4 Rose Wines to Taste in Marlboro, New York

I recently attended a Rose Garden Party hosted by Nostrano Vineyards in Marlboro, New York. Marlboro is a small hamlet in Ulster County that is home to about 6 wineries and a distillery. It’s beautiful farm country when you drive around the area and you get the feeling of peace and serenity.

The setting was in the barn at Nostrano Vineyards. It was beautifully decorated, and there were four wineries in attendance: Benmarl Winery, Nostrano Vineyards, Fjord Vineyards, and Quartz Rock Vineyards (Formerly Glorie Farm Winery).

Quite honestly, I wasn’t sure what to wear to a garden party, but I put on a nice dress, brought a sweater, and left my derby hat home. (good thing, because nobody else wore a hat). I found that most guests got into the garden party attire and were up for a good time.

We all received a nice charcuterie plate (for lack of word) to pair with our Rose wines. I started the tasting with Benmarl’s 2021 Pet-Nat and looked around for a place to sit. This is where I met my new friends. It was nice to see these three young ladies enjoying the local wines. We had great conversations about the wine and charcuterie and what paired well with each wine. In addition, to understanding what each of them liked in the wine. Where one liked the wines on the sweeter side but really liked the more fruit-forward. It was a great evening sharing wine and stories with them. Yes, I was old enough to be their mother, but for that evening, I felt young.

Here are four Rose Wines to taste and wineries to visit in Marlboro.

Benmarl Winery 2021 Pet-Nat $30 - This was a great wine to start off the tasting and it had a lot going on. Complex nose of strawberry fields, green apple. The palate shows bright acidity, red berry, soft but lively mouthfeel. A great wine for any time! This went really well with the salami.

Nostrano Vineyards Ava Rose 2021 $23 - Named after their daughter Ava Rose. Notes of strawberry, orange blossom this is a very beautiful and refreshing Rose.

Fjord Estate Dry Rose 2021 $22 - This is a Rose of Cabernet Franc, beautiful and elegant. Aromas of rose petals and a hint of citrus lead to a palate that is mineral-driven and notes of dark fruit.

Quartz Rock Vineyards Rose of Chambourcin 2020 $21 - Aromas of blooming rose bushes and bright red fruit. The palate showed nuisances of red berry fruit and candied watermelon.

Quartz Rock Vineyards DeChaunac Rose - I did not taste this as you were only allowed 4 tastes that came with 4 tickets to deposit at each winery. But one of my new friends tasted it and she liked it. She noted that it was a sweet wine and she tends to like it sweet. So if you like the sweeter wines, this Rose is for you.

A New York State of Mind

I love New York Wines! I am not saying that because I’m a New Yorker, I’m saying that because I have seen how the industry as a whole has improved the last 20 years. At the end of March, I attended NYDrinksNY, a trade tasting that was held in the Rainbow Room in New York City, which was a great venue for this event. All the participating wineries were in one room, grouped by region. I got to see old friends and make new ones. But most of all, the wines that were showcased were wonderful.

Hudson Valley Region

Of course, my first stop was the Hudson Valley Region. I focused on visiting some of the younger wineries. I have to say that I’m like a proud Mama because the quality and what they are producing is really raising the bar. I’m not going to go on about Benmarl’s Seyval Blanc which I think is fantastic, we are going to visit Fjord Vineyards and Nostrano Vineyards who I think are the regions rising stars.

Fjord Vineyards

Matt Spaccarelli, winemaker at Benmarl Winery and his partner Casey Erdmann launched Fjord Vineyards a couple of years ago. They took the Hudson Valley wine scene by storm by winning the Winery of the Year and Best in Show at the 2016 Hudson Valley Wine Competition.

Their standout wine for me is their Albarino. I got to taste 2017 as well as the not yet released 2018 at the tasting. 2017 was nice, but we are in for a treat with the 2018. It had nice citrus and lime notes, crisp with nuisances of apples and a touch of salinity.

Nostrano Vineyards

I haven’t seen Nic and Kayleigh in quite a while, like since their first Nostrano Vineyards vintage and boy have they come a long way. Their portfolio consists of a dry and semi sweet Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, a Rose that is named after their daughter Ava Rose (with Rose being her middle name) and everything is estate grown.

Here are some highlights:

2017 Estate Riesling - 1.5% RS, nicely balanced with notes of peach, apricot.

2018 Ava Rose - 100% Pinot Noir with nice acidity and notes of strawberry and rhubarb.

2016 Estate Pinot Noir - Aged 24 months in neutral French oak. I found a hint of floral on the nose with notes of cranberries, raspberry and blackberry.

2018 Pinot Gris - I am not a big Pinot Gris fan but this one is a nice summer porch sipper. Just 30 cases made.

Listen to my conversation with Nic and Kayleigh

Finger Lakes

The room was arranged by regions and the next one I went to was the Finger Lakes. There were many wines that stood for me like Lakewood Vineyards 2018 Bubbly Candeo and their 3 Generations Riesling 2017 that was touched by all three generations that are running the vineyard. Another stand out was Shedrake Point Winery’s 2017 Gamay Noir. Soft and silky this will be great in the summer slightly chilled. I finally got to meet Johannes Reinhardt and taste his wines. He is my focus for the Finger Lakes

Kemmeter Wines

Johannes Reinhardt began making wine in the Finger Lakes at Anthony Road Winery in 2000 and knew one day he wanted his own winery. In 2007 he purchased a piece of land that happened to be right across the street from Anthony Road. Things got a little complicated with his visa status and he wasn’t able to open the doors of Kemmeter Wines until 2013. Thefirst vineyard was planted in 2014 and a second one in 2016. All the grapes are estate grown.

I noted a music note on his label and each note represents the level of sweetness of the wine. Music was a tremendous part of his past and this is how he incorporated his love of music into the wine.

Here are a few of my tasting notes on his portfolio:

Estate Rose of Pinot Noir 2018 - great strawberry aromas escaping the glass. Strawberry fields with nice acidity

Estate Riesling 2017 - This had .8% RS. It’s nice with peach and stone fruit along with racy acidity.

Estate Riesling 2017 - This two note bottle had 1.4% RS. It was nicely balanced with a hint of sweetness and stone fruit.

Listen to my conversation with Johannes

Long Island

I have to admit, by the time I got to the Long Island wineries, my palate was kind of fatigued. There was a stand out here.

Palmer Vineyards

Palmer Vineyards has 49 acres of vines located on the North Fork of Long Island. Their 2015 Merlot stood out. Merlot I feel is the forgotten about wine. It really has it’s own excitement. Flavors of black fruit, plum, black cherry with a hint of blue fruit and perfectly balanced.

Nostrano Vineyards to Open this Fall

Back in September 2012 I visited Nostrano Vineyards.  They were just beginning, by beginning I mean planting and repurposing some of the apple orchard to vineyard. You can see the post here.

They have come a long way in two years. I recently stopped by Nostrano to visit with Kayleigh as Nic was out on his ATV (a guy has to have his fun with his toys) and wow have they progressed.  At the top of the hill what was just land is now a beautiful tasting room overlooking the vineyard and orchard. It makes a statement.

The tasting room is beautifully decorated.  Although during my visit not fully completed, it was enough to see the thought and love that was put into it. They plan on offering small cheese plates and hope one day to open a restaurant on the property.

In my previous post both Nic and Kayleigh had day jobs and were building the winery and vineyard.  I am pleased to say that although Kayleigh still has her day job, Nic is at the vineyard full time.

This past year was their first harvest.  They harvested Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir & Baco Noir. They also harvested Baco from her grandfather's vineyard two harvests ago. I was lucky and Kayleigh gave me a bottle to taste.

When they open this fall they will release their first vintages.  Meanwhile, if you are in the market for a wedding venue, you can add Nostrano to your list. The past two weddings there had their ceremony under willow tree, cocktail hour in the barn and reception outside. They have two weddings book for this year.

The view from the tasting room is breathtaking!

Keep your eyes and ears open this fall for the Grand Opening of Nostrano Vineyards!

Nostrano Vineyards 2012 Reservior Red

Truth be told, Kayleigh was nervous yet excite about giving me a bottle of this wine to review.  She wanted my opinion on the wine, good or bad. While nobody likes a lousy review, she was a bit nervous asking me for my opinion.

As I opened the bottle sitting home along an a Friday night, I was nervous for Kayleigh and Nic.  I had no expectations on the wine and didn't know what to expect.  The only thing I knew is that is a 2012 Baco Noir harvested from Kayleigh's grandfather's vineyards which has old vines as he has been growing Baco for a while and Ben Peacock from Tousey Vineyards, who assisted Nic in the winemaking.

When I uncorked the bottle I put the bottle to my nose and was thrilled to have some nice aromas leaking out.  Once in the glass, I smiled.  I smiled because it smelled good, looked good and was proud.

The wine had a nice color, garnetish with aromas of black cherry, plum a hint of vanilla and fresh forrest. The wine seemed to have a bit of acidity but overall had a smooth mouth feel with medium to light body.  Flavors of sour cherry, raspberry and cranberry filled my mouth.  Lovely wine, tasty and enjoyable.

I didn't finish the bottle so I put it aside for the next day.  After a day of gardening and a massage, I poured another glass of the Baco.(Ok, I did finish the bottle here)  I was very surprised how well it held up.  It was very easy drinking.  It did lose some of its fruit notes, but overall it was a nice wine to sit and relax with after an 80 minute massage.

Memorable Moments and Tastings from 2012

So often I get caught up with the blogging that I don't take time to reflect and look at the year in review.  I am humbled to know that many of you seek out some of the noted selections I review and enjoy the wine.  I want to thank Tyler Philp for inspiring me to dig deep into the past year and come up with my most memorable moments and wines.

TasteCamp, 2012

I got to travel this year to Napa, Oregon,Virginia New Jersey wine country.  Napa is Napa and I was only up there for one day as I was visiting some friends.  I really enjoyed my time in Oregon and Virginia learning about the region and their wines and hanging out with fellow bloggers.  I can not say one was better than the other, but learning about the wineries their history and what brought the owners or winemakers into wine industry, the grapes of the region and tasting the wine was truly enjoyable.

I have seen such growth over the years in the South Jersey wine industry.  When I began going to Cape May in the '80's there weren't many wineries.  Now there are 6 wineries and  2 breweries in the area.  I hope to report on them more, as I will be down in the region more frequently this year.

This year I had three wonderful tasting experiences in NYC.  The most fun was had at the Rutini lunch where it was very laid back.  Almost to laid back as I was disgusted to see a distributor rep attend the lunch in shorts as if he was stopping in on his way to the beach.  A little professionalism goes a long way buddy.  I have become a fan of Rutini and both their Rutini and Trumpeter brands are well worth the purchase. Both are reasonably priced and the Torrontes is a great summer sipper.

I was so honored to be invited to the Barons De Rothschild Champagne launch.  What an honor it was to meet and have lunch with Philippe.  Their Champagnes....outstanding!

Then there was Winegrowing Boot Camp at Millbrook Vineyards & Winery.  I took this one step farther and stopped by almost every week and took pictures of the progress of my grapes. (I will be putting together a photo of them all) It was an all hands on experience and I learned lots.  I think Summer enjoyed the experience as much as I did, as I took her every Tuesday with me to the vineyard.  She even struck up a friendship with John's lab, Carmella.

Great wines to come in the  Hudson Valley with the addition of Nostrano Vineyards! Nic and Kayleigh should have their first vintage out in 2013. I am looking forward to tasting it!  So nice to see new, young winemakers getting involved in the local wine industry! My interview and tour with them shows great commitment to region.  

Most improved Hudson Valley winery goes to Brimstone Hill Vineyards.  I have reviewed various wines this year from Brimstone and was very impressed at the improved quality of winemaking.  Kudos to Dick.

I am going to end with a post to look forward to in 2013.  Ever purchase a wine on futures? We did back in 2006 in Santa Barbara and slowly drank the Syrah.  There was a point in time that we didn't think the Syrah was tasting to good.  In fact it got real sweet.  Opened the last bottle a few weeks ago and..........

Have a wonderful New Year everyone and Thank You for your encouragement and for hanging out here with me.