THE short list of Long Island wines that won top prizes in the 2006 New York Wine and Food Classic last month amounts to a reliable buyer’s guide. So does a list of local wines that won medals and got to the finals, but then fell short.
The contest, limited to New York wines, was sponsored by the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, a trade group based in Canandaigua.
The choice of Jamesport’s 2004 cabernet franc ($24.95) as the state’s best overall red surely heartened champions of franc, a cousin of cabernet sauvignon, who consider it even better suited to Long Island than merlot, the signature red.
The leading chardonnay was Corey Creek’s 2005 reserve ($30); the best merlot, Peconic Bay Winery’s 2001 ($23.99); and the best dessert wine, Wölffer Estate’s 2005 late-harvest chardonnay ($37, half bottle). As for the best gewürztraminer, Corey Creek’s 2005 ($25) tied with one from the Finger Lakes.
Among the finalists, double-gold medals — meaning all the judges on a panel agreed that a wine deserved a gold — went to Jamesport’s 2004 Cox Lane chardonnay ($19.95) and Peconic Bay’s 2004 chardonnay ($16.99).
Single golds were more profuse. Perhaps the most flattering was the one for Roanoke Vineyards’ 2003 Blend Two ($38), voted “best of class” among red blends produced from vinifera (classic European) grapes.
A new North Fork label, Roanoke is owned by Richard Pisacano, Wölffer’s vineyard manager, who grows his own grapes in Roanoke Landing. (The wine is made at Wölffer.)
The following whites took golds: Bedell’s 2005 Taste White, a blend of viognier, chardonnay and gewürztraminer ($25); Laurel Lake’s 2004 chardonnay ($10.99); and Paumanok’s 2005 semidry riesling ($20).
Gold-medal reds included Jamesport’s 2004 pinot noir ($26.95), Osprey’s Dominion’s 2002 cabernet franc ($23), and Waters Crest’s 2004 regular cabernet franc ($24.99) and 2004 reserve franc ($35.99).
Although tasty East End rosés are proliferating, only Ackerly Pond’s 2005 ($13. 99) and Roanoke’s 2005 DeRosa ($14.50) took home gold.