Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Vineyard 48 2005 Reserve Merlot  (North Fork of Long Island)

Vineyard 48

2005 Reserve Merlot
(North Fork of Long Island)



As much as I fight it by constantly lauding non-Merlot wines, Merlot does seem to rule the North Fork. Year in and year out, it consistently leads to the region’s best wines. And, the few Merlots I’ve had already from the hot, dry (until harvest time anyway) region, are big and ripe and did I mention big?

Vineyard 48, formerly Bidwell Vineyards, is still a relative newcomer to the North Fork and they were among the first to release red wines from the 2005 vintage. Despite being released probably a bit too early, this deeply extracted red features a ripe, rich nose with cherries, tobacco and a little spice mingling. Super-ripe, almost sweet, fruit flavors of red berries, cherries and currants flood over the palate, with just a little spice. This is definitely a plump wine that is even a little juicy - certainly not typical for Long Island.

Drinking pretty well now, I’m planning to re-taste this one in the future to see if some of Long Island’s typical secondary flavours appear - earth, herbs and the like.

Reviewed September 5, 2007 by Lenn Thompson.




Other reviewed wines from Vineyard 48

 

The Wine

Winery: Vineyard 48
Vintage: 2005
Wine: Reserve Merlot
Appellation: North Fork of Long Island
Grape: Merlot
Price: 750ml $29.99

Review Date: 9/5/2007

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.