| Issue #3- April 13, 2007 |
Over The Barrel...
with Lenn Thompson
Corey Creek Vineyards Gets a Facelift
You may have noticed that the tasting room at Corey Creek Vineyards,
sister winery to Bedell Cellers, was closed for six days in March for
some major, but quick renovations. Well, this Memorial Day weekend (May
26-28) it will officially re-open—even though it’s been
open since—with a new look, new focus and some new wines.
Rather than wait until Memorial Day, I decided to check out the newly
faced tasting room for myself last weekend.
The newly renovated tasting room now features rich earth that reinforce
the colors found on the winery’s wine labels. New built-in displays
show off a assortment of wine totes, decanters and wine glasses. A new
copper-topped wine bar offers a sophisticated setting for tasting the
award winning wines—but let’s hope it gets a bit more stained
and scratched. The overall vibe here is sophisticated-but-rustic so
some wine stains would be welcome.
The deck at the back of the tasting room—one of my all-time favorite
spots on the North Fork—has been updated with new furniture too.
If only it had been warm enough to enjoy the views.
Throughout the grand re-opening Memorial Day weekend there will be live
music, special winemaker tours with Kelly Urbanik, assistant winemaker,
a raffle and goody bags for the first 50 customers each day.
At the wine bar, they will be pouring their 2006 Gewurztraminer, 2006
Rose, Main Road Red, 2005 Cabernet Franc and Raspberry wine—all
which I tasted last Saturday. All are tasting well right now and a couple—especially
the cab franc—will be even better in a few months.
The 2006 Gewurztraminer, similar to the 2005 though maybe a bit less
intense, is no less enchanting with fresh flowers, peach, and the expected
lychee apparent on both the nose and palate. Sometimes gewurzt can be
too perfume-like or lack acidity, but this wine, year in and year out,
avoids both pitfalls. It’s the benchmark against which all other
Long Island gewurzt should be measured. Fewer than 170 cases were made
however, so get yours today.
The 2006 rose ($14) is made in a fresh, bright style that I prefer and
is the best I’ve tasted from 2006, though few have been released
yet. There’s plenty of cherry, peach and cherry blossom here along
with terrific acidity. But this by the case and drink it all summer
on hot days or with lunch.
This batch of Main Road Red (which is a non-vintage blend that changes
from batch to batch) is soft, easy going and loaded with sweet cherry
flavor seems made for burgers.
Best of all is the 2005 Cabernet Franc ($30), which offers cherry and
other red berries on the nose with a wisp of smoke, subtle green herbs
and earthy dried leaves. I love the flavorful, rich mid-palate on this
wine, with flavors in line with the nose. Well balanced with well-integrated,
fine tannins, this is a fine example of this style cabernet franc.
I can’t say this enough: 2005 was a banner year people. Yields
were down in some cases, but quality is through the roof.
Corey Creek’s new tasting room will also feature an active event
calendar this summer. There will be live music every weekend from July
through October. They will also host “Movie Night” every
Wednesday in July and August featuring popular films from their owner
(and New Line Cinema co-CEO) Michael Lynne’s movie library. Wines
will be available by the glass and local snacks such as cheese platters,
North Fork potato chips and popcorn will be available for purchase.
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