Dan's Papers - October 6, 2006 - Over the Barrel... with Lenn Thompson

Walk into any wine shop and you'll see rows of Pindar Vineyards wines lining the shelves. Long Island's largest producer, making over 60,000 cases annually enjoys the widest distribution and best name recognition of any local winery. They've also been around a long time by local industry standards. Dr. Herodotus "Dan" Damianos founded Pindar Vineyards back in 1979 and Dr. Dan and his three sons, Alex, Jason and Pindar still manage the operation, making it the oldest vineyard under continuous family ownership.

When you're making (and have to sell) 720,000 bottles of wine every year, you need to appeal to the masses and Pindar does that with sweet blended wines that are made by the lake full. Wines that fall into this category include their popular Winter White, Spring Splendor, Sweet Scarlet and Summer Blush wines. These aren't serious wines by any means, but they have their place, just not on my table.

Pindar's winemaker, Jason Damianos, also crafts a wide array of varietal wines, some unremarkable, some good and some much better than good. And most are respectable values, which isn't always the case with local wines.

I didn't get to taste Pindar's 2005 Johannisberg Riesling ($15) before it sold out, which speaks to its quality and popularity. I've enjoyed previous vintages immensely.

At $10, Pindar's 2004 Peacock Chardonnay represents a pretty good value. Production information isn't readily available, but my guess is that this wine was fermented in steel and then aged briefly in oak barrel. The nose offers clean pear, Golden Delicious apple and vanilla oak aromas. Simple, but flavorful on the palate, pear dominates with subtle pineapple notes. The acidity is intense - almost to point of tasting artificial - and makes this a wine best enjoyed with food.

Created specifically for Dr. Damianos, Pindar Vineyards' Pythagoras ($13) represents an excellent value in red wine. Medium garnet in the glass, this blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot and Malbec is a juicy table red that, again shines brightest with food. The nose is plummy with violets and musky notes. Fruity and low tannin, this non-vintage blend is medium bodied with plum, blackberry and black pepper notes. Juicy and with terrific acidity, this is a nice everyday option.

Damianos' 2001 Merlot ($15) has a slightly sweet nose with plum, prune and black cherry aromas and sugary oak notes. Fruity and low tannin, it offers more plum and some blueberry flavors, but the oak is a bit raw for my taste. 2001 is well known as a tremendous vintage on Long Island, but wines from 2000 offer impressive quality as well. More delicate and elegant than the bold 2001s, Pindar offers two 2000s worth noting.

The Pindar 2000 Merlot Reserve ($19) offers an initial sniff that is dominated by toasty oak, but subsequent ones filled my nose with vanilla, raspberries and plums. On the palate, softly gripping, dusty tannins frame an elegant but robust wine with fruit flavors balanced by hints of cigar box.

Pindar's 2000 Mythology ($30) is a fine red that one might not expect to find at a winery so popular with the white zinfandel crowd. This medium crimson wine has a layered nose of black cherry, black currant and black plum that is accented by subtle, but discernable, tobacco undertones. 31-percent cabernet sauvignon, 24-percent merlot, 22-percent cabernet franc, 12-percent Malbec and 11-perent petit verdot, this is Pythagoras' big brother in many ways. Much fuller bodied and more complex, it displays layers of dark fruit with tobacco, vanilla and oak. The tannins are very well integrated, gripping only slightly and while the finish could be a bit longer, this is a well balanced wine.