Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Wine:Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve  (North Fork of Long Island)

Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
(North Fork of Long Island)



On the North Fork, there is an un-official red wine grape pecking order. At the top is the Merlot grape, lauded by many observers as the king of Long Island grapes. It has earned such a reputation with good reason. It seems ideally suited to the regions climate and soil conditions – and consistently leads to the region’s best wines.

Next in line is Cabernet Franc, genetic parent to Cabernet Sauvignon and known mostly for its popularity in the Loire region of Franc. It ripens early compared to its offspring and results in several different styles of red wine – from un-oaked, Chinon-style bottlings to richer, sometimes heavily oaked renditions that almost seem Cabernet Sauvignon-like in their style and profile.

Last but far from least – to me anyway – is Cabernet Sauvignon. The king of California reds doesn't hold the throne here because it doesn't always ripen fully here, leading to significant vintage-to-vintage variation. In a wet or cool year, Long Island cab can taste very green and have harsh, astringent tannins. A lot of the time it's used for rose or just blended into other things in down years.

But in the good years – wow. 2001 was one such year and Castello di Borghese’s 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon is a terrific example of this wine's potential on the North Fork. With elegant, refined red cherry and earthy aromas, this is East Coast cab at its finest and a wine that many California winemakers or wine lovers might not even recognize. The palate is beautifully balanced with ripe, well-integrated tannins, red cherry, sweet cedar and crushed fall leaves and just a hint of spice.

Reviewed April 11, 2007 by Lenn Thompson.




Other reviewed wines from Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery

 

The Wine

Winery: Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery
Vintage: 2001
Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Appellation: North Fork of Long Island
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: 750ml $35.00

Review Date: 4/11/2007

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.