Sculpture Garden, Magnums

At the table

White fishDuckBeef & steakLambBurgersPasta

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 pastas, burgers and grilled fatty fish.

Description

This was the second year that our Sculpture Garden was grown and produced as a true field blend. This beautiful ruby red 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), picked together and fermented 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 and Slovenian oak barrels for 18 months. The wine was handled minimally (only racked once) and was bottled by gravity with no fining or filtration. The wine may throw sediment over time and we would recommend decanting after several years in the bottle. While delicious now this wine will improve for six to eight years and drink wonderfully for a decade. Our 2010 Sculpture Garden smells of sweet fruit and is awash in aromas and flavors of black raspberry, black plum, black cherry, black liquorice in addition to coffee/toffee notes. There is an underlying earthy minerality and touch of smoke, bacon and brown spice in this seductive and complex red wine. The wine is dry and retains a medium body, moderate alcohol and balanced acidity. The wine reflects the ripe, dry 2010 growing season with very ripe fruit coupled with medium acidity and medium body 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. 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 pastas, burgers and grilled fatty fish.