Monday, August 18, 2008

Macari

Our favorite vineyard of the day! Really!



Ask if Karen is pouring the day you go. She is extremely knowlegeable and will make your visit well worth it. We loved everything about Macari, except the fact we couldn't join their wine club and have our wine shipped to Texas. The laws are all screwy in New York and some wineries will ship to you and some won't. Just ask and see what you can work out. We were able to ship some wine back home that we ordered today.

We chose to taste the House and Premium Flights. I'm glad we did because we would have missed some great wines if we chose one or the other.

Here's a run-down on what I discovered.

The Collina 48 Chardonnay was fruity and pleasant. I am not a big fan of fruity wine, but this one was nice; something you could enjoy everyday. And at $7.99 a bottle, it is a GREAT VALUE!

The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc is one of their best wines. It is cool and crisp. You will taste grapefruit, lime and some lemon blossoms. It is fermented in a stainless barrel so you won't have those oakey flavors...it's all fruit!

Next we had a Rose 2007. Again, I'm not much of a rose girl, but this was delicious fruit. Soft coral in color (from the Merlot grape skins), aromas of watermelon, white cherries and Italian plums evolve into a friendly wine with a dry, fruity, crisp finish. I'm sure you will enjoy this wine.

We moved on to the reds...

The Collina 48 Merlot as one of my favorite wines today. I ordered several bottles and had them shipped back home. This Merlot is fantastic for everyday drinking or sipping. It is a great value and tasted as good as the $42 Shinn Merlot we just bought...really! It is full of spice and flavory with a rich, lingering finish.

We also tried the 2003 Merlot Estate and Sette. Both were good, as well as a good value at $14.99 a bottle. Steve enjoyed a very good and smooth wine with the Merlot Estate. YOu will taste a ripe, juicy black cherry in the Merlot.

The Sette is half Merlot and half Cabernet Franc. This wine also had an aroma of spice and fruit combined. I enjoyed a slight spicy flavor.

On we went to the 2004 Bergen Road Merlot which is extremely smooth. It should be at $42.99 a bottle. There are hints of nutmet and pepper aromas with wild berries, cherries, plums and vanilla. I found this a luscious, velvety finish.

We ended with an unexpected treat, the 2004 Block E, a dessert wine. We haven't had a good dessert wine in years, so we were very pleasantly surprised at this treat. As Karen told us, "You have this for dessert, not with dessert". Even if you are stuffed full, you will enjoy this terrific wine. It is much better than any Canada ice wine we tasted. It is like drinking fruit!

I discovered they don't have enough cold days to make a true ice wine, so Macari freezes their grapes and then makes wine from their frozen grapes.

Steve definitely wants to get one of the Block E bottles so we will have it shipped home.



We chose a cheese package with 4 cheeses, crackers, olives, pickles and almonds along with a bottle of Collina 48 Merlot. We each had a glass of Merlot on their patio and viewed their beautiful winery. I'm not much into big wineries but if you come on a week day, you'll have a glorious time at Macari. This was definitely our favorite stop today.

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