Grape Expectations: Long Island

An enormous poster hanging in the Lenz Winery tasting room reads: “How to save $2,595 on a bottle of wine.” It features a 2000 Château Pétrus—the legendary $2,650 Bordeaux that’s arguably the most expensive merlot on the planet—alongside a 2000 Lenz Old Vines Merlot, which costs $55. The message is, of course, that Lenz can hold its own against the best, as it did earlier this year at a blind tasting in New York City, where the Long Island winery came close to besting the vaunted domaines of France. Long Island’s narrow peninsula enjoys a relatively warm climate, the warmest in the state, but try as they might, local growers just can’t manage to ripen big, black cabernet sauvignon grapes the way Bordeaux’s can. On the other hand, I’ve heard merlot is doing quite well here, especially now that vintners are learning to coax the region’s terroir out of their grapes. My mission is to taste enough native wines to confirm the rumor.

Getting to the North Fork involves a two-hour drive from Boston to New London, Connecticut, and an hour-and-a-half ferry ride to Orient Point. From there, the 20-mile stretch of bucolic farm country—much of which feels like small-town New England—is easy to navigate. The bulk of Long Island’s 40 wineries sits between the scenic two-lane Main Road (Route 25) and the speedy four-lane Middle Road (Route 48). The latter is the autostrada for locals trying to avoid touring oenophiles. (Once, while vineyard-hopping along this route, I was nearly run off the road by an angry pickup truck driver.)

My copilot, co-palate, and wife, Antonia, and I wisely start on Main Road. While our goal is to ferret out exemplary merlots, we try several whites as well. The buzz on area chardonnay is that oak is finally in retreat, meaning no more mouth-puckering sharpness or French-toast aftertaste. Macari Vineyards, for example, pours us its 2004 Estate chardonnay. It’s fresh and creamy, and—drum roll, please—tastes like unadulterated chardonnay grapes. We also like Macari’s 2002 Estate merlot, with its hints of violet and eucalyptus. A quick detour to the Village Cheese Shop in Mattituck provides an alfresco picnic for our next stop, the sprawling chalet building that houses Pellegrini Vineyards. At the otherwise tranquil tasting bar, a George Costanza type tries to badger his mother into taking a sip of chardonnay—to no avail. His father rolls his eyes. So do I, then gulp down the delicious, raspberry-scented 2002 East End merlot. Meanwhile Antonia sips, and approves of, the aforementioned Burgundian-style chardonnay.

At neighboring Bedell Cellars, everything is impressive—from the gorgeous, wisteria-dripping pergola out front (the mother of all huppahs) to the vast, loftlike tasting room hidden behind the original farmhouse. Inside, Bill Thompson does what he’s been doing for 16 years: pours us a drink and asks how we’re doing. “Just fine,” we answer, after a sip of the unctuous 2005 gewürztraminer, followed by the plush, juicy 2005 Taste White, a blend of chardonnay, gewürztraminer, viognier, and riesling. I confess my mission to Thompson and he sneaks me not-yet-released barrel samples from 2005, reputedly the best vintage ever on Long Island. His 2005 merlot is nothing less than a flavor monster in the making.

Back at Lenz, we take heed of the poster and ask to taste the famous vintage. We are not disappointed. The 2000 Old Vines merlot is a beautifully balanced powerhouse of pepper, leather, and coffee. How does it compare with the 2000 Château Pétrus? We haven’t the foggiest, nor do we care. The North Fork merlots have us feeling perfectly content, and looking forward to a nice long nap on the ferry ride home.

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