Long Island Merlot Tops Wines From Other Regions In Blind Taste-Off

Atop three tables lined end to end in a side room at the City Winery restaurant in Manhattan, 14 bottles of wine, each covered with white paper, each with a bright red number, were put to the test yesterday.

Over the course of four hours, dozens of wine writers, retailers, restaurant beverage staffers and a few Long Island winemakers moved down the line, pouring, examining, smelling, slurping and spitting — and, most importantly, scoring the wines — all 2007 merlots or merlot-based blends, half of them from the East End. The rest were from other regions around the world, selected with the guidance of a prominent wine importer.

The result, Wölffer Estate Vineyards Christian’s Cuvée 2007, the priciest bottle in the tasting at $100, scored almost 86.86 points to finish No. 1.

The rest of the scoring:

No. 2: Swanson Merlot Oakville, Napa Valley 2007, $29, 86.5 points.

No. 3: Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot Napa Valley 2007, $55, 86.39.

No. 4: Chateau La Conféssion St. Emilion, France 2007, $42, 86.04.

No. 5: Freemark Abbey Merlot, Napa Valley 2007, $28, 85.75.

No. 6: McCall Wines Ben’s Blend, 2007, $45, 85.43.

No. 7: Chateau La Fleur Cardinale, St. Emilion, France, 2007, $45, 84.96.

No. 8: Chateau Ste. Michelle Canoe Ridge Estate Merlot, Horse Heaven Hills, Columbia River, Washington 2007, $25, 84.32.

No. 9/10 (tie): Clovis Point Vintners Select Merlot 2007, $35, 84.11

No. 9/10: Long Island Merlot Alliance Merliance 2007,  $35, 84.11

No. 11: Sherwood House Vineyards Merlot 2007, $25, 83.46.

No, 12 Raphael First Label Merlot 2007, $42, 8.21

No. 13: Castello di Borghese Merlot Reserve 2007, $29, 83.18

No. 14: Chateau La Croix Saint-Georges, Pomerol, France, 2007, $58, 82.96.

The wines were scored on a 100-point scale.

“We’re trying to show to show that Long Island merlots and merlot blends can hold their own in the company of these other regions,” said Donnell Brown, executive director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance, which sponsored the blind tasting, where tasters knew nothing about the wines they sampled.

The Long Island wines were from seven of Long Island’s approximately 40 wine producers who are members of the trade group formed in 2005 to promote merlot as Long Island’s signature grape.

“This is cool,” said Les Howard, winemaker at Raphael, a Peconic winery and member of the trade group.  Other members are: Castello di Borghese, Cutchogue; Clovis Point, Jamesport; McCall Wines, Cutchogue; Pellegrini Vineyards, Cutchogue; Sherwood House Vineyards, Mattituck, and Wölffer Estate Vineyard, Sagaponack.

Ms. Brown said she had hoped to attract more than a hundred participants, but noted the Long Island event was in competition with other wine tastings-taking place in the city.

“It’s hard to get people to come out in the afternoon,” said Hal Ginsberg, treasurer of the group and co-owner of Clovis Point.

“There wasn’t any one wine [in the tasting] that I would put into the knock- your-socks-off category,” one taster said.

Meanwhile, Miguel Martin, winemaker at Palmer Vineyards, Riverhead, attempted to place the origins of certain bottles as he tasted through the lineup. “This one is Napa,” he said of a bottle that appeared to have a high level of alcohol.” Another bottle, he said, was from Italy.

A group of VIP tasters, among them sommeliers and critics, sampled and scored the wines later at a dinner.

The 2007 Long Island vintage was by most accounts near perfect.

By comparison it was a difficult year for Bordeaux. Critics characterized wines from top châteaux as soft, fruit-forward and charming, but with limited ageing potential. 

The Wine Spectator, meanwhile, rated the 2007 vintage in Napa Valley as B-plus, and gave an A to Washington State.