2nd Annual East Coast Food & Wine Festival
Part 3 of 5 of the review of 2nd Annual East Coast Food & Wine Festival.
After Alba's area we moved on to Cape May Winery. Now, I've seen them at several wine tastings and I've never been impressed with their selections. Surprise! Nothing really has changed either. For the most part they totally miss the mark on many of their wines. In all fairness, out of the 9 wines there, was one that stood out and another that did much better then years past.
REDS:
Cape May Merlot - 2007 - 19.00
Complete and utter failure in a wine. This "Merlot" showed almost no character of any Merlot grape. Slight hint of plum. The finish has a dryness with no buttery feel as many Merlots should show. No body, No finish. Overall, Crap. 2 of 10 (4 of 10 2nd tasting 2 hours later just for fairness)
Isaac Smith Syrah - 2007 - 21.00
From their better label, the Isaac Smith Syrah from Cape May was damn good. Fruity. Red berries and plum with a hint of smoke from the oak. Finished with a punch of peppery spice. Well done. 8 out of 10. (2 bottle purchased)
Cape May Cabernet Franc - 2007 - 19.00
I love this hard to find varietal. While Cabernet Franc is in many types of wines to find a solid stand alone Cab Franc is difficult. So if someone screws up a Cab Franc I'll be the first to stomp on their parade. Well, this one wasn't too bad. Good in fact. Bright and spicy with hints of smoke and cherry. Better then their previous years I've tried. 7 out of 10.
WHITES:
Cape May Riesling - 2007 - 19.00
Oh lord, here we go again. Fail. Total failure. Empty wine with little body and indistinctive finish. Don't insult the mighty Riesling grape like this. 2 out of 10.
Victorian Blush - 2007 - 13.00
A "White Zinfandel" style train wreck. God, this was awful. Nothing about this wine said "I know what I'm doing as a wine maker" The 3.99 bargain Zins at the supermarket could give this a run for it's money. If I had a newspaper with me I would have rolled it up and smacked the winemaker there right on the nose and said "NO, BAD, NO" 2 out of 10
DESSERT:
Isaac Smith Fini (Port) NV - 18.00
This one was good. More brandy then sweet grape. Rich. I can see this for it's designed purpose such as an after dinner thing. Would go great with a bit of dark chocolate then on it's own. We didn't have any chocolate so the score is on it's stand alone merit. 6 out of 10
Laurita Winery
Hey, who's this new kid?
Next we walked over to the newcomer in NJ wines, Laurita Winery. To be perfectly honest, I had no fucking clue who these guys were. I've never seen them before nor have I heard any mention of their winery in any of the several NJ wine propaganda e-mails that tend to flood my inbox during the holidays. I got to say, while their doors only opened less then 1 year ago they have a large selections of wines already. Probably due to the 10 years of planning that went in to building this new winery. Even while incorporating salvaged lighting fixtures and reusing of the old dairy farm's timber for their new buildings, paving with recycled asphalt for all the roads and to top it off, adapting solar power for most of their heating, cooling and irrigation needs they somehow found time to produce a plethora of wines. Having a business that strives to leave the smallest carbon footprint possible is no easy task, but Laurita is showing us that is can be done, and done well.
We tasted mostly their reds as they were our highest priority. Some were good, some ok, and some damn yummy. I'm excited to see what these guys put out in the upcoming years.
Cabernet Sauvignon - 2005 - 30.00
This was a serious medium to full body Cab Sav. Currants, cassis, cherry, spicy plum. Smoky vanilla flavors with a cedar, flinty note. This is a major wine when you figure it most likely their first year of bottling. Well done. 8 of 10
Cabernet Sauvignon - 2006 - 23.00
When you see a price drop that much on the same wine in relation to other vintages you know something went wrong. The 2006 lacks the body and mouth feel of the '05. While still drinkable this isn’t what I would expect from someone who put out the quality of the previous year's wine. Less spice, less dark fruit. Lower score. 6 out of 10.
Bistro Table Red - NV - 23.00
This was just not very good. It's not "bad" but I found myself wondering why I would want to put that in my mouth again. It was kinda fruity. The finish was a bit odd. Here's a hint for the "new guys" if you are going to make a "Table red" you need to make it enjoyable enough to drink AND it can't be 23 fuckin dollars. 4 out of 10
Relaxing Red - NV - 15.00
This was one from their "Down the Shore" label. Where they have different colored flip flop labels for the different types of wine. It's a cute design and seems they sell the same flip flops as some kind of coaster or wine markers. Ok, I'm not exactly sure why they were selling these things in the bags but I think they may have a cool little marketing toy. to go with some good wines. This one was nice, a good BBQ wine. Nothing over the top and nothing to weak. Fruity, spicy and crisp. 6 out of 10
Tailgate Red - 15.00
Notes of raspberry, strawberry and wild cherry. Soft velvet finish compliments the fruit. This is a true winner. Serve this chilled and you can not go wrong on a hot summer day. Super easy drinker, this goes down dangerously easy. (2 bottles purchased) 9.5 out of 10
Part 4: Unionville Vineyard review tomorrow.
After Alba's area we moved on to Cape May Winery. Now, I've seen them at several wine tastings and I've never been impressed with their selections. Surprise! Nothing really has changed either. For the most part they totally miss the mark on many of their wines. In all fairness, out of the 9 wines there, was one that stood out and another that did much better then years past.
REDS:
Cape May Merlot - 2007 - 19.00
Complete and utter failure in a wine. This "Merlot" showed almost no character of any Merlot grape. Slight hint of plum. The finish has a dryness with no buttery feel as many Merlots should show. No body, No finish. Overall, Crap. 2 of 10 (4 of 10 2nd tasting 2 hours later just for fairness)
Isaac Smith Syrah - 2007 - 21.00
From their better label, the Isaac Smith Syrah from Cape May was damn good. Fruity. Red berries and plum with a hint of smoke from the oak. Finished with a punch of peppery spice. Well done. 8 out of 10. (2 bottle purchased)
Cape May Cabernet Franc - 2007 - 19.00
I love this hard to find varietal. While Cabernet Franc is in many types of wines to find a solid stand alone Cab Franc is difficult. So if someone screws up a Cab Franc I'll be the first to stomp on their parade. Well, this one wasn't too bad. Good in fact. Bright and spicy with hints of smoke and cherry. Better then their previous years I've tried. 7 out of 10.
WHITES:
Cape May Riesling - 2007 - 19.00
Oh lord, here we go again. Fail. Total failure. Empty wine with little body and indistinctive finish. Don't insult the mighty Riesling grape like this. 2 out of 10.
Victorian Blush - 2007 - 13.00
A "White Zinfandel" style train wreck. God, this was awful. Nothing about this wine said "I know what I'm doing as a wine maker" The 3.99 bargain Zins at the supermarket could give this a run for it's money. If I had a newspaper with me I would have rolled it up and smacked the winemaker there right on the nose and said "NO, BAD, NO" 2 out of 10
DESSERT:
Isaac Smith Fini (Port) NV - 18.00
This one was good. More brandy then sweet grape. Rich. I can see this for it's designed purpose such as an after dinner thing. Would go great with a bit of dark chocolate then on it's own. We didn't have any chocolate so the score is on it's stand alone merit. 6 out of 10
Laurita Winery
Hey, who's this new kid?
Next we walked over to the newcomer in NJ wines, Laurita Winery. To be perfectly honest, I had no fucking clue who these guys were. I've never seen them before nor have I heard any mention of their winery in any of the several NJ wine propaganda e-mails that tend to flood my inbox during the holidays. I got to say, while their doors only opened less then 1 year ago they have a large selections of wines already. Probably due to the 10 years of planning that went in to building this new winery. Even while incorporating salvaged lighting fixtures and reusing of the old dairy farm's timber for their new buildings, paving with recycled asphalt for all the roads and to top it off, adapting solar power for most of their heating, cooling and irrigation needs they somehow found time to produce a plethora of wines. Having a business that strives to leave the smallest carbon footprint possible is no easy task, but Laurita is showing us that is can be done, and done well.
We tasted mostly their reds as they were our highest priority. Some were good, some ok, and some damn yummy. I'm excited to see what these guys put out in the upcoming years.
Cabernet Sauvignon - 2005 - 30.00
This was a serious medium to full body Cab Sav. Currants, cassis, cherry, spicy plum. Smoky vanilla flavors with a cedar, flinty note. This is a major wine when you figure it most likely their first year of bottling. Well done. 8 of 10
Cabernet Sauvignon - 2006 - 23.00
When you see a price drop that much on the same wine in relation to other vintages you know something went wrong. The 2006 lacks the body and mouth feel of the '05. While still drinkable this isn’t what I would expect from someone who put out the quality of the previous year's wine. Less spice, less dark fruit. Lower score. 6 out of 10.
Bistro Table Red - NV - 23.00
This was just not very good. It's not "bad" but I found myself wondering why I would want to put that in my mouth again. It was kinda fruity. The finish was a bit odd. Here's a hint for the "new guys" if you are going to make a "Table red" you need to make it enjoyable enough to drink AND it can't be 23 fuckin dollars. 4 out of 10
Relaxing Red - NV - 15.00
This was one from their "Down the Shore" label. Where they have different colored flip flop labels for the different types of wine. It's a cute design and seems they sell the same flip flops as some kind of coaster or wine markers. Ok, I'm not exactly sure why they were selling these things in the bags but I think they may have a cool little marketing toy. to go with some good wines. This one was nice, a good BBQ wine. Nothing over the top and nothing to weak. Fruity, spicy and crisp. 6 out of 10
Tailgate Red - 15.00
Notes of raspberry, strawberry and wild cherry. Soft velvet finish compliments the fruit. This is a true winner. Serve this chilled and you can not go wrong on a hot summer day. Super easy drinker, this goes down dangerously easy. (2 bottles purchased) 9.5 out of 10
Part 4: Unionville Vineyard review tomorrow.