Notes From the 19th Annual Vintners' Harvest

The death of New York State wine legend Mark Miller last week at age 89 cast a shadow over the 19th Annual Vintners' Harvest New York City as well as yesterday's Edible Manhattan launch party featuring several Long Island vintners. Miller received the first winery license in this state, and the remarkable success of today's Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley and Long Island growers would not be possible without his decades-long perseverance.

Thus we greeted an old friend, Roman Roth, who had us sample some splendid wines from Wölffer of Long Island's North Fork as well as his private-label Grapes of Roth. Roth reminded us of his 91 and 92 scores awarded by Robert Parker for his 2001 and 2002 Grapes of Roth Merlot. We've been big fans of Wölffer for years, some of which you can pick up at Vintage New York in SoHo.

We took a detour from Long Island by way of Niigata, Japan, to sample some extraordinary sake selections from Ichishima Sake Brewery. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of devoted sake importer Michael John Simkin, we tasted the Ichishima Brewery's Daiginjo, Honjozo and Silk Deluxe Junmai. Mr. Simkin reminds us sake can be expertly paired with a number of types of cuisine, and his event at TriBeCa's Thalassa this past June, Sake meets the Mediterranean proved exactly that.

We returned from Japan by way of Sonoma, California's Dry Creek Valley. Stopping first to sample two splendid varietals from Michel Schlumberger, we first enjoyed a Cabernet Sauvignon blend aged 16 months in French oak, followed by a splendid Syrah. This Cab consists of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, 5% Malbec, and 1% Carmenere. On to Napa, we enjoyed the Cloud View 2005 from Pritchard Hill, a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon and 42% Merlot. This retails for around $65 in New York.

On to Europe, we focused on lesser-known German and Austrian wines, sampling a number of wines of which the Gesellmann 2006 Blaufränkisch with its marked bouquet and intense flavor stood out the most. A crisp Riesling we tasted from Kespelher Wine Shippers stood out, but the true gem was the 2007 Kreuznacher Kronenberg Riesling Auslese from Nahe, imported by Boston Wine Co Ltd.

Our journey continued to the Caribbean. If what you typically drink for rum emanates from the island of Puerto Rico, nudge your mental map south-southeast to the one of the tinier islands in the Caribbean, the island of Martinique, and taste fermented sugarcane like you've never had before, Rhum J.M. This marvelous brand of rum is made from sugarcane stalks grown on 28-degree vertical slopes in rich volcanic soil at the foot of Mount Pelée in the northern part of this sunny French territorial island. Harvested by hand the sugarcane grown here is transported down the mountain and distilled at the smallest estate property on Martinique. Rhum J.M. comes in four distinct colors and flavors, the clear white being the strongest with 50% alcohol and a fresh sweet tropical fruit aroma. It is so smooth, there's really no need to mix it at all. You can pour it over a couple ice cubes and sip it like it's fine scotch. The gold version is aged for a minimum of twelve months in small Limousine barrels and bears hints of chocolate and Martinique spices on the palate. Next in line is a J.M. blend of four and five year-old rums that have a coppery amber color with a dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and caramel, and an intense creamy finish. Last but not least is the company's cask strength rum, which has darker amber color, a rich, nutty, creamy taste with a velvety long, lingering finish. We also sampled Plantation Rum from the house of Cognac Ferrand, which features a number of barrel-aged rums including the Guyana 1990, Venezuela 1992, Trinidad 1993 and Barbados 1993.

Heading back to California, with a slightly thickened tongue, we caught up with Absinthe. The obvious turn of phrase for this banished spirit by Hangar One in northern California might be "Absinthe make the heart grow fonder." Indeed, the terrible beauty is back, but this time she's no illegal immigrant, but a fully government-approved brand that is now distilled and available in the US market due to a relaxation of the US ban at the end of 2007 by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). In order to pass TTB testing, the Hangar One rep explained, a product must be measured to have less than 10 parts per milliliter of thujone, the active ingredient long believed to have been the reason for absinthe's purported hallucinogenic effects. While you might try any number of Absinthe concoctions at the recently-opened Apotheke on Doyers Street, we for now might stick to Hangar One's brilliantly-distilled vodkas, the brainchild of Jorg Rupf, which contain fascinating botanicals ranging from citron Buddha's Hand to Kaffir Lime. Also from the Bay Area, we sampled the marvelous Junipero Gin from Anchor Distilling, better known for its top-notch Anchor beers. It seemed quite fitting we jumped around from place to place and from wine to spirits; we hope Mark Miller would have approved.

Tags:   anchor distilling, Cloud View 2005, edible manhattan, Gesellmann, Hangar One, hudson valley, Ichishima Sake Brewery, long island, mark miller, Michel Schlumberger, Plantation Rum, rhum jm, roman roth, vintage new york, wolffer

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