The First Annual Great Champagne Tasting Results

By Susan Whitney Simm

When David and I first decided to host blind wine tastings, our goal, in addition to drinking some of finest wines in the world and sharing them with friends, was to assess the state of our local wine industry.

If someone lives on the East End, or visits from Manhattan and other parts of Long Island, they hear stories, both good and bad, about our local wines. The region is very young, especially by European standards, and so there is, of course, much to learn. Despite this youth, in each tasting that we have held, one or more local entries have done surprisingly well against very formidable competition.

In this Champagne and sparkling wine tasting (don't call it Champagne just because it has bubbles! See Christopher Miller's story beginning on page 117), in which we asked all tasters to choose their top three favorites, the Martha Clara Blanc de Blancs ($30) was the obvious "winner," in my opinion, despite the fact that the Salon, the priciest Champagne in the lineup at $325, got the most votes. The Salon should have done well, and it did.

Lenz Winemaker Eric Fry praised the MC, finding it "clean and crisp, with good balance." The Old Field co-owner Ros Baiz agreed. Restaurateur John Ross echoed these sentiments with "small bubbles, beautiful balance." Scrimshaw owner Rosa Ross and her chef, Jerome Charpentier, who comes from Champagne, both believed it could be French. This is not surprising. Martha Clara Winemaker Gilles Martin is from France, and he came to Long Island after a stint at Roederer Estate in California, which also had a winning entry, third place, in the tasting.

Other local wines that, though they may not have made the top three, garnered praise from high places. Christopher Miller, a CIA-trained chef, accredited sommelier, consultant to high end stores such as Sherry-Lehmann and writer for this section, praised the Wolffer Cuvee ($35) as having "a fine mousse and long, clean finish." The Old Field Blanc de Noir ($40) scored points with Melissa Miller, an executive with Winebow, who described it as having a "full palate and long finish." Husband Chris called it "elegant," and questioned if it was French. (In fact, ALL of Chris' top three were local wines, and that is high praise indeed from someone with his credentials.) The 2000 Lenz Cuvee ($30) was in John Ross' top three, and Sue Lorenzo, who used to work in the industry, praised Lieb's Blanc de Blancs ($35) and rated it number two, right next to the Salon.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the tasting, however, was that the Roederer Estate L'Ermitage scored more votes than its French counterpart, the legendary Louis Roederer Cristal. Add to this the fact that a local wine made by a Frenchman, Gilles Martin, took home the gold for Long Island, and all of sudden it isn't such a stretch to compare our region to those in France after all.

Look for the results of our Third Annual Great Bordeaux-style Tasting in Dan's Labor Day issue.

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