Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Wine:Wolffer Estate Vineyard 2006 Pinot Gris  (Long Island)

Wolffer Estate Vineyard

2006 Pinot Gris
(Long Island)



Wolffer Estate, one of only three wineries located within the Hamptons AVA on Long Island, is best known for Chardonnay, Merlot and its always-popular Rosé. Winemaker Roman Roth uses estate-grown grapes to craft some of the East Coast's best Chardonnays and also makes one of the region's most luxurious wines, the $125 Premier Cru Merlot.

But over the past few vintages, Roth has looked to expand the portfolio a bit. To that end, he has started to hand selected some Pinot Gris grapes from Indian Neck Farm on the North Fork to make Wolffer Estate's 2006 Pinot Gris which is blended with 12% Chardonnay from his own vineyards.

Medium-bodied and quite elegant, this wine is anything but your average Pinot Grigio. In fact, it's a unique-to-Long Island expression of the grape best known for the rich wines of Oregon. Peaches, pears and faint citrus greet the nose with similar flavors on the palate that are joined by blanched almonds, honeydew and gentle acidity. The notion that "if it grows together, it goes together" certainly applies here – this wine is a delightful foil for local seafood. Only 230 cases were produced.

Reviewed July 17, 2007 by Lenn Thompson.

The Wine

Winery: Wolffer Estate Vineyard
Vintage: 2006
Wine: Pinot Gris
Appellation: Long Island
Grapes: Pinot Gris / Grigio (88%), Chardonnay (12%)
Price: 750ml $24.00

Review Date: 7/17/2007

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.