The Long Island Wine Blind Challenge

This past week the Long Island Wine Council sponsored a seminar and blind tasting of its wines to compare them with others from international regions. The day started with a series of speeches about some of the history of Long Island wines, how the wines were picked for the blind tasting, followed by Q&A.

The blind tasting consisted of 20 wines, 10 from Long Island vs. 10 non Long Island. The breakdown was 5 flights of 4 each of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay (unoaked), Chardonnay (oaked), Merlot and Cabernet Franc. I just read another blogger's post about how he/she identified the Long Island wines successfully. I didn't try to idenify the wines but instead picked my favorite from each flight and 1 out of 5 were from Long Island. So, here we go.

Flight 1 Sauvignon Blanc

Osprey’s Dominion Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (LI)
Reverdy “Hippolyte” Sancerre 2007 (FR)
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (NZ)*
Palmer Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (LI)

*My blind favorite

Flight 2 Unoaked Chardonnay

Daniel Dampt Chablis 2007 (FR)
Macari Vineyards Chardonnay 2007 (LI)
Channing Daughters “Scuttlehole” Chardonnay 2008 (LI)**
Domaine Renaud Pouilly-Fuisse 2007 (FR)

**My blind favorite

Flight 3 Oaked Chardonnay

Flowers Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2007 (CA)***
Pelligrini Estate Vineyards Chardonnay 2007 (LI)
Langoureau Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “La Grerenne” 2007 (FR)
Castello Di Borghese Chardonnay 2006 (LI)

***My blind favorite

Flight 4 Merlot

Grapes of Roth Merlot 2005 (LI)
Clos L’Oratoire St. Emilion 2005 (FR)
Raphael Merlot 2005 (LI)
Craggy Range Gimblett Gravel 2004 (NZ) ****

****My blind favorite

Flight 5 Cabernet Franc

Shinn Estates Cabernet Franc 2007 (LI)
Catherine Et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Franc DE Pied 2007 (FR)
Dare By Viader Cabernet Franc 2005 (CA) *****
Bedell Cabernet Franc 2005 (LI)

*****My blind favorite