Behind the Bottle
A new wine varietal, La Crescent is a Hybrid variety developed at the University of Minnesota and released to the industry in 2002. The grape was named “La Crescent” (pronounced like crescent moon), after a town along the Mississippi River in Minnesota. It has shown strong promise and is well suited to the cool and cold climates of the Northeast. Its winter hardiness, vigor and climate adaptability make it a natural fit for a Sustainable minded winemaker. This grape is often characterized by its fruitiness due to high levels of aromatic, phenolic compounds like terpenes. Known to have floral, fruit forward flavors, rich tropical and citrus notes, La Crescent is a descendant of Muscat. Another key characteristic of the grape is high acidity, making it well suited to a variety of winemaking styles. I am very excited to release our 2022 La Crescent. It is a variety that caught my attention during the 2020 and 2021 harvests and that I have been looking forward to working with more closely. One of the reasons I was so excited to work with La Crescent as a single variety wine, is because it is a new grape variety to the wine world; there are very few examples and no real road map to follow. There are only a handful of other La Crescent wines out there that are currently being produced. Because it is such an “unknown” grape it allowed us the freedom to get creative in the winery and experiment with a number of winemaking techniques and blending options to accentuate the natural citrus flavors of the varietal. The release of our 2022 La Crescent marks the start of a new collection of Suhru Wines, designed to highlight some of the lesser known grape varietals being grown across New York State. Gone are the days when wine lovers only reach for the classic European grape varieties. As evident by the success of our Teroldego, which we first produced in 2019. Wine enthusiasts are excited by and interested in trying something new. “We are finding this particularly true with the younger generation of wine drinkers, making it the perfect grape for Assistant Winemaker Brad Ulrich debut wine, as he continues to express and define his personal winemaking style,” said winemaker Russell Hearn. A refreshing, bright, approachable wine with dynamic fruit notes and a big burst of flavor. This easy drinking white is light bodied with a soft, refreshing finish and a touch of sweetness. Although currently one of the most popular wines in the world, Merlot was originally considered a secondary grape by winemakers, believed to be best suited for blending rather than as a “stand alone” varietal. While there are now a plethora of delicious single varietal Merlot’s to choose from on the East End as well as around the globe, Merlot continues to be a favorite amongst winemakers when it comes to blending. Merlot was first mentioned in 1784, in Bordeaux. Back then it was called Merlau or Merle. It is said that Merlot was named after the “blackbirds” that loved to eat the ripe grapes, these birds were a similar blue, black color to the ripe grapes. Still the most planted grape in Bordeaux France, Merlot grows alongside the other classic Bordeaux red varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. In Italy, Merlot was originally called Bordo and is widely used as a blending grape in Super Tuscan wines. Planted all over the world, Merlot grows well on sandy loam or well-drained soils that have good moisture holding capacity. Well suited to cool climate regions (think Long Island) Merlot ripens into dark blue to black berries with thin skins and loose, large bunches. Fun Fact: the most expensive Merlot was sold at auction in 2011. A case of 1961 Petrus went for $144,000 USD which comes to $12,000 a bottle! Merlot reached its peak popularity in the US in the 1990’s, then experienced a drop in popularity after the movie Sideways came out in which Paul Giammatti's character poked fun at the wine, saying Merlot is bland and the market is oversaturated with the varietal. In the two decades since, Merlot has made a comeback and is currently the second most popular grape varietal in the United States. Classic old-world style, our Merlot was released to the public on February 1, 2023 and is quickly becoming a crowd favorite! This old-world style red is a beautiful representation of North Fork Merlot. The staple of Long Island Wine Country, Merlot is wonderfully well suited to our cool, maritime climate with consistent ripening and excellent aging potential. A medium bodied wine with beautiful red fruit notes and hints of spice on the nose with red fruit flowing onto the palate. It is elegant with a light hint of vanilla and a seamless, silky finish. Like all reds, Merlot is best served at room temperature (60 – 65 degrees F). Medium to full-bodied reds in general are recommended to be served at a low 60 degrees Fahrenheit to best showcase the ripe fruit notes and soft tannins. Merlot pairs well with a variety of foods including white and dark meats from chicken, turkey and pork as well as pasta, burgers and pizza, cheese plates, beef stew and more. Make sure to open your favorite bottle of Merlot and toast this versatile grape as you savor every sip! While Harvest and the vineyard tend to get most of the attention in the wine world, as a winemaker I also get to see what goes on behind the scenes in the tank, barrel and bottle. Much like the cyclical cycle of the growing season, the winery runs the same with the hustle and bustle of Harvest in the Fall with fermentation, racking, filtrations followed by barrel aging for our reds and the beginning of bottling of whites and rosés in the Winter Months moving into red blending trials and red bottling in the Spring and Summer before it all starts up again. While the vineyard and winery work is often the most visible, there is a lot happening in the bottle as it continues to bottle age in the months, years, and decades after it is initially bottled. Which brings us to our Library wines. We are excited to be sharing a selection of Library Reds. The Long Island Wine Region, specifically the North Fork is what is referred to as a Cool Climate growing region, meaning that we get "cool" not "cold" temperatures in the Winter months. While it may not always feel that way to us, and we do get inarguably very cold days, those extreme cold temperatures are moderated by our proximity to the ocean. Being surrounded by water on three sides, the water acts as a blanket in the cooler months insulating us from the extreme cold temperatures that you see in Northern wine regions such as the Finger Lakes. This allows us to grow vitis vinifera grape varietals and for the wines made from those grapes to retain higher acidity and moderate alcohols typically in the 13-13.5% range. As a winemaker, my style preference of not trying to extract much of the astringent tannin from the seeds by shorter soak times during fermentation, creates softer red wines. That coupled with the fact that Long Island reds retain higher acidity and moderate alcohol levels, means that wines from our region can comfortably age in the bottle for 10-15 years. As we approach the end of 2022 this means that wines from the 2013 vintages, undisputedly one of the best growing years on Long Island, are quickly approaching their 10 year age mark. The 2013 vintage was a near perfect growing season on the North Fork of Long Island, regarded as one of our region's best vintages to date. This was due to a hot, dry summer and absolutely zero rainfall during the entire Harvest, meaning every varietal was able to reach optimal growth and development unimpeded. We saw this trend of high quality vintages continue into 2014 and 2015 leading to excellent wine in the bottle. We hope you will join us this weekend for our Library Reds Tasting, available by reservation Thursday, November 17th - Monday, November 21st. Can't make the event but still interested in exploring these delicious wines? Click Here. 
History of the Grape: La Crescent
We are proud to announce the release of Suhru Wines's 2022 La Crescent, released March 15, 2023, the first La Crescent produced on Long Island. The launch of this wine marks Assistant Winemaker Brad Ulrich's debut as a winemaker and a very promising start to his career. “I was drawn in by the flavor. This varietal has very strong citrus notes and a fruity aroma. After using it in blending for Suhru’s 2021 Rosé I believed it could be made into a very nice stand alone wine.” A Brief History of the Grape
A Note from Assistant Winemaker Brad Ulrich
A Closer Look at Suhru La Crescent
Learn More About La Crescent
History of the Grape: Merlot
One of the world's most popular red wines—Merlot is loved for its versatility! Here on the North Fork of Long Island it is one of the most prolific and widely planted varieties. A consistent ripener, Merlot makes beautiful blends as well as single varietal wines. A Brief History of the Grape
A Closer Look at our Merlot
Recommended Food Pairings
Learn More About our Merlot
The Ageability of Suhru Reds
One of the things I love most about winemaking is the cyclical nature of the profession and its ties to nature. It is very rewarding each year watching the progression of the vine throughout the growing season moving from bud break in the Spring, to fruit set and cluster development over the Summer months, ripening and harvest in the Fall and then watching the vines go dormant for the Winter months before it all starts up again.A Closer Look at the Long Island Wine Region
The Ageability of Suhru Reds
Mar 5, 2023 at 3:00 AM
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