Lenz Blends: a thoughtful approach
I don’t think there is one best Long Island wine. But I sometimes speculate about what single bottle I would choose to send as Long Island’s ambassador to represent us to the wine world at large. Old Vines 2000 merlot from the Lenz winery in Cutchogue would have to be on my short list of contenders. This is a spectacularly good wine. It resulted from an excellent growing season (nature’s contribution), mature vines growing in suitable soil and climate, harvested at the peak of ripeness (the vineyard manager’s contribution) and sound decisions on how to ferment and age (the winemaker’s skills).
The winemaker at Lenz is Erik Fry. After 17 years of practicing his art on the North Fork, he is extremely knowledgeable about making wine on Long Island. And he is an articulate man, with strong opinions. I spent an afternoon last week with Mr. Fry tasting and talking, sampling wines that have yet to be bottled from vats and barrels, as well as trying wines currently being sold in the tasting room. Mr. Fry appears to examine and contemplate every step of the winemaking process. There is nothing formulaic or dogmatic about his work. Rather, his thinking is clear-headed, quick-witted and nimbly creative, and, like all good winemakers, he has a style. His faculty for blending is masterly.
Most people think of blending as combining several different grape varietals, and that of course figures into Mr. Fry’s portfolio, but blending separate batches of juice from a single varietal grown at the vineyard is at the heart of Mr. Fry’s winemaking. He ferments such batches for distinct time periods, or with varied yeasts, or at different temperatures, and then blends the batches in what he determines are the most fitting proportions.
Take his approach to making a chardonnay, for example. As a result of fermentation time, one batch might exhibit a nose of tropical fruit; another might display a bouquet of green apples, and another of ripe apples or pears. When the batches are blended, you get a wine with a desirable range of chardonnay fragrance and taste characteristics, with an engaging fruit and floral profile. I am, of course, oversimplifying a knotty, involved process and leaving out many aspects and stages of an intricate progression that only the winemaker in charge totally understands.
At least in theory this calibrated blending offers greater depth and complexity, and delivers more of the qualities that a winemaker strives to coax out of a particular type of grape. I am glad to report that in Mr. Fry’s cellar theory and practice correspond. All winemakers blend to some extent, and nothing that I saw deviated from classic winemaking techniques. Beyond the basics, however, it is the high level of care and attention and the experience behind his fine-tuned judgments that make Mr. Fry such a singular and impressive winemaker.
The Old Vines 2000, one of my ambassadorial nominees, obviously involved some sophisticated calls by the winemaker. Certainly no winemaker could produce merlot of this quality from ordinary grapes. But even flawless grapes will not by themselves bring about as substantial and serious a wine as Mr. Fry has constructed.
Old Vines is dark, concentrated and velvety. Scents of plums and black current with ripe cherries predominate over hints of vanilla bean and clove—all refined and well-knit. The palate is deep, sensuous and lush. (Because merlot is lower in natural acidity than cabernet and less astringent, it is in some ways a more accessible red. But it is also capable of immense subtlety and profundity. Just consider the iconic Chateau Petrus, which is 95 percent merlot). Old Vines tannins are sturdy but not assertive, and the finish is rich and lingering, retaining the power initially felt on the palate. The 2000 vintage sells for $55 at the winery.
Lenz produces Old Vines (labeled as Estate Bottled in previous years) only in the better growing seasons, about 7 out of 10 years. But they bottle two other lines of merlot and a number of other varietals every season, and I will look at these wines in more detail in next week’s column.
