State Wineries Offer Promise and Quality
By HOWARD G. GOLDBERG
New York Times, Sunday, May 23, 1999
Connecticut has carved out a clear-cut identity as progressive, if small, wine region. In promise and quality, its wines resemble those of Mendocino County, Calif., in its earliest wine making years.
Judged against standard international criteria, 40 wines provided by eight members of the Connecticut Wine Trial - four in the eastern portions of the state and four in the western - generally displayed rewarding levels of performance.
These wines, white and reds, still and sparkling, single-grape bottlings and blends, were tasted and analyzed over a full week. No winery's whole portfolio was judged, and only grape wine were reviewed.
A vineyard in Clinton rises above the rest.
Across the board, the wines from Chamard Vineyards in Clinton were the best, Chamard can hold its own against leading small wineries in say, Washington and Oregon. The wines, made by Larry McCulloch inevitable reflect the standards and resources of the owner, William R. Chaney, Tiffany's chairman and chief executive officer.
Four wines were sampled from a portfolio of eight made at McLaughlin Vineyards, on a 160-acre Housatonic River estate at Sandy Hook. The vintages suggest that McLaughlin has the vineyard and cellar alchemy, if properly nourished and financed, to become Connecticut's No. 2 winery.
But for now the second spot seems contested by the Sharpe Hill Vineyard in Promfret, with savvy wines showing a playful, populist bent, and Stonington Vineyards, with crisp whites and seem precisely shaped for seafood.
No. 3 is DiGrazia Vineyards in Brookville Center, all nonvintage, many charming, tasty, imaginative, even entertaining.
Perhaps the most fascinating wines sampled was a hefty, tannic, enjoyable Rhone-like red from Sharpe Hill, made from St. Croix grape, a virtually unknown French hybrid. The wines from Haight Vineyard in Litchfield were the most disappointing, Haight, the first winery established after the General Assembly passed the Farm Winery Act in 1978, is a respected household-name label. Nonetheless, the wines seemed lackluster, indebted to yesterday's laurels and in need of disciplined updating.
More edge and promise lie in McLaughlin's accomplished '97 Seyval Blanc than any Haight wine reviewed. In all McLaughlin wines (now made by the owner, Morgan McLaughlin Smith), even flaws, like a somewhat disjointed Chardonnay, were not distracting. Ms. Smith confirmed that the fine consulting hand of Russell Hearn, the Australian-born wine maker at Pellegrini Vineyards, one of Long Island's most progressive estates, contributes significantly to the house style.
While cultivating vinifera, the classic European grapes like chardonnay and cabernet franc, Connecticut wineries, because of the climate, must rely in part on safe, winter-hardy standbys: French-American hybrids like Seyval blanc and Marechal Foch (a red).
Whites - dry, off-dry and sweet - are the state's forte. They demonstrate that wine makers and vineyardists alike appreciate the opportunities and limitations imposed by the state's growing conditions.
Because of agricultural limitations, the reds, which need more time to mature on the vine than Mother Nature may be able to deliver, are more difficult to manage. Nonetheless, a few were obvious successes.
Again, because of geography, Connecticut consumers cannot reasonably expect their whites to display the lush fruitfulness that is the hallmark of most california whites. Stylistically, the chardonnays are closer to their light-bodied, refreshing counterparts from Long Island (where some Connecticut producers buy grapes).
That limitation can be a culinary benefit. As many commentators, among them David Rosengarten of the Television Food Network and the author, most recently of "Taste: One Palate's Journey Through the World's Greatest Dishes" (Random House, 1998). have pointed out, California's blockbusters basically are not food friendly.
Oak and tannin, both major factors in California wines, are much more subdued in Connecticut's, with light- and medium-bodied whites almost seem to be programmed from planted seed to bottling line with lunch, dinner and picnics in mind.
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