2015 Southold Farm & Cellar, Chasing Moonlight, Estate Sparkling Lagrein, N. Fork of Long Island, New York.
When we Californian’s think of east coast wines, especially New York we think of the Finger Lakes and Cabernet Franc and or Riesling, but there is an explosion of young winemakers doing new things all over and I recently discovered an amazing set of wines from Long Island by a talented new winemaker Regan Meador, who with his wife craft some beautiful wines at their Southold Farm & Cellar. The set includes a lovely Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc, but it was the Alto Adige grapes that that thrilled me with his Teroldego and Lagrein making a compelling case for these Italian varietals there, but my favorite of all was his deep and dark sparkling Lagrein “Chasing Moonlight” it rivals any dry sparkling red I’ve ever tried including the fabulous Charles Melton sparkling Shiraz! The 2015 Chasing Moonlight is purple/black and garnet with a fine mousse and intense crisp energy leading with blackberry, plum and spiced concord grape with hints of mineral, wild herbs, as well as tangy minty and zesty elements, gorgeous style and mouth feel. This fruit forward red sparkler is a rewarding surprise and just so fun, not quite as rustic as Lambrusco can be, but not sweet either, this really hits the spot and is one of the coolest wines I’ve had all year. This impressive bubbly red Lagrein is lush, vibrant and full-bodied with a mix of black fruits and tight detail that make it refreshing and great with robust cuisine. Certainly this one is hard to express or explain, but a wonderful experience, the other bubbly wines from Southold Farm & Cellar are world trying too, a delightful Petillant-Naturale Rose and an earthy and powerful red sparkling Petit Verdot are all worth searching out!
($29 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
