In late 2005, five local wineries—Pellegrini Vineyards, Raphael, Sherwood House Vineyards, Wölffer Estate and Shinn Estate Vineyards, joined forces to create the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA). The following spring, the group released their first co-operatively made merlot—the 2004 Merliance. But, since making that initial splash, LIMA has been noticeably quiet, at least in terms of events and press.
But that doesn’t mean that LIMA members haven’t been busy.
“LIMA was never meant to be a promotional group. The Long Island Wine Council already exists to fill the promotional needs of the industry,” said Richard Olsen-Harbich of Raphael. “What we felt was missing was solid research and development and the exchange of information among winemakers and vineyard managers.”
To conduct research there are two key needs—manpower and money. The member wineries—and the proceeds from the sale of Merliance—provide the requisite money. For the manpower, LIMA has sponsored their first intern, Christopher Grassotti, a student in the master’s degree program in viticulture and enology at École Nationale Supérieur Agronomique in Montpellier, France. Since joining LIMA in April, he’s been focused on two projects, both meant to gain a better understanding of local merlot.
The first project is a series of weekly sensory evaluation tastings with LIMA members. “The goal is to identify the aroma and flavor characteristics of Long Island’s merlot-based wines and to see how they compare with merlot wines produced in other well-known wine regions,” said Grassotti. “We’ve broken down the aromas and flavors into about 20 distinct identifiers and then have begun trying to find them in various samples of local merlot,” added Olsen-Harbich.
For the second project, Grassotti is working with viticulturalist Alice Wise at Cornell’s Cooperative Extension to investigate how various farming techniques, like the timing and severity of leaf removal, affect merlot as it grows here. In the fall, the grapes will be harvested and “the vineyard trials will be vinified in small lots so we can also look at the sensory characteristics of the wines,” said Olsen-Harbich.
Grassotti, who most recently worked in France, has found members of Long Island’s wine industry extremely knowledgeable. “Many of these people have been working in the region for a long time and have a tremendous wealth of experience,” he said. “I have really appreciated getting their perspectives. It is very enriching to be able to compare and contrast the different approaches in the two different regions.”
By learning what makes local merlot so unique, and how vineyard practices can affect those characteristics, the group hopes to maintain and improve quality over time. But LIMA recognizes the need for even more research, “We have already spoken with a number of Cornell researchers about future projects,” said Olsen-Harbich.
Lenn Thompson writes about New York food and wine at lenndevours.com.
