Long Island AVA. They have planted total ten kinds of dominate varietals: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. The vineyards are 22 acres wide; they are not huge vineyards even though I felt that the land was large when we walked in the actual vineyards. The viticulture is becoming a sustainable bio-dynamic method. To keep non-chemical planting, there are many ingenious plans that the owner Barbara Shinn has come up with. For example, she explained that the roots of bunch of clovers, dandelions and grasses give nutritious effects towards the soil and the roots of grapes. Also, clovers and grasses help the soil drain water very well. In addition, they help grapes to avoid bugs in the soil which improves the nutrition of the grapes. She has created this natural cycle eco system for vineyards. Furthermore, she uses the powdered seaweed and nutritious liquids made from fish, which she spreads as fertilizer. She also showed a few tools, such as trellis and long black nets. Trellis helps the grapes’ cordon and cane keep long and straight. Furthermore, the black nets help the grapes avoid insects such as bees and flies.

Marking for varietals

Nutrition tanks of clovers’ roots

Trellis and black nets

Vineyard atmosphere

Juice Pressing tank

Tanks in an ecological system house

Barrels Cellar for red wines

The tasting room was like a countryside cottage, including a garden. The design was a mix of modern and natural atmospheres. Some wine barrels were used like tables. We could taste four kinds of wine per person for $40, including two types of tours: vineyard and viticulture. They had about 19 wines and spirits tastings. We shared at least 10 different kinds of wines to taste most of their products after two tours. Most of us liked ‘Riesling 2014’; it has golden yellow color, and a nose of honeysuckles and white flowers. The palate was like cloves and honey. ‘Pinot Blanc 2014’ surprised me because I am not used to drinking unfiltered white wine. The clarity was muddy and smell was dirty and vinous, but the palate was clear and fruity.

Tasting space

Tasting terrace seats

Tasting wines which we shared #1

Tasting wines which we shared #2

When I asked the staff, “Which wine is the most popular in this winery?” she said Coalescence, Frist fruit (Sauvignon Blanc) and Mojo. Additionally, she explained that Coalescence and Mojo are easy to drink, and so customers like them. Moreover, one server briefly explained the wine characteristics before pouring wines, which was the fantastic wine serving for me. The staff was knowledgeable and skillful.

As a marketing aspect, I asked David Page who is also the owner if they export their wines and if so, where would they export them. I wanted to know this because through my research I knew that most of their wines are consumed on Long Island and New York. Surprisingly, the answer was they export only to Tokyo, Japan. David described the process of how he decided to export to Japan. When I heard about it, I was moved and thankful of Japanese buyer’s effort to explore Japanese wine industry.

Wine library

Wines& Spirits selling

I totally recommend the vineyards as a destination to visit, and I would like to come back again during the harvest season because the bud had just come up when we visited. Their passion for wine was accomplished without the aid of chemicals and the blending of imported grapes were tremendous, which made me thankful. This experience led me to learn and think more about wines.