2018 Sculpture Garden — The Hamptons, Long Island AVA

This is the tenth year that our Sculpture Garden is grown and produced as a true red field blend. This beautiful light ruby red colored wine consists of 91% Merlot, 6% Teroldego and 3% Blaufränkisch. All the varieties were grown together in our Sculpture Garden Vineyard (the oldest on the South Fork, planted in 1982 & 1987), picked together and fermented wild/ambiently together. All the fruit was hand-harvested, de-stemmed but not crushed, stomped on by foot and punched down by hand. The wine went through a natural malo-lactic fermentation and was raised in older French oak barrels for 18 months. The wine was handled minimally (only racked once) and was bottled on April 8th, 2020. The wine may throw sediment over time and we would recommend decanting after several years in the bottle. The wine is delicious now and has even started to show some secondary aromas but will still improve in the bottle wonderfully for another four to eight years and drink well for a decade plus. Our 2018 Sculpture Garden smells of red and black fruit and is awash in aromas and fruit flavors of black raspberry, red plum, red cherry and briary boysenberry in addition to some smoke, brown baking spice notes and cedar chest. There is an underlying beautifully inviting tar resin and tobacco leaf quality in this seductive and complex red wine. The wine is dry and retains a medium body, moderate alcohol and balanced acidity. Our 2018 Sculpture Garden displays ripe fruit coupled with juicy acidity and youthful tension which beautifully expresses our maritime climate with its savory rather than sweet palate and elegance that is alluring. There is always a silky, smooth, supple quality to our Sculpture Garden and the great length is complemented by a textural, aromatic and flavor complexity, whose qualities truly improve with age (really, try this wine a decade out)! When feeling more formal pair this wine with Long Island duck, lamb chops or a prime rib roast and when you're in a more casual mood match with rich meaty pastas, burgers and grilled fatty fish. Just 268 cases produced.