Croteaux’s French countryside-inspired tasting garden
NORTH FORK BOUND!
One benefit of being a NYC dweller is the plethora of vinifera vines planted in our backyard, albeit one that requires an hour and a half drive to play in. What began as one vineyard planted in 1973 by the Hargrave’s—now known as Castello di Borghese—has bloomed into 60 vineyards and 56 wine producers. Last week, in my Village Voice column Unscrewed, I espoused the tenet of touring the North Fork to other NYers. Heeding my own advice, I composed a 3-prong plan to update myself on the greatest hits of the region, results to be published on this blog. I have been tasting through the North Fork for the last 12 years of my Manhattan residency, with both good, great and seriously lackluster results. Overall, the wines have consistently improved; but each vintage brings new weather and new players, so keeping abreast of change is an ongoing job that someone must do, and I have volunteered myself for the task. Below is a partial list of the wineries I am including in each taste-a-thon.
Part 1: Croteaux, Sparkling Pointe, Matebella and Anthony Nappa’s Wine Studio.
Part 2 tentatively includes: Clovis Point, Paumanok, Lieb Cellars, Shinn and Peconic Bay.
Part 3 will be a mop up of the rest. And of course, every tasting day invariably ends with a Sunset & Steamers session on the Pier at Claudio’s. Last week’s sundown was a stunner!
CHASING THE VINE 