Whisper Vineyards is located in the heart of Smithtown at 485 Edgewood Avenue Saint James, New York 11780. The Whisper Vineyards are owned and operated by Steve, Laura and Barbara Perrota. I had the honor to meet with one of the owners of these vineyards, Mr. Steve Perrota. I introduced myself as a Hospitality student at NYC College of Technology to him and he was very nice.

Mr. Perrota tells me that the grape varieties grown in his vineyards are: Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Blanc and Pinot Gris. Mr. Perrota said that the last summer 2013 faced a loss of 95% of their Chardonnay and Merlot grape crop. To combat the desecration of their vineyards by birds this year they recently installed about 51,000 feet of protective mesh. This is a new technology which allows the leaves and vines to be exposed while encasing the grapes underneath. With this new procedure, the netting will eliminate the need for the customary use of the agricultural canon to deter the birds from eating the grapes.

I remember the first weeks of our wine class reading about “Clone”, well Mr. Perrota mentioned this too. He said that most of us think of a grape variety as one type of grape that is consistent from vine to vine. But in reality, each type of grape variety has many different “clones” that were derived from the same type of grape vine. He used an example of Merlot saying, existed dozens of merlot clones and each with its own unique personality and characteristics. One merlot vine may produce smaller grapes than another, which might produce a more tannic wine that a vine with larger grapes but they still both merlot grapes. Mr. Perrota said that many New York and Long Island growers plant a mixture of clones, which can help give wine more complex flavors and another example of how the winemaking process starts in the vineyard.

On January of this year, Whisper Vineyards became part of the Long Island Wine Council. Another interesting point was that while I read the label on the back of the bottles, I notice little words “Contains Sulfites”. Patricia Olstad, one of the tasting room personnel explained me that the “Sulfites” is a term for “sulfur dioxide” which is a preservative and widely used in winemaking. The consumption of sulfites is generally harmless she said, unless if you suffer from severe asthma. She explain me that any wine containing more than 10 parts per million of sulfur dioxide must affix to the label “contains sulfites”. Really interesting!

This family create a boutique vineyard store which opened in the late fall ’13. This nice store has a display of all the wines produced on the Whisper Vineyards. They have set up tables where you can enjoy wine with family or friends in a really nice environment. Also, the day that I visited they had live music with guitarist and singer Fred Maloney “The Human iPod”. All the tasting room personal was really nice and attentive.

Patricia show me the wines displayed on the store staring with the 2010 Reserve Red Cape which has 38% of Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc, 25% of Merlot and 6% of Malbec. This wine smells peppery and blackberries.

The 2008 Red Cape Blend is a medium bodied with a fine tannins wine; it has aromas of blackberries, violet and plums. It’s a blended of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc.

The 2010 Reserve merlot is a medium bodied with smooth tannins; it has aromas of cherries, black fruits, leather and smoky notes.

The 2008 Merlot is a medium bodied wine with soft tannins; it has aromas of cherries, vanilla and smoky notes.

The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc has a beautiful balance and structure with a crisp finish and aromas of grapefruit, lemons, kiwi, and herbs.

The 2011 Starting Rose has a soft and great balance between acidity and red berry notes; it has aromas of roses and strawberry preserve.

The 2013 Riesling has a great balance between acidity and sweetness with aromas of golden apple, citrus and tropical fruits.

The 2012 Pinot Gris has aromas of citrus and white flowers and its flavor of grapefruit and tart flavor.

The 2008 Chardonnay with an elegant finish and citrus and floral aromas make you pallet feel red apples and nuts.

The 2007 Reserve Chardonnay with a rich finish, this wine unoaked and medium bodied has aromas of honeysuckle and orange blossom.

I am really enjoyed this vineyard experience and I am sure that I will remember this unique class the rest of my life. This project makes this class really interesting and different from the other classes I have taken before. I hope anyone who read my project will enjoy as much as I did and if you have the opportunity to visit a winery, do it! Here the links on where you can check it out. http://www.newyorkwines.org and http://www.liwines.com  Thank you to Professor Karen Goodlad for this amazing project!!

As a child I would love going on road trips to Long Island, upstate or even out of state, however, I hated when the adults wanted to randomly stop at a winery or vineyard. It was never any fun for my cousins and I because we did not know what the employees were ever talking about and we could not drink the fun juice, as our parents would call it. As I got older they continued doing this and I eventually came to realize it was not really fun juice but wine that they were purchasing and tasting.  My parents no longer go to wineries as often as they used to but I had the opportunity to visit the Brotherhood Winery with seven other classmates.

The Brotherhood Winery is in Upstate New York located at 100 Brotherhood Plaza Dr., Washingtonville, NY 10992, which is about an hour and a half to two-hours drive depending on traffic.  In 1810, Jean Jacques purchased land in the Hudson Valley and began planting grapes. By 1839, the first underground cellars were dug and they are the oldest and largest in America. These cellars are still used today at the Brotherhood Winery. Jesse and Edward Emerson changed the name of the winery to Brotherhood when they took control of the establishment. They sold wine for religious purposes throughout Prohibition. In 1921, Louis Farrell purchased Brotherhood and began conducting tours of the winery, which highlighted the expansion of the underground cellars. They hosted party’s ad events at the winery that brought thousands of people yearly.  The winery is opened Friday-Sunday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM January through March and 11:00AM to 5:00PM Sunday to Friday and 11:00AM to 6:00PM on Saturdays from April to December.  The tour and tasting pass is $10, the tasting is $7 and the tour is $6.

The drive to the Brotherhood Winery was not to bad. There was very little traffic, clear blue skies and the open road. When we arrived there was a sign that said, “Welcome to Brotherhood, America’s Oldest Winery.” As we pulled into the parking lot I was not sure what to expect since I never paid attention to these tours as a kid. The buildings were made of stone and they seemed like they were from another time. We found signs that led us to where we needed to be to register for the first tour of the morning. The room was filled with wines for purchasing as well as other merchandise. There was also a long abnormal shaped high table. As we each paid for our ticket I decided I might as well do a tasting. The lady informed me there were two types of flights one being the Varietal flight, which featured more dry wines and the other being the traditional flight, which were a little sweeter. Since I have a sweet tooth I went with the sweeter flight.

The tour started promptly at 11:30AM by a woman named Joanne. She took us outside and started by telling us about the Grand Monarque Hall, which is now a banquet facility for private and corporate events. The Brotherhood Winery started with only this building and the first wines were produced there. As we continued to walk through the premises our next stop was outside of a room where the wines were tasted to make sure they are perfectly balanced. A few footsteps later, Joanne explained what we were looking at is a $250,000 machine that is responsible for bottling, sealing and labeling the wines. Due to the cost of this machine not every winery can afford to have one so the Brotherhood Winery uses their machine to bottle, seal and label wines for other wineries. After this, we walked past what looked like shrubs. Had I not known better I would of thought that it was a shrub, however, from studying wine I knew these were baby vines. The vines were planted from oldest to youngest with about six rows. There was Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, a French American hybrid and Sangiovese.

We then continued our tour to a set of steps that led us down into the cellar of the winery. As we trotted ineveryone could feel the sudden change in temperature and atmosphere. The cellars are about fourteen to sixteen feet deep with temperatures around 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity. There were various objects such as the wire hooder, which hammers the cork into the neck of the champagne bottles or the Agrafe machine, which places the wire cage over the champagne cork and twists it to hold it in place. The cellar smelled like a wet basement and as we continued walking the oak scent became prominent. We arrived at a room filled with large oak casks, then passed by a room filled with “champagne” that is produced by the Brotherhood winery. We then moved to a room with small oak barrels. There is a three to five year turnover for the barrels they use and each one costs $1000. We then exited the cellars and returned to the building we started from.

The fun part came next, two from our group and three people from Minnesota did a tasting. We all chose to do a traditional flight. Traditional flights are for those who prefer sweeter wines. When I was told sweeter I did not anticipate how sweet and different these wines would be from what I tried in class. There were five wines that we tried: 1) Carpe Diem Spumante which is a sparkling wine that was light and pale in color with notes of floral and vanilla 2) Sweet Lolly White which was pale yellow, straw and tasted like candy 3) Sweet Lolly Red was translucent red with no rim variation and also very sweet tasting like candy 4) May Day was a light salmon pink color with light floral notes 5) Was made from with the concord grape and is good for sangria.

I disliked all of the wines we tasted expect for the Carpe Diem Spumante. I was highly disappointed because these tasted nothing like the wines I was accustomed to tasting in

class. I thought the sweeter wines would have been less dry but instead they tasted like candy or over sugared Kool-Aid, which I did not expect. After the tasting was over we were given more information on what grape varieties are tasted for each flight. I would do the varietal flight instead because that includes Blanc de Blanc, chardonnay, and Riesling, merlot and pinot noir.

Now that I had my first real wine tasting experience and tour I have a better understanding of what to look for, what to expect and what to ask for future purposes. This trip was an amazing experience that provided me with real life experience with wine tasting at a vineyard. I look forward to planning a trip to different wineries with my friends and family.

On Sunday, May 4, my daughter Casey and I visited the Brotherhood Winery located in Washingtonville, NY.  The winery/vineyard visit is the final assignment for my Wine and Beverage Management class.  It was an extremely exciting and pleasant experience, one that we both agreed to repeat.  I chose this winery for two reasons: 1) because it was only a little over an hour’s drive away from the city and 2) according to the marketing information it is America’s Oldest Winery.  Therefore, there had to be quite a bit of history which would make this the right place to visit for this project.

For $10 per person, we took the Tour and Tasting, which included 5 tastings either varietals or traditional and a souvenir glass.  According to Susan, our tour guide, Brotherhood Winery started in 1839, the original name was Blooming Grove Wines which was changed as to the current name in later years, by John Jacques and his wife, as a family farm with many acres of land.  By day he was a shoemaker and she was a homemaker who planted some vines because she was interested in winemaking.  The grapes they planted were Concord, Kataba and Isabella.  They became successful in creating and selling Sacramental wines for most if not all the churches in Bloomington, NY.

However, as time went on they were forced to sell off most of the land and were eventually forced to sell the winery.  Over the years, there were different owners who continued in the winemaking business, and the current owner along with two partners is Cesar Baeza a Chilean national who has studied wine in college and has continued in the winemaking tradition. Brotherhood Winery does not have a Vineyard; in fact, their wine is sourced from the Finger Lakes and Long Island regions of New York State.  The grapes from Long Island are Cabernet and Merlot and from the Finger Lakes they are Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.   What they do have is about four or five short rows of vines in the front of the property that is used for experiments and study.   The Winery has three bottling lines: Sam’s Club, Walmart and Okeechee Jug wines.

From the Wine Process Flow Diagram that was sent to me by Kelly Ong, a wine specialists at Brotherhood Winery, although the grapes are not grown on the premises, once they arrive by truck they are processed as if they were grown on the premises.  She also goes on to state that the “Quality Control (QC) analysis which is done in their lab is to test for sugar, alcohol and acidity of all the wines they make, and the grapes are harvested when they are ripe.”    Following is the Wine Process Flow Diagram from

Brotherhood Winery:

The tour lasted about an hour and it took us to the cellars where all the wine production was done before the technological revolution, including the corking and labeling, when most of the processes were done manually.  These cellars are at least 18 feet high and are considered the deepest underground cellars in America, according to Susan.  Here they stored the large oak barrels made from Minnesota Oak and some smaller ones.  They even had a room where their sparkling wine that they called “Champagne,” is stored.  Their brand is called Grand Monarch.  Since I study wine, I also know that unless Champagne is made in Champagne, France it has to be called Sparkling Wine.

Large Oak Barrels used in Manual Wine Production

Susan, our tour guide was also the individual who conducted the tastings and that was at the end of the tour.  She has worked at the Winery for three and a half years.  According to her, she is not a wine expert, but she has been taking classes at the Westchester Institute, and she was very knowledgeable.  She answered the questions before they were asked.  I thought that she was very impressive.  There were two styles of wines for tasting, Varietal and Traditional.  I chose the traditional which included Riesling, Chardonnay, etc., but the wine I really liked is called Carpe Diem and this is considered a Sparkling Champagne.  It is pale yellow in color, with a citrus scent and a taste of Papaya.  I have had it with Blue Cheese, Angel Hair Pasta with sautéed vegetables and spicy ribs and it was wonderful with everything.

This really was a worthwhile project and I have learned so much in this class that I was even able to open a bottle of wine (that had a T-stopper) the way we were taught to open it in class and there was no popping sound, just a quiet breeze.  I was elated!

Tasting Room with wines for Sale and Tasting Station to the right

My next visit will be to a Vineyard where I will be trying to compare the similarities and differences between a winery and a vineyard – just to see for myself if there are any.
Although this is a required class it turned out to be more than I ever thought.

Torne Valley Vineyars
1 Torne Brook RD
Hillburn, NY 100931

Torney valley vineyards is located in the Hudson Valley AVA in Hillburn. It is the first full functioning Vineyard in Rockland County. It is located in a estate built in 1875. Through out the years, the estate itself has served many functions until bought by the two brothers Jon and Stephen France, who now own the 15 acre property, about a decade ago. One of the brothers being a landscaper re modeled the land into the beauty that it is today. Beautiful green fields surround the estate with great stone paths and a gorgeous water fountain right out front. The Gothic style estate is intricate in design and its scenery allows it to be a breath taking image, specially on a sunny day, like the one I visited the site on.

Gothic Style with 4 floors including the cellar

Right in front of the estate. With its beautifully landscaped paths and vibrant green bushes.

When I entered the estate to sign in, I had the pleasure of speaking with both of the wives of the brothers. Kim was able to answer all basic question is regards to their vineyards and winery. However, when the rest of the staff learned about my reasoning and extensive questions, they were also able to chine in and answer which I found fascinating. Every employee there knew extensive information about the winery and how it functions.

When I decided to to visit this vineyard. I did not know that they planted their vines a mere year ago. I was looking to walk through extensive fields of vines, but was welcome with very young vines. However, I was not disappointed. I was able to ask questions revolving around the process of starting a vineyard and their difficulties and troubles they encountered. One of them being as to where to place and plant the grapes. They had tried to jump start their vine growing earlier before, however the deer and other animals had destroyed their plantings. They had to come up with other locations and tactful ideas as to where to pa

The vineyard currently grows four different grape varietals. They are Seyval Blanc(white), Noirte(red), Vidal Blanc(white), and Marquette(red). Honestly speaking, there were grapes that I had yet to encounter or heard about. A per Kim, these grapes were chosen because of their quality to do well in the fairly cool climate that surrounded the region. After my visit I was able to find out the Seyval blanc is actually a hybrid grape. They decided on this grape because of its special ability to ripen early. Vidal blanc is also a hybrid grape and blends of this grape can be fruity and can exhibit notes of pineapple. I was told that this grape has high acidity and sugar potential and its hard outer skin is great for creating ice wine. Noiret, is a very special grape hybrid because it’s aromas differentiate from other of its kind. It has notes of green and black pepper as well as mint aromas. Marquette, hybrid, is a grape that has a very good resistance to the many things that can damage grapes; some being black rot and downy mildew. It can exhibit aromas of cherry and black pepper and supposedly is at a very high demand with very short supply being grown. After hearing about the grapes they decided to grow, I realized that they are all grapes that can greatly benefit the winery due to their abilities to easily grow, cultivate, and manage in the winery.

Thanks to my amazing camera I was able to get this beautiful picture of what I believe to be a bud break. I am not sure which grape varietal it is since I did not have a guide walking me through the fields.

Bud Break- Even Clearer Picture

Vines

Vines being grown in a hill slant.

Grapes are being grown all through out the 15 acres of land. I had asked why they decided to place certain grapes in the hill slants, which were very steep to walk through. They said that it was because of the better sunlight that there grapes were receiving and also because of the way the cold winds travel down the hill, certain grapes that are more tender to the cold are spared the weather.

It was great being able to get so up close and personal with the vines. I was able to see the cordons and the canes.

As far as their vinicultural practices, it was interesting to find out that they actually were very old style in their methods. They do not have heavy machinery that does all the work for them, they do everything by hand. The grapes will be hand picked, they do hand smashing with some type of hand operated device. They did say that they did all their aging by stainless steel and not oak. They will be having a grape smashing event, not sure where; but people will be able to participate in the stomping of the grapes, old style! Their winery is located in the cellar of the estate and some other building somewhere in the land that I was not able to see. I tried to get someone to show me around down there but had no luck. Currently, since they do not have mature enough wines, the vineyard is outsourcing their grapes from the fingerling lakes and Long Island vineyards.

The estate is opened to the public on weekends where they do wine tastings, serve a simple lunch, and have a live singer town singer. The wine tasting was 5 wines for $6 dollars. They was a very knowledgeable individual, sister of one of the brother, providing stories of the state as well as knowledge on the different wines that were being tasted. The wine options were as follows.
Sweet Summer time(white-semi sweet)- This is one of their signature wines. It is a blend of cayuga, vidal blanc, and vignoles. I was able to get some very fruity notes from the wine with a bit of citrus
Kimmie’s Crush(red-semi dry)- their second very popular signature wine. This wine is a classic Bordeaux style. It is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. It exhibited flavors of plum, blueberries, warm spice, and vanilla.
Riesling- It was very crisp and had very subtle notes of maybe apple and honey. She stated peach, however I was not able to pick that up.
Seyval Blanc- She said that it is sometimes called the”east coast chardonnay. It is a hybrid grape that grows wells in climates where there is a very short growing season. It is a very popular summertime wine its clean and crisp taste allows this wine to probably go great with light salads or shellfish.
Cabernet Franc- I was able to pick up some raspberry and violet notes. The sister stated that it is a much sweeter wine that its cousin cabernet souvignon, and it is a more mellow alternative which can go great with pasta with red sauces and beef.

Wine Tasting

Wine available for purchase.

What I found very interesting was that there were actually tenants living in the estate and in different houses through out the acres of land! It is such a beautiful view to wake up to in the morning. I had a great time at the vineyard and hopefully I get to visit them when they have matured vines! The staff is all very friendly and I enjoyed the live singer singing “hey there delilah!”

Live SInger!