Dans Hamptons

When compared to wine regions like California or Spain, Long Island is a decidedly cool-climate wine region. And the South Fork is actually even a bit cooler, with a growing season, is typically ten or so days shorter. This shorter season can make it harder to ripen red wine grapes in some years. But the cool winds that blow in off of the Atlantic also help preserve acidity, making the Hamptons perhaps better suited to white wines.

Channing Daughters Winery, one of three wineries in the Hamptons American Viticultural Area (AVA) is doing some of the most exciting things with white wine on the entire East Coast. But, they think it’s only natural.

Winemaker Christopher Tracy compares the local conditions to that of Friuli in Northern Italy where white wine rules. To anyone who has visited many local wineries, the Friuli comparision is unique, with Bordeaux the usual suggested sister region.

Over the holidays, I enjoyed my last bottle of Channing Daughters Winery’s 2004 L’Enfant Sauvage Chardonnay ($35). L’Enfant Sauvage translates as “Wild Child” and gets its name from the fact that it is fermented only with native, or wild, yeasts. Every year, the grapes come from Channing Daughters’ Sculpture Garden and Brick Kiln vineyards, which were hand harvested and whole cluster pressed. The resulting juice took over a year to complete fermentation and spent 14 months in new French oak.

Lush, intricate, and balanced, it is an ordinary enough light gold — a color that belies it’s full body, wonderfully complex aromas and delicious flavors. Fresh and roasted pears, vanilla spice, marzipan and baking spice mingle in the nose and on the palate, with faint honey notes and nicely balanced acidity and a little minerality. The 2004 has been sold out for a while, but they just released the 2005 vintage to their wine club. It’s a wine I look forward to every year and I’d expect the new release to be bigger and even fuller-flavored given the hot vintage.

A couple of months ago, Tracy also released his Channing Daughters 2005 Brick Kiln Chardonnay ($20). The 100% chardonnay fruit that went into this wine was hand picked from their Brick Kiln Vineyard, whole cluster pressed and barrel fermented. It displays aromas of juicy pear, vanilla, baking spice and just a small squirt of lemon. In the palate, the spices really come through — mostly nutmeg and cinnamon — with fruity pear and apple flavors on a palate that is balanced and shows just a little spicy lees character. This baking spice character could be considered one of Tracy’s signatures—in a good way. The finish, which is medium long, has a distinct pear note with a little butter. Drink now or over the next several years.

Man (or woman) cannot live on white wine alone, however. Particularly not now that the weather has finally turned cold. Tracy tends to make sultry, silky reds with hints of spice and Channing Daughters Vineyard 2004 Mudd ($40) fits that luxurious bill. This blend of 61% merlot, 28% cabernet sauvignon, 4.5% Blaufrankisch, 4% cabernet franc and 2.5% dornfelder has them both the spice and mouthfeel one would expect from a Channing Daughters red, but it’s definitely ‘kicked up a notch’ to borrow a phrase from an annoying TV chef. Medium crimson with a ruby rim, the nose ooozes with red cherry and plum aromas accented by cinnamon and sweet oak.

The palate features lively cherry and raspberry flavors along with vanilla, oak and just-noticeable acidity. The tannins are fine grained and reasonably well integrated, though some bottle aging will reward the patient purchaser. The finish is lengthy and silky smooth.

Another new release, 2005 Rosso Fresco ($18) replaces the Fresh Red Merlot in the winery’s portfolio and goes beyond merlot. Unfortunately, a bad head cold is keeping me from trying it right now. Look for tasting notes in a future column.