Wolffer, Shinn wines hold their own
Earlier this month, Long Island wines went up against wines from California, the Finger Lakes, France, Germany and Spain at a symposium on cool-climate wines.
In the first such event in 20 years - last time, it was in France - local winemakers and those from afar got together to trade knowledge and taste each other's wines. The symposium, at Stony Brook Center for Wine, Food and Culture in Southampton, was called "The Art of Balance: Cool Climate/Maritime Wines in a Global Context."
One discussion, led by Thomas Laszlo, vice president of winemaker operations at Heron Hill Winery in the Finger Lakes, centered on whether or not "terroir" exists. Terroir is thought to be the soil and rock and air and water and all the growing conditions that can make a particular grape taste of the place where it is grown.
On the first day of the two-day event, some of the lectures went a bit over my head. I am a wine appreciator, not a grape grower or vintner. The technicalities of bud break and north-facing slopes for Riesling are easily forgotten by an amateur. But I understood that, as Laszlo said, ice wine, picked after the grapes freeze, "may be a thing of the past" because of increasingly hot weather.
The lectures were, luckily for me, illustrated with some wine sampling, and that evening, a grand tasting featured dozens and dozens more bottles, organized by their characteristics: stainless-steel-fermented chardonnay, barrel-fermented chardonnay, blended reds, other reds and whites by grape variety, sparkling wines, aromatic whites, rose and the like.
We tasted an array of food from local restaurants such as The Laundry, La Plage and Vine Street Café, to name a few, and Sang Lee Farms, Catapano Goat Farm and Stuarts / Claws on Wheels.
Albarino from the Rias Baixas region of Spain, made by Katia Alvarez, the winemaker for Martin Códax, had lots of layers of flavor. Lazlo's Rieslings wowed me. But I found myself going back for a second glass of local favorites: Shinn Estate Brut (nonvintage), the new release of the 2007 Paumanok Chenin Blanc and Grapes of Roth, the label from Roman Roth, winemaker at Wolffer Estate.
Yes, Long Island has terroir, I decided. As Gunter Kunstler, owner and winemaker for Weingut Künstler in Rheingau, Germany, put it: "You have to go your own way" on Long Island. "A copy is nothing. Make it your own."
RECIPE
CILANTRO PESTO
This recipe is from a wonderful book of wholesome, seasonal recipes, "In Season: Cooking With Vegetables and Fruits" by Sarah Raven (Universe, $40). The original recipe was used to stuff chicken. It would be just as delightful served as a dip for tiny grape or cherry tomatoes, the way Sang Lee Farms did with their own herb dressing at the symposium.
2 large bunches cilantro leaves
1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley
2 large cloves garlic
12 chive stalks
5 ounces Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts
Salt and pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1. Take stems off cilantro and parsley. Peel and chop garlic. Cut up chives thinly.
2. Grate Parmesan by hand or with the grating disc of a food processor. Add garlic and pine nuts to Parmesan and process to incorporate. Add cilantro, chives and parsley, and process until combined. Season carefully with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to the mixture in the processor by pouring it in a thin stream while the motor is running. Makes about 2 cups.
THRIFTY KITCHEN A LA CARTER
If you have only a bit of leftover gazpacho, borscht or other cold soup, serve it as an elegant "shooter," in small shot glasses. It's a way to make a little go a long way, plus it's fashionable.