Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to the North Fork of Long Island for the day. It was a 3 hour drive from Poughkeepsie. It was a long day.
I went to 4 wineries/vineyards in this order
- Pindar
- Laurel Lake
- Jamesport
- Paumanok
The two tasting rooms I most enjoyed were Pindar and Jamesport. The experience as well as the wine. Remember when you go wine tasting, it’s not all about the wine, it’s about the experience and the tasting room staff plays a large part of what your experience is going to be.
At Pindar I tasted 8 wines. The one I like the most was the 2005 Chardonnay – Peacock Label. This is a new release that also won a Gold Medal. It was crisp with hints of pear and apple with subtle notes of vanilla from oak aging. This wine was very reasonable priced at $9.99 a bottle.
We tasted a lovely 2006 Sauvignon Blanc at Jamesport. The wine I liked the best was the 2003 East End Cinq. Unfortunately the only bottle they had left was the bottle we tasted out of. Bummer.
The Riesling at Paumanok was very good. It was semi sweet and will pair nice with spicy food.
Overall, it was a nice day, tasting some nice wines. I was however disappointed in the reds I tasted. They lacked depth and character. As we move into the colder months, I personally tend to drink more red wines. I was surprised all my purchases were white wines.