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Mood Upbeat as Palmer Vineyards Releases 2010 Wines, LI's First Albariño

On the 25th anniversary of its opening one of Long Island's oldest wineries hosts a party to mark the release of new wines.

Palmer Vineyards, is marking  the 25th anniversary of its first vintage, but hasn’t had much good news in the last couple of years . Robert Palmer, who bought his vineyard in 1983 and opened a winery in 1986, died in January 2009. Nine months later, the Palmer family put its 90-acre property up for sale.  It has not been sold.

The mood at the winery, however, was decidedly upbeat Thursday evening as the winery hosted other owners, wine retailers, restaurateurs and journalists at a party to mark the release of five new wines, four of them from the 2010 vintage, including Long Island’s first albariño, a dry white wine with roots in northern Spain and Portugal.

Indeed, it was a big deal for the winery, one of Long Island’s oldest, which used a four-color fold-out invitation printed on heavy paper to invite its guests, who sipped the wines on the winery’s deck and on the lawn adjoining its vines while munching on hors d'œuvres from the Stone Creek Inn of East Quogue.

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“Two thousand ten was a great year,” said one of Palmer’s daughters, Kathy Le Morzellec, explaining the hoopla. “Everything in 2010 came out great,” said Le Morzellec, who now runs the winery.

Winemaker Miguel Martin echoed that sentiment, saying that the 2010 vintage will be remembered for its superb quality.

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Albariño is the major grape of Galicia, in the northwestern region of Spain, and the Vino Verde region of Portugal (where it is spelled "alvarinho"). The grape was planted by Palmer Vineyards four years ago, soon after the arrival of  Martin, a Spaniard, who convinced his boss that the grape could do well on Long Island which has a similar climate to its origins. Albariño generally thrives in warm, sunny days, and breezy, foggy nights. It is not commonly planted in the United States.

Palmer Vineyard’s 2010 harvest was the first crop from the less than an acre of albariño vines planted.  Martin produced only 25 cases of the wine and bottled it in 500ml bottles.  A price has not been set.

“The wine is delicious. It’s crisp and clean, a little less fruit forward,” said Charles Zeitz, owner of Cork 'N Jug Wines & Liquors in Hampton Bays. “It’s great to see them taking a risk with a different varietal. There’s so much chardonnay.”

Jim Waters, owner of Waters Crest Winery in Cutchogue, another attendee, said. “Albariño is different. It’s really going to be something interesting to watch."

The other just-released wines are 2008 cabernet franc, 2010 sauvignon blanc, 2010 pinot blanc and 2010 merlot rosé. The winery hosts a public release tasting event for the wines on Saturday.

Click here for a photo gallery of the event.

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