Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Wine:Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery 2005 Chardonnay  (North Fork of Long Island)

Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery

2005 Chardonnay
(North Fork of Long Island)



Even the most casual Long Island wine lover knows Castello di Borghese, located in Cutchogue. Their vineyards are where the Long Island wine industry got its start back in 1973 – then known as Hargrave Vineyard after founders Alex and Louisa Hargrave. As such, a visit to Castello di Borghese offers visitors a chance to travel back to the infancy of Long Island wine. That's this producer's past.

What about it's present?

Castello di Borghese 2005 Chardonnay ($15) won a gold medal at the 2007 Florida State International Wine Competition, but that's not why this wine is good. It's just hard for me to trust some of these competitions. I prefer to taste wines myself and see what's what. But they got it right this time.

This steel-fermented Chardonnay is medium bodied with bushels of fresh apples and citrus on the nose and just a little brown spice – the result of aging in older oak barrels. On the palate, there are more apples – ripe and roasted – along with some slightly tropical flavors and vanilla spice. As I often find with Borghese wines, the balance is impressive with nice acidity that keeps the wine alive in your mouth.

Reviewed May 8, 2007 by Lenn Thompson.




Other reviewed wines from Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery

 

The Wine

Winery: Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery
Vintage: 2005
Wine: Chardonnay
Appellation: North Fork of Long Island
Grape: Chardonnay
Price: 750ml $14.99

Review Date: 5/8/2007

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.