Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Shinn Estate Vineyards 2007 Rosé, Estate (North Fork of Long Island)

Shinn Estate Vineyards

2007 Rosé, Estate
(North Fork of Long Island)



I respect any winery that thinks enough of rosé to make rosé for rosé's sake — rather than as an afterthought. This time of year especially, I’m glad for wineries that put their all into these versatile, food-friendly wines. Rosé comes in many shapes, sizes and weights. Some taste more like white wines with a little coloring. Shinn Estate Vineyards' 2007 Rosé ($15), on the other hand, is the opposite end of the spectrum.

It’s a pale red wine really. It's unique both for how it's made and the way that it shows actual varietal character. Many rosés are either the result of blending or of bleeding juice off juice to intensify red wines, but Shinn grows a specific clone of Merlot specifically for the production of this wine each year.

A medium pink, it’s medium bodied and offers briar, strawberry, watermelon and a faintly buttery note on both the nose and the palate. Dry, but fruity, and with a little noticeable skin tannin, this is a rosé to enjoy with a wide range of foods. Think barbeque chicken, think grilled salmon, think burgers. Heck, I tasted it with a barely rare steak over the weekend and it worked surprisingly well. Make sure that you don't over-chill this one. It's better just barely chilled.

Reviewed May 27, 2008 by Lenn Thompson.

The Wine

Winery: Shinn Estate Vineyards
Vineyard: Estate
Vintage: 2007
Wine: Rosé
Appellation: North Fork of Long Island
Grape: Merlot
Price: 750ml $15.00

Review Date: 5/27/2008

The Reviewer

Lenn Thompson

Lenn Thompson writes about New York wines for Dan's Papers,
Long Island Press, Long Island Wine Gazette, Edible East End
and Hamptons.com. Two words describe his taste in wine — balance and nuance. Lenn prefers food-friendly, elegant wines to jammy, over-extracted fruit bombs and heavy-handed oak. When reviewing, Lenn tastes each wine three times — alone right after opening, with food, and again the next day — believing that 90-second reviews are unrealistic and not how the average person enjoys wine.