Sylvanus is a wine of place, a vin de terroir. This bone-dry, aromatic white wine is a true field blend comprised of 60% Muscat, 30% Pinot Grigio and 10% Pinot Bianco all grown together, harvested together and fermented together. Sylvanus is not only the name of the wine, but the name of the vineyard and the legendary Green Man who this vineyard and wine honor. In creating a field blend as opposed to blending different wine lots together, we are capturing the essence of our time and place as expressed by the vineyard Sylvanus. All of the fruit was hand-harvested, whole cluster-pressed, fermented in stainless steel barrels (41%) and older oak barrels (59%). One bin of grapes was skin-fermented for 13 days and blended back in accounting for 18% and adding a punch of aromatics, flavor and texture. The wine was handled minimally and bottled by gravity on September 21, 2012. Our 2011 Sylvanus is pale-straw in color and possesses a clean, pronounced aromatic personality. The wine is medium-bodied, has moderate alcohol and juicy acidity. The flavors and aromas are reminiscent of grapes, tangerines, grapefruit, minerals and flowers like honeysuckle and nasturtium. Our Sylvanus is juicy, tangy and alive with a long gratifying almost spicy and saline finish. This is the perfect aperitif wine and also pairs with stuffed squash blossoms, fresh cheeses, oysters and clams on the half shell, light salads, or charcuterie. There is a lovely interplay between the light, ethereal qualities of this wine and its satisfying ripeness and swelling texture. Our 2011 Sylvanus encompasses the paradoxical quality of aromatic lift, lightness and fleshy weight. 258 cases and sixty plus kegs of the 2011 vintage were produced and we are proud to offer you this playful yet serious and delicious white wine.
2012 Refosco - Home Farm Vineyard
What can we say…Long Island Refosco has arrived! Since 2009 we have fashioned a beautiful rosato from our Refosco grapes, but in 2012 a section of the vineyard produced grapes that seemed to yearn to be made into red wine. It wasn’t a lot. Just enough to fill up two old hogsheads. But we did it and we are quite excited, and now you can taste the results. Refosco is a black grape variety native to Friuli-Venezia Giulia. We are the only winery on the East End growing and producing this variety. Our version smells and tastes of red and black stone fruits, dark berries, minerals, spice and flowers. As usual all the fruit was hand-picked, stomped on by foot, fermented in small one ton bins, punched down by hand and raised in older oak for thirteen months. The 2012 Refosco was bottled without fining or filtration on November 22nd, 2013. This is a tasty, juicy, exciting, invigorating red wine. Enjoy with roasts, braises, all things porcine, mushrooms, grains, duck and richly sauced fatty fish dishes. Only 58 cases were produced so do not wait…it will not last.
2004 Pazzo
Pazzo is delicious. Pazzo is an island wine. Pazzo is a fortified and madeirized wine made from the Merlot grape, the first and only on Long Island and maybe the world! This is the second bottling of our 2004 Pazzo. The first version spent five years in barrel, this version, the second coming (bottling), spent a little over seven years in barrel. For a long time we had wanted to create a wine to pair with all the activities that come after the entrée; whether that is a cheese course, or nuts or a dessert featuring chocolate or fruit or just a tipple sitting by a warm fire. Now we have just the right drink and it only took us five years to make the first bottling and 8 years to make the second! It all started with merlot fruit from the 2004 vintage that was hand-harvested and crushed by foot in small one ton bins as usual. The wine was fermented dry, then fortified to 18% alcohol (with neutral grape spirits), put in barrels and placed outside to madeirize for five years. This means the wine was subjected to the elements, the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter. The wine evaporates and is not topped up. The wine cooks, the wine oxidizes. Something magical begins to happen to the aromas and flavors, just like what happened to the Madeiras in the ballasts of ships making a trip across the equator a hundred and fifty years ago. Our Pazzo is filled with aromas and flavors of figs, caramel, orange peel, Christmas spices, raspberry liqueur, nuts and dried fruit. So when we finally decided to bottle some of this elixir, we took half of the wine (the other half remained outside for another couple years and that is this new release!) and when the merlot arrived for our rosato we pressed and settled the juice and added a bit of that sweet merlot juice to give our Pazzo just a pinch of sweetness. This was the final touch to bring the wine into that pleasure place of great balance, length and complexity. Pazzo means “mad” or “crazy” in Italian and this is our play and nod to the island of Madeira, and her wines, and the fact we are a little nuts to make a wine like this…though when you taste it you will be as happy as we are that we did. This second bottling is remarkably similar to the first with a bit more richness from continued evaporation (the Angel’s share) and a bit more depth and complexity. 228 cases (of half bottles) produced.
VerVino Vermouth - Variation 1 Batch 2
SPRING; WHITE
Base of Sauvignon Blanc. 30 plus botanicals.
Botanicals include calendula, fennel, sage, nasturtium, lemon balm, rose, basil, black birch, chives and spiked za’tar.
VVV1 Batch #1 208 cases / made in early June 2013 / alc. 18 % / residual sugar 4.16 grams per liter
VVV1 Batch #2 358 cases / made in early June 2014 / alc. 19.5% / residual sugar 5.78 grams per liter
VerVino Vermouth - Variation 2
EARLY SUMMER; WHITE
Base of Sauvignon Blanc. 30 plus botanicals. Slightly spicy…
Botanicals include thai green chili peppers, paper lantern habaneros, jalapeños, borage, tarragon, cucumbers, angelica and zucchini blossoms.
VVV2 Batch #1 232 cases / made in July 2013 / alc. 20% / residual sugar 5.5 grams
VVV2 Batch #2 188 cases / made in July 2014 / alc. 19.7% / residual sugar 7.95 grams
VerVino Vermouth - Variation 3 Batch 2
early summer; pink
Base of rosé wine.
Thirty plus botanicals. Botanicals include beets, arugula, black birch, fennel, blueberries and much more.
VVV3 Batch #1 84 cases / made in July 2013 / alc. 19% / residual sugar 11.51 grams
VVV3 Batch #2 138 cases / made in July 2014 / alc. 19.4% / residual sugar 14.58 grams
VVV3 Batch #3 157 cases / made in July 2015 / alc. 21% / residual sugar 9.64 grams
VerVino Vermouth - Variation 4
late summer; pink
Thirty plus botanicals. Botanicals include red and yellow watermelon, shitake mushrooms, carrots, rose petals, mint, rosemary and much more.
VVV4 Batch #1 198 cases / made in August/September 2013 / alc.19.8 % / residual sugar 9.65 grams
VVV4 Batch #2 237 cases / made in August/September 2014 / alc. 19.8% / residual sugar 10.05 grams
VerVino Vermouth - Variation 5
late summer, white
Base of white wine, usually a blend like our Mosaico.
Thirty plus botanicals. Botanicals include musk melon, peaches, flowering basil, flowering dill, lemon balm, papalo, lemon verbena and more.
VVV5 Batch #1 182 cases / made in August/September 2013 / alc. 18.3% / residual sugar 7.93 grams
VVV5 Batch #2 208 cases / made in August/September 2014 / alc.19.9% / residual sugar 9.29 grams
VerVino Vermouth - Variation 6
Autumn; Red
Base of red wine...often Petit Verdot and Sculpture Garden.
Botanicals include apples, Asian pears, pumpkin, butternut squash, calendula, sage, borage and more...
VVV6 Batch #1 190 cases / made in October/November of 2014 / Alc.19.26% / residual sugar 19.45 grams
