Wine Tasting in Red Hook

A few weeks ago I was part of a small group of people who got to sample five new wines from the yet-to-be-named Red Hook winery. You read right, there's a winery in Red Hook, just across the street from the Six Point Brewery, with a number of whites and reds developing in their barrels, getting ready for their debut sometime in July. Brooklyn Based teamed up with the fellows who started the winery and presented a lovely wine-and-cheese pairing experience.

There were three whites and two reds, all made from grapes trucked into Red Hook from vineyards on Long Island. Each wine tasted so unique and different from the other, with distinct notes and flavors. I'm still learning about wine, so I can't go into too much detail, but I preferred the whites, and I'm usually a red wine drinker. Again, nothing was named, as the wines are still developing, but a lot of thought and love and effort went into creating them, I'm excited to see what the final products are like!



After the wine-tasting, the table was lavishly set up with yummy cheeses from Upstate and Long Island and slices of crusty bread as well as some smoked lox. Even though most of the food was not from Brooklyn, the experience was so wonderfully Brooklyn, it seemed a shame to not share it. At least most of it was from small NY farms! Although they were serving the incredible ricotta from Brooklyn's own Salvatore Ricotta. Spread on bread (it's also good with some honey drizzled on top) this is a delightful treat. That's it in the photo below, on the plate in the lower right corner.



The big platter to the left had my two favorite cheeses. In the lower left corner is the Cayuga Blue from the Lively Run Goat Dairy in the Finger Lakes region of new York. Delicious goat's milk blue cheese, creamy and tart and wonderful. The cheese in the upper right corner is the Sigit from the Mecox Bay Dairy in Bridgehampton, Long Island. This was a crumbly, dry aged cow-milk cheese, flavorful and yummy.



The two other cheeses were good too, but a little on the mellower side, and I like my cheeses strong! At the bottom is the Shusan Snow from 3 Corner Field Farm in Battenkill Valley, NY. Their version of Camembert made with sheep's milk, it was mid and creamy. At the top of the platter is the Eden from the Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie. Made with cow's milk and washed with apple cider, it has a pungent flavor and smell.

Keep your eyes out for this wine. Come summertime, everyone will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor!