| Issue #29, October 13, 2006 |
The Captain’s Cellar at Jedediah Hawkins Inn
400 South Jamesport Avenue
South Jamesport, NY
631-722-2900
By Roy Bradbrook
I still remember lunch a few years ago at a “top” French restaurant on the East End where, in response to my query about the provenance of the red wine they offered by the glass, the superbly haughty headwaiter superciliously replied, “French.” Period. Not surprisingly, we have never been back since. When writing restaurant reviews, I have often commented about how I firmly believe you can judge the quality of the food once you have simply sampled the breadbasket and the soup. I now add to that checklist the selection, quality and pricing of the wines on offer by the glass.
We tested that by-the-glass theory recently in the luxurious surroundings of the Captain’s Cellar in the Jedediah Hawkins Inn in South Jamesport. I had had the pleasure, shortly after it opened, of reviewing Jedediah’s restaurant, and master restaurateur Tom Schaudel and co-chef Michael Ross have continued to garner rave reviews.
The Captain’s Cellar holds most of the restaurant’s wines explained sommelier Pam Hunt. Pam and Tom worked closely in developing the wine list with the objective of providing a range of known and not so familiar wines for all who love wine, no matter their level of knowledge. Tom tastes over 2000 wines a year for his restaurants across Long Island and travels widely, visiting vineyards across the world. He also blends his own Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon at Paumanok Vineyards on the North Fork. Pam, who also arranges special events, has a long, local background with wine having worked closely for years with Robert and Jackie Entenmann at Martha Clara in Mattituck.
To better appreciate the selection of wines by the glass, we tasted dishes from the menu available in the Cellar, and asked Pam to choose complementary wines. Here are the delicious results.
Tuna tartare was fresh and slightly citrusy. Osprey Dominion’s Vin Gris, a rosé made from Cabernet grapes, started us off very well. This is a wonderful roséé for those who normally find this type of wine rather insipid. With what is “modestly” described as “The world’s greatest lobster roll” – and it does rank high on that list – Tom’s Chardonnay was a perfect match. The Chard has just enough oak to make the overall tropical fruit tastes even more deep and interesting without being either rough or buttery, as many Californian Chards can be. The goat cheese tart was a superb, appetite-inducing amalgam of flaky pastry with a filling of mushrooms, cheese and tomatoes. Pam’s pairing of a Jamesport Sauvignon Blanc, with a very clean grapefruit and gooseberry palate and well-balanced upfront acidity, stood up well to the pungency of the tart. This would also be a great wine to drink on its own.
To accompany a penne dish and its simple sauce of tomato, basil, garlic and Parmesan cheese, we drank Macari’s Cabernet Franc, a light red wine that is coming much more into favor as a single varietal here on Long Island these days. This wine, like all Macari wines, was very true to type and shows that this varietal, with its early ripening tendency, may well be an increasing force in local vineyards. Hanger steak deserved something extra special, and Lenz 2001 “Old Vines” Cabernet filled the bill superbly with its depths of berries and long taste on the palate, bringing out the full flavors of the meat.
The wines we sampled are priced from $7 to $16 and when you consider that the normal pour here is four glasses to the bottle, this is very responsible pricing. The same can be said for the main wine list where Long Island wines account for about 20n percent with the rest coming from literally all over the wine world. California, Oregon, New Mexico, Spain, Italy, Austria, France and South Africa are all represented, and again prices start from a very reasonable $25 a bottle.
So don’t be put off by second-rate, anonymous wine when a glass is all you need. Jedediah’s shows that any restaurant that cares will ensure that, whether it by the glass or by the bottle, every wine will match the high quality of the food they serve.
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