Dan's Papers - October 13, 2006 - Letter From Dan's Wine Guide Editor: Comments, Please

Those of you who follow this section of Dan's Papers will remember from our last issue (September 1) that I reported on the results of our Second Annual Great Bordeaux-Style Wine Tasting, in which about a dozen participants blind-tasted and rated thirteen wines - six from the world's greatest wine regions, primarily France, and seven from Long Island. The local red blends did extremely well again this year, with winemaker/proprietor Roman Roth's 2002 Grapes of Roth coming in second in the Merlot-based category (Right Bank) behind Bordeaux's 2001 Chateau Pavie and Paumanok's 2002 Assemblage rounding an impressive third, easily besting the venerable La Mission Haut-Brion, rated a perfect 100 by Robert Parker.

In the Cab-based category (Left Bank), the winning 2002 Cardinale from California had both chef Matt Murphy and myself believing it was a First Growth, while Paumanok's 2002 GV Cabernet took second and the Lenz 2001 "Old Vines" Cab captured third. The shocker was the 2001 Chateau Margaux: a very disappointing last place.

But as I wrote before, "winning," or beating the others in terms of ratings, tells only part of the story, and not necessarily the most interesting part. The most telling assessments are individual comments, and following are the highlights.

"A great food wine," wrote Greenporter Hotel proprietor Deborah Rivera of the Lenz 2000 "Old Vines" Merlot. "Dark fruit forward," she said of the Jamesport 2002 Melange de Trois. "French?" she hazarded. "Either a great Long Island or French in the Bordeaux style," commented Rivera about Grapes of Roth. Answer: a great Long Island. "Elegant, complex, long finish," wrote Shelter Island resident/Corcoran broker Lisa Gilpin, recognizing the great qualities of the esteemed Chateau Pavie. "Lively, reductive, nice tannins and structure, round and soft," was Lenz winemaker Eric Fry's praise for fellow winemaker Roth's Shinn Estate 2004 Nine Barrels Reserve Merlot. "Good forward fruit, nice finish," Fry wrote about his own 2001 Lenz Cabernet, not knowing it was his. "Great tannins, elegant fruit," wrote Roman Roth about Jamesport's Melange. "Very elegant, long finish," wrote Dushy Roth, Roman's wife, about the '02 Paumanok Assemblage. "New World," she commented innocently but correctly about her husband's impressive Grapes of Roth.

And it is a new world indeed for Long Island wines. This tasting provided just one more example, as did Robert Parker's Wine Advocate's presence here in the beginning of this year, that, yes, Long Island wines are now on stage in the theater of the truly great wines of the world. Cheers.

Susan Whitney Simm is Dan's Wine Guide editor. Look for results of the First Annual Great Pinot Noir Tasting in the November Wine Guide (Thanksgiving issue). Email ssimm@optonline.net