Kenta's Long Island Wine Review

(last updated on September 22, 2003)
(note on September 22, 2003)
I am partially back on Long Island after spending almost three years in my home country, Japan. My LI wine pages may/will not be updated, however, as frequently as they used to be, as I am no longer a full-time islander.
First of all, please be notified that I am not an expert of wine in any sense. I just like it. All information in this page is solely based on my personal preference, which could be far from yours. I will be more than happy if you kindly send me your comments and/or suggestions.
Contents of This Page:

Kenta's Recommended Wines & Wineries

The Best Buy

(updated on August 8, 1999)
Watch out new recommendations coming soon here.

I used to recommend:

as the best wine available on Long Island, considering the quality and price, but now it seems almost extinct. In case you ever find it at a wine store, buy it ! More recent Hargrave Chardonnays are also very nice and worthwhile to try.

A perhaps better Chardonnay if you prefer stronger vanilla aroma is from South Fork:

Wineries You Should Not Miss

(updated on September 22, 2003)
I recommend you visit the Long Island wineries by your own. About a half of them still offer free tasting as they have long been doing, while some wineries recently started to charge a nominal fee of $1-2 per person and sometimes charging extra $5-6 to taste their most expensive wines. Even with the fees it is worthwhile to try as many kinds of wine as they pour for you to find what matches your own preference, and I promise you find it a great joy !! An advantage of touring wineries on Long Island over in California is that they are relatively small and hence located close to one another. You can easily visit as many as ten wineries in a day, unless you get drunk before that. It may be, however, almost impossible to visit all the wineries in the region on your single visit. In such a case, I would suggest you NOT miss these wineries...
North Fork
(Hargrave Vineyard)
(Was my favorite. Made great reds as well as whites. Sold and gone.)
Bidwell Vineyards
Makes great and quite reasonable whites and pricy but excellent reds.
Pindar Vineyards
The largest on the Island. Offers good wines at very reasonable prices; so many good buys.
The Lenz Winery
A favorite of my wife.
Beddel Cellars
A must-visit if you want reasonable table wine.
Paumanok Vineyards
A must-visit if you want great sweet dessert wine.
South Fork
Wollfer Estate Sagpond Vineyards
Our favorite on the southern peninsula (though there are just a few there now).

Kenta's Recent Choice of Wines

(as of September 22, 2003)
Here is a list of Long Island wines which I bought since the summer of 1995 (sorry, I did not keep a record before that; plus I cannot remember several others I bought for parties). Since most of the wines were selected based on tasting at the wineries, this list itself should represent (or at least imply) my preference in wine. Some of the best wines on the Island may not be in my choice, if they are not reasonably priced from my point of view.

(note on October 7, 1996; updated on January 29, 1998)
Trying to make the list more informative for you, I decided to list the approximate suggested retail prices and my comments if available. Most of the listed wines cost $10-15 a bottle (with some exceptions over $20), though I have to leave some of the "price" columns blank as I had not recorded them and cannot remember. You should notice Long Island wines are generally a bit more pricey compared to California wines. It seems to me like the tendency is getting stronger in the last couple of years, and I regret many wineries overprice, in my opinion, their top-of-the-line wines.

(updated on May 14, 1997)
Note: some of the wines listed may no longer be in stock at the winery, but let's hope you are lucky enough to still find it at wine stores.

White Wines

Winery Year Name of the Wine Price (750ml) Comment
Beddel Cellars 1992 Silver Chardonnay    
1993 Silver Chardonnay    
1994 Gewürztraminer    
Silver Chardonnay $12  
N/V Cygnet $7.50 reasonable sipping wine
Main Road White $10 reasonable sipping wine
Bidwell Vineyards 1993 Riesling   highly recommended
1994 Sauvignon Blanc    
Sauvignon Blanc (Barrel Fermented)   highly recommended though pricey
White Riesling    
2000 Sauvignon Blanc $15  
The Bridgehampton Winery 1992 Chardonnay    
Duck Walk Vineyards 1994 Chardonnay Reserve $13  
Gristina Vineyards 1994 Chardonnay    
1995 Andy's Field Chardonnay $22  
Hargrave Vineyard 1993 Lattice Chardonnay $15 very highly recommended
1994 Chardonnet $7 real good buy
1995 Pinot en Blanc $10  
Lattice Chardonnay $13  
Lattice Chardonnay Reserve   not on the market
1998 Lattice Chardonnay $15  
Lattice Chardonnay Reserve $16  
Jamesport Vineyard 1993 Cox Lane Chardonnay $13  
1997 Cox Lane Chardonnay $15  
N/V Island Blanc $10  
Laurel Lake Vineyards 1997 Chardonnay Reserve $11  
The Lenz Winery 1992 Gewürztraminer   highly recommended
1993 Chardonnay    
Gewürztraminer $11  
1994 Pinot Blanc $11  
Macari Vineyard 1998 Pinot Blanc $12  
Palmer Vineyards 1993 Chardonnay (Barrel Fermented) $13  
1996 Chardonnay (Barrel Fermented)    
Paumanok Vineyards 1995 Chardonnay (Barrel Fermented) $15  
1997 Chenin Blanc $14  
Peconic Bay Vineyards 1993 White Riesling    
1995 Vin de l'Ile Blanc $10  
1997 Vin de l'Ile Blanc $11  
Pellegrini Vineyards 1994 Chardonnay $13  
1995 Chardonnay $13  
Pindar Vineyards 1993 Chardonnay Reserve    
Sunflower Chardonnay    
Peacock Johannisberg Riesling   reasonably priced
1994 Peacock Chardonnay    
Peacock Johannisberg Riesling   reasonably priced; highly recommended
1999 Peacock Johannisberg Riesling    
N/V Winter White $8 reasonable sipping wine
Wollfer Estate Sagpond Vineyards 1993 Domaine Wolffer Chardonnay Reserve    
1994 Domaine Wolffer Chardonnay Reserve $15 very highly recommended
1997 Wolffer Chardonnay Reserve $14.50  

Red Wines

Winery Year Name of the Wine Price (750ml) Comment
Beddel Cellars N/V Main Road Red $10 reasonable sipping wine
Bidwell Vineyards 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon Unfiltered Barrel Sample $25 not on the market
Hargrave Vineyard 1992 Lattice Merlot   highly recommended
1993 Lattice Cabernet Franc $14 highly recommended
1994 Lattice Cabernet Franc    
Le Noirien Pinot Noir $18  
1995 Lattice Cabernet Franc $15  
Lattice Cabernet Franc Reserve   not on the market
Le Noirien Pinot Noir $35 a top LI pinot noir
1997 Lattice Cabernet Franc $15  
1998 Lattice Cabernet Franc $15  
N/V Petit Chateau Cabernet Sauvignon $10 reasonably priced
Jamesport Vineyard 1995 Merlot    
Cabernet Franc $15  
The Lenz Winery 1992 Merlot    
Reserve    
1994 Merlot $30 a top LI merlot
Osprey's Dominion 1995 Merlot $15  
1996 Pinot Noir $16  
1997 Pinot Noir $22  
Pellegrini Vineyards 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon    
1993 Cabernet Sauvignon $15  
Pindar Vineyards 1988 Mythology $30  
1993 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve    
Cabernet Franc $17  
1994 Cabernet Franc $17  
Mythology $25  
1995 Cabernet Franc $11 real good buy
Mythology $37  
2000 Cabernet Franc    
N/V Pythagoras $11 new in 1999; good buy
Pugliese Vineyards 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon    
1995 Merlot Reserve    
Wollfer Estate Sagpond Vineyards 1994 Merlot $14 highly recommended
Ternhaven Cellars 1994 Claret D'Alvah $15 available at Corey Creek Vineyards

Rosé / Blush Wines

Winery Year Name of the Wine Price (750ml) Comment
Corey Creek Vineyards 1994 Rosé $10.50  
The Lenz Winery 1994 Blanc de Noir $8 reasonable sipping blush
Peconic Bay Vineyards N/V Blush $9  

Sparkling Wines

Winery Year Name of the Wine Price (750ml) Comment
The Lenz Winery 1991 Cuvée $20  
Pindar Vineyards 1988 Premier Cuvée    

Dessert Wines

Winery Year Name of the Wine Price (375ml) Comment
Duck Walk Vineyards 1994 Aphrodite Late Harvest Gewürztraminer $15  
Paumanok Vineyards 1993 Late Harvest Riesling   highly recommended
1994 Late Harvest Riesling $16  
Pindar Vineyards 1995 Cabernet Port $15  
Pugliese Vineyards 1993 Port Bello $15 sweet and strong red
1996 Late Harvest Niagara $10  

Vintage Years on Long Island

(updated on November 1, 1999)
We have had quite many good vintage years in 1990's here on Long Island. 1991 created good wines of some kinds, mainly red ones. While 1992 was a sort of disappointing year, 1993 was a terrific vintage (my favorite year), with a long and hot summer, clearly one of the best in this decade. 1994 wines are pretty good, too, though slightly overshadowed between two super years. Yes, 1995 was an excellent vintage, comparable to (some even say better than) 1993. The winning streak was unfortunately snapped in 1996 due to a cool and rainy summer. 1997 has, then, come out as another nice vintage. At this right moment, this is probably what you should look for on Long Island. Wines from 1998 are also getting fantastic, even with a hope to surpuss 1997, though many of 98'ers are still to emerge. The winemakers on Long Island expect 1999 also to be a great year. We should keep an eye if it can get any better than 1993 and 1995.

I am ignorant of vintages before 1991, but it is said that 1981, 1985 and 1990 were good years.

Please let me know if you have any comments and/or suggestions. Your information on Long Island wine will be greatly appreciated.
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Kenta's Long Island Wine Review - shigaki@bnl.gov