Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Wine:Peconic Bay Winery 2006 Rosé of Merlot  (North Fork of Long Island)

Peconic Bay Winery

2006 Rosé of Merlot
(North Fork of Long Island)



As much as I love it when wine drinkers "get" rosé, I love it even more when wineries do. In the past, Peconic Bay Winery has made some sweet, koolaid-esque rosé. It was fruity, sugary and probably extremely popular with the White Zin crowd. But, this new rosé - a dry, elegant one - is quite different. According to the back label, it's made with Merlot grapes with some steel-fermented Chardonnay, and the result is fresh and thirst quenching.

On the nose there's a lot of citrus - grapefruit and lime - with hints of watermelon. It's lively on the palate and tastes like a fresh watermelon slice sprinkled with fresh lime juice...without the sweetness of fresh watermelon. Nicely balanced acidity leaves it clean on the finish. It's probably best suited to sipping on its own, but I could see enjoying this with any summer lunch - salads, sandwiches, seafood.

While not as nuanced as some of the other local 2006 rosés on the market, it's still a good, satisfying rosé for $14. And at the end of the day, isn't that what rosé is supposed to be, satisfying?

Reviewed August 31, 2007 by Lenn Thompson.

 

Other Awards & Accolades

Gold Medal - 2009 Best of Appellation Evaluation

The Wine

Winery: Peconic Bay Winery
Vintage: 2006
Wine: Rosé of Merlot
Appellation: North Fork of Long Island
Grapes: Merlot (82%), Chardonnay (10%), Cabernet Franc (8%)
Price: 750ml $14.00

Review Date: 8/31/2007

The Reviewer

Lenn Thompson

Lenn Thompson writes about New York wines for Dan's Papers,
Long Island Press, Long Island Wine Gazette, Edible East End
and Hamptons.com. Two words describe his taste in wine — balance and nuance. Lenn prefers food-friendly, elegant wines to jammy, over-extracted fruit bombs and heavy-handed oak. When reviewing, Lenn tastes each wine three times — alone right after opening, with food, and again the next day — believing that 90-second reviews are unrealistic and not how the average person enjoys wine.