Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Shinn Estate Vineyards

NV RED
(North Fork of Long Island)


I have an announcement to make: I have a new favorite local red wine for every day, food-friendly drinking. Shinn Estate Vineyard's non-vintage Red ($14) is a blend of 75% merlot and 25% cabernet sauvignon. It isn't the most complex local merlot. It isn't the richest, deepest pour either...but it's ideally suited for food. Light-to-medium bodied, this wine actually has some pinot noir-like qualities despite the grapes involved. Light ruby in the glass, the nose is mainly raspberry and strawberris, with just the most subtle hints of spice. The palate is juicy red berries, hints of oak character, and terrific food-friendly acidity that is what makes this wine so charming.

It's not really non-vintage (all of the grapes came from 2004) but they want to keep their options open for future releases. I can only assume the same is true with the name -- at 75% merlot, they could legally label it merlot.

Reviewed April 25, 2006 by Lenn Thompson.

 

The Wine

Winery: Shinn Estate Vineyards
Vintage: NV
Wine: RED
Appellation: North Fork of Long Island
Grapes: Merlot (75%), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%)

Review Date: 4/25/2006

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.