I had the chance to visit Macari Vineyard located at 150 Bergen Avenue Mattituck, NY
Macari Vineyard goes back from the 30’s and 40’s when Joseph Macari Sr. started making wine in the basement with father and grandfather in Corona Queens. In the 60’s they purchased a 500 acre from a former potato farm in Long Island. After 30 years of growing grapes and producing wine they hoped on and moved out to North Folk and started to plant vines.
Joseph studied with bio dynamic viticulture which is also known as organic farming, with the studies that he gathered he knows the health of the plants, character of the grapes the living soil, and produce some if the best fruit on the east coast.
Image from Google
Front Lawn of Macari Vineyard
It was about an hour and a half ride to get to Macari Vineyard, I didn’t feel it much because I had taken a nap. The sky was blue with some nice light clouds. When we arrived it felt very homey, very countryside and relaxed. When I walked in there was this huge display of their 2016 Rose Wine. They had wooden barrels below them to support the weight, also cute gift bags and decorations around them.
2016 Rose Wine
Macari Front Display
Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc
After looking around someone finally came to us and introduce herself. Me and my friend did call previously if they offered a tour but they said they weren’t available for tours, we mentioned it again but the tour wasn’t available. So we just told her we were on a school assignment and wanted to explore some tastings. She was excited to give us some tastings and pulled out a what looked like a menu.
Macari Body Wines
It was organized in three different categories from light body wines, to medium, and full body. We decided to go with the Medium bodied wines for $25 which included, Sauvignon Blanc 15′, Chardonnay Estate 13′, Rose 15′, Carbernt Franc 13′ & Merlot Reserve 10′. Right before getting to the tasting they asked us if we want to purchase some cheese and crackers for the tasting. We decided to purchase some Honey Lavender Fromage Blanc and Crostini Tuscan Crackers.
Honey Lavender Fromage Blanc & Crostini Tuscan Crackers
The first wine that we tasted was the Sauvignon Blanc 2015 produced from a steel barrel which is where Macari Vineyard Produces their wine. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a photo of the steel barrel because it was in the back room which we weren’t allowed to go in to. Back to the wine, being underage I wasn’t able to taste the wine but I did get the chance to smell it. Swirling it, it had medium viscosity, it was day bright and smelled very clean. I smelled green apples, lime, very much in the citrus side.
Sauvignon Blanc 2015 North Folk of LI
The next wine that we tasted was Chardonnay 2013 produced as mentioned previously in a steel barrel. The viscosity was also medium, It was day bright as well with hints of lime green. The smell was clean, and had hints of peach and vanilla.
Chardonnay 2013 North Folk of LI
Rose 2015 North Folk of LI
2010 Merlot Reserve
We came to upon the 4th wine which was the 2010 Merlot reserve, in which I remembered in class we touched on that. When a wine has reserve on the front label is because it’s said to be the wine has a higher quality than usual, or a wine that has been aged before being sold. When I asked the lady who was attending us, she said the meaning reserve here doesn’t have much meaning as it does for wines in France for say.
After exploring a bit, and smelling a few wines, it was time to head back home this was a very educational trip because it helped me know the aromas of each wine, something I never looked into before taking this wine class. In the future I would come out and by then be able to try the wine and learn more about it mouth wise.
