Suhru Blog

What's Happening at Suhru this May

Spring has Sprung on the North Fork—flowers are in bloom, buds are opening in vineyards across the East End, farm stands have fresh local produce on their shelves, and the warm weather is here to stay! After a long, albeit mild, winter we are excited to reopen our Wine Garden and be able to once again enjoy our wines alfresco!

The team has been busy these past few months, planning an exciting summer full of great events and giving the interior of the Tasting House and our backyard Wine Garden a refresh and a new look. 

Memorial Day Weekend is fast approaching and with it, the official beginning of Summer! We have a number of great events happening over the long weekend and carrying through the warm weather months ahead...

Fireside Fridays are back and better than ever!

Loved cozying up by the fire in the wine garden last Fall? Now you can do it all season long! Join us for Fireside Fridays this Memorial through Columbus Day. The Tasting House will be open until 7pm on Friday evenings with our outdoor fire pits lit at 4PM (weather permitting). Merlot Dark Chocolate S'mores Plates available Fridays only!

The Return of the Lobster Roll

The Summer Season has arrived and with it Lobster Rolls! Join us for Lobster Roll Sliders and a glass of wine, available Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Tasting House Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend. 

Annual Oysters & Wine

We are thrilled to once again be hosting Southold Bay Oysters on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend! Enjoy freshly shucked oysters, along with the full Suhru menu from 1-5pm on  Sunday, May 28th.

More Great Events to Be Aware of:

• Weekly Happy Hour, every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon from 3-6pm join us for $8 glasses of white and rosé wines, $10 glasses of red, and a weekly food special!
• Sunday, May 14th we are hosting our Annual Wildflowers & Wine event with our friends at Nerdling Acres, seating is limited and tickets are going fast so be sure to grab your soon!
• Find us on the grounds of the Three Village Historical Society every other Friday from 3-7pm in June - October. Sue will be showcasing a selection of our white, rosé and red wines each week available for taste and to purchase by the bottle.
• Watercolors & Wine Workshop—enjoy a glass of Suhru wine while painting a North Fork Coastal seashell in this immersive workshop with local watercolor artist Melissa Hyatt.
• Two Truths & a Lie: Palate Training 101—put your palate to the test with this immersive tasting experience diving into a variety of styles and flavors. Don’t let yourself be swayed by the power of suggestion. In this 90 minute class you will become a detective for the day as we will taste 3 different styles of wines, each paired with 3 flavor pairings. Can you decipher which of the flavors and aromas exist in your glass and which is the imposter?
• Save the Date: Labor Day Weekend Oysters & Wine, reservations coming soon!

Upcoming Events

What's to Come in 2023

It’s a big year for Suhru—2023 marks five years in our Cutchogue Tasting House and fifteen (wow that went fast!) years making Suhru Wines. We officially opened our Tasting House doors in May of 2018 and since then have worked every day to cultivate the friendly, inviting, relaxed tasting room experience that you know and love!

I am very proud of how the Suhru team has managed the storms of the past few years and am excited to share that in 2023 we will be launching a number of the projects that we have been working on.

New Wines—

We are continuing to grow the Suhru Portfolio with the addition of THREE new wines this year! On February 1st we will be releasing the first Suhru Merlot, this classic old-world style red is a beautiful representation of North Fork Merlot and a staple of Long Island Wine Country. Merlot is wonderfully well suited to our cool, maritime climate with consistent ripening and excellent aging potential. At Suhru, we are making a medium-bodied, soft tannin Merlot aged for 9 months in Hungarian oak barrels, setting it apart in style from the majority of Merlots made in this region. An elegant wine with red fruit, hints of cardamom, tarragon and anise on the nose, with red cherries, currants and raspberry on the palate; this wine has a light hint of vanilla and a seamless, silky finish.

Later this Spring we will be releasing an exciting and little known new white wine that is quite different from anything else you are seeing on Long Island at the moment. And if that isn’t enticing enough, we are pleased to share that towards the end of 2023 we will be releasing a Petit Verdot, a highly anticipated red for Suhru that we will only be making in the best of vintages!

New Events—

There are a lot of things happening this year that I am excited for, but none of them more so than the addition of New Events. It’s going to be a busy year so get your calendars ready!

• New Happy Hour—Wednesdays & Thursdays from 3-6pm featuring glass specials and weekly small plates!
• Suhru Sommelier—monthly Comparative Tasting & Continuing Wine Education classes led by in-house wine expert Beth Santosuosso. These exciting classe will be held on the third Sunday of each month starting in February. Learn More
• Southold Bay Oysters Return on Sunday, May 28th of Memorial Day Weekend and Sunday, September 3rd of Labor Day Weekend from 1-5pm. 
• Fireside Fridays—these fun Friday evening events are back with extended hours starting May 26th and running through October 6th the Tasting House will be open until 7pm on Fridays with outdoor fire pits lit at 4:30pm. 
• Save the Date for our First Annual Suhru Summer BBQ which will be held on Sunday, July 30th with Winemaker Russell Hearn and Assistant Winemaker Brad Ulrich on the grill!

New Hours—

Amongst all the changes this year, we are making a slight change to our hours. We will now be open Wednesdays - Sundays year round, Closed weekly on Mondays & Tuesdays and select holidays throughout the year including Easter Sunday, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Day. 

New Look—

The Tasting House is getting a facelift this year with lots of changes happening both indoors and out. get excited for the return of bar seating, a fresh new look in the Wine Garden, some new furniture making its debut and a plethora of other changes coming to the Tasting House! We will be continuing to make changes throughout the entirety of 2023 so be sure to stop in and see what we have been up to!

More to Come—and if that’s not enough, (I told you we’ve been busy!) we have a few more surprises up our sleeves for 2023 so stay tuned for more special events, food pairings, wine dinners, and more!

Happy 2023!

What's Happening at Suhru this November

With the busiest part of the Fall now behind us, we are happy to report that the 2022 harvest has proven to be another fruitful one! The last of our grapes were harvested on Saturday, October 29th, bringing the 2022 vintage to a close. Despite the few periods  of rain we had in October we are very pleased with the quality of fruit that came in from the vineyards this year. We saw good yields, very nice fruit development due to the hot, dry summer and many sun filled days, and minimal if any disease or animal pressure throughout the growing season. While a few varieties saw smaller than average yields in the vineyard, the quality all around was very high and is all adding up to a solid vintage.

Currently our white wines have finished fermentation and will be filtered in the coming days. Our reds are all macerating in the tank and undergoing punchdowns multiple times a day to ensure the juice stays in contact with the grape skins throughout the fermentation process. Russell and the rest of our winery team are keeping a close eye on things and will stay very busy in the winery throughout the rest of November. Over the coming weeks our reds will complete primary fermentation, at which point the wine will be pressed off the grape skins and returned to the tank to settle, before being barreled down to undergo malolactic fermentation in barrel.  

Meanwhile, over at the Tasting House we have quite a bit planned this November and through the end of 2022! Friday, November 4th we will be hosting a Wine Pairing Dinner at The North Fork Shack featuring four select Suhru Wines paired with a Jamaican inspired meal crafted by Chef Samy. The weekend of November 17th - 21st we will be offering a limited re-release Library Reds Tasting Flight ($40pp) featuring four select red wines from the 2013 and 2014 vintages, with a limited number of bottles available for purchase. 

Being a family business and active members of our local community, we are proud to share that for the second year in a row we will be the wine sponsor for the CAST Festival of Trees which benefits CAST whose mission is "to build a thriving community where every member is free from worry about basic necessities and is able to build a better future for themselves and their families".  Festival of Trees is a wonderful holiday event for the whole family and directly supports those in need in our local North Fork community. Shelby will be pouring a selection of Suhru Wines at the Friday night welcome reception, she hopes to see you there!

Looking ahead to December, be sure to mark your calendars—on Sunday, December 4th we will be hosting our friends at Chocology Unlimited for a Holiday Popup featuring their delicious chocolates and fudges. And our December Wine Club Tasting will be held on the weekend of December 8th - 12th, Club Members check your emails for complete details. 

We hope to see you at the Tasting House this November, but if we don't we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with Family & Friends! If you are looking for Thanksgiving recipe ideas, we recommend taking a look through some of our featured Cooking with Suhru recipes! 

More Upcoming Events

New Release: 2021 Sauvignon Blanc

We are excited to announce the release of our new 2021 Sauvignon Blanc! The 2021 vintage brings a slightly different flavor profile, showcasing bold tropical notes along with the classic minerality and soft finish. We hope you stop by the Tasting House to taste the new vintage sometime soon!

This vintage has a lively fruitiness with rich tropical notes of passionfruit, mango, and papaya on the nose. Tropical flavors continue to flow on the pallet. Bright flavors give way to a cleansing crisp finish, all showcasing the distinctive characteristics of the varietal. 

While often associated with warmer weather, Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most popular winter white varieties. Its minerality and soft fruit notes make Sauvignon Blanc an excellent pairing option with poultry, pasta, roasted vegetables, winter soups, and more.

We highly recommend trying our Sauvignon Blanc paired with Roasted Butternut Squash Orzo! You can find this recipe and more in the Cooking with Suhru section of the Suhru Blog or stop by the Tasting House for a recipe card, happy sipping!

Shop Sauvignon Blanc

Checking in on Harvest

I try not to judge a vintage until all the fruit is in the cellar, as winemaking is at the end of the day, an agricultural enterprise and we are at the whim of Mother Nature. That being said, all of our white wines have been harvested, except the Riesling, and the rosé fruit is beginning to be picked so I think it's safe to make a few comments on the vintage thus far.

Everything that has been harvested to date looks and tastes 'beautiful'. Here on the North Fork we have been enjoying a wonderful Indian Summer so far in September with warm days and high sun. The warm weather has been coupled with 'low' humidity and next to no rainfall all of which add up to ideal grape growing conditions.

The North Fork doesn't give us an easy harvest like this very often but I'll take it! I am very pleased and excited for all of the fruit that has come into the cellar so far this year. We have had bright, fruitful, dynamic flavors in the grapes that have thus far been harvested and are seeing nice progress on the current ferments. The team in the cellar, headed up by Suhru's assistant winemaker Brad have been busy these last few weeks and will continue to be busy for the rest of this Fall tending to and managing the ferments to ensure the wines develop correctly.

At this point in the season all we can do is watch the weather and hope that this hurricane season in the Northeast remains calm (even though Ian is likely going to give us some issues). Fingers Crossed!

We are beginning to look ahead to the reds which are still a few weeks away but the red harvest will be here before we know it! Despite the slow, cool spring all varieties are ahead of normal in fruit development so our red harvest also should come in earlier than expected. More to come on that in the weeks ahead.

If you're not already, be sure to follow @suhruwines on Instagram for regular harvest updates!

What's Happening at Suhru

What's Happening at Suhru this October

Harvest is well and truly underway on the North Fork and it is overall looking like 2022 is going to be a great vintage! As you may have read in our last Harvest Update we had a good growing season with a hot, dry summer leading into good sun levels and minimal rainfall throughout September all of which points to well developed fruit in the vineyard.

At this point in the Harvest season, all of the sparkling and most of the white wine grapes across the North Fork have been harvested with the rosé push underway. As we move into October we will see rosé harvesting continue in earnest and red grapes begin to come in. The white wines that have already been picked are fermenting away in the tank and are beginning to show the telltale signs of the wines they will become. 

Growing up in a wine family, every year during the Fall my father would bring home grape clusters for my sister and I to snack on, take us on walks through the vineyard to taste the fruit while be was doing berry sampling, and if we were really lucky he would bring us home a bottle of freshly pressed grape juice, a little treat for us to enjoy with dinner!

I am excited to share that we will be sharing this experience with you this Columbus Day weekend with a Harvest Tasting! On Saturday, October 8th and Sunday, October 9th be sure to make a reservation to visit us at the Tasting House to enjoy our Harvest Flight, which will showcase the freshly pressed 2022 Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc juice alongside our 2021 Pinot Grigio and 2021 Sauvignon Blanc wines. This is a great opportunity to see how the flavors in the grape influence the finished wine. 

We have a number of great events happening this month including the continuation of our Thursday Happy Hours weekly from 4-6pm with $6 glass specials and featured cheese board specials. We are also excited to be continuing our Fireside Fridays, our backyard fire pit is lit at 4pm and we are staying open an hour later closing at 7pm on Fridays through the end of the month (possibly extending into November depending on weather).

We also will be hosting another Succulent & Sip event with Imaginariums by Elissa on Sunday, October 23rd at 1pm. Grab a friend for a fun, crafty afternoon while you sip award winning wines and create a stunning succulent adorned pumpkin; beautiful to decorate your table or give as a lovely hostess gift! Ticket cost includes instruction, a beautiful 5 inch tiger pumpkin, hand picked hen and chick succulents, and fall inspired preserved florals and mosses. The full Suhru Wines menu will be available throughout the event.

I hope to see you at the Tasting House this Fall, but until then, cheers!

Harvest Has Arrived

With harvest season now upon us it is a good opportunity to look back at the growing season to see how we got here. Since early June the 2022 growing season has been very favorable. We had hot, dry conditions throughout most of the summer, which while at times may have been a little oppressive for all of us, it's ideal for the grapes. Although humidity was high for 4-5 weeks during that time, we experienced almost zero rainfall. The warmer than normal temperatures and slightly below average yields have moved ripening along at a nice pace.

We began harvesting our Pinot Noir fruit for Brut on Thursday. The crews were out harvesting starting at 6am which officially kicked off the 2022 Suhru Vintage! Chardonnay, the second grape varietal that comprises our Brut, will be right behind it. The next grape on deck is Pinot Grigio. It looks beautiful in the vineyard with the sugar and flavors developing very nicely. I expect that it, along with the Chardonnay will be harvested mid to late next week.

If you have visited our Tasting House in the past few months you may have heard the team hinting at a new addition to the Suhru library. We are excited to share that we will be making a new wine during the harvest of 2022—La Crescent. Brad, our assistant winemaker, will be taking the lead on this bright, crisp white wine. La Crescent is a hybrid grape that we are sourcing from the Finger Lakes. This varietal is also very close to full ripeness and will be picked by the end of the week. We have been experimenting with this grape for the last two vintages and I am excited about its potential. Keep an eye out for a Spring release!

In general yields are a little below average for the 2022 vintage. The 'fruitfulness' (quantity of clusters) is established from the amount of sunlight during the growing season. The number of berries on each cluster happens during the 'fruit set' period each June. This slightly below average yield has reduced the need for green harvesting (to correct yield), which was a concern earlier in the season as we had a very cool Spring,  The smaller yields will provide riper fruit overall. The weather over the coming 6-7 weeks as always is critical. Fingers crossed for a stellar 2022 Harvest.

What's Happening at Suhru

What's Happening at Suhru this Fall

Fall has arrived and with it comes Harvest! The North Fork is a buzz this time of year with trucks and tractors regularly spotted driving down the road with beds loaded to the brim with grapes, apples, and pumpkins. At Suhru, our harvest began this week with the Pinot Noir for our sparkling and will continue into next week with a number of our white grape varieties.

In addition to the buzz and excitement around the arrival of harvest season, we are staying busy at the Tasting House with a number of new and exciting events and wine releases planned for the coming weeks and months! Thursday, September 8th kicked off our weekend of Wine Club with members invited to visit us at the Tasting House for a specially curated wine tasting and complimentary food pairing. These weekends are always a lot of fun for me and the whole team at Suhru, as we love seeing so many familiar faces and having a chance to catch up with our Club members on their summers and what's new and exciting at Suhru. 

This Thursday also marked the release of our new Fall Menu featuring a new Fall Favorites Tasting Flight which includes a taste each of our 2021 Dry Riesling, 2021 Rosé, 2020 Teroldego and 2019 Shiraz as well as a number of new small bite options including new cheese and charcuterie plates along with a few sweeter options. 

With Summer coming to an end our extended hour Summer Thursday Happy Hour has also ended, however we will continue offering Happy Hour glass and cheese plate specials every Thursday afternoon from 4-6pm plus we will be staying open until 7pm on Fridays this Fall starting September 16th and running through the end of October (weather permitting). We invite you to join us for Fall Fireside Fridays, from 4-7pm to enjoy a glass of wine by our backyard bonfire! In addition to the Full Suhru Menu, on Fridays only we will have a special s'mores plate option featuring our custom made Merlot infused Dark chocolate!

And last but certainly not least, be sure to mark your calendars and book a reservation—Saturday, October 8th and Sunday, October 9th of Columbus Day weekend we will be offering a special Harvest Tasting celebrating the bounty of the 2022 harvest with an exclusive tasting of freshly pressed grape juice and fresh picked berries along side their corresponding finished wines.

What's Happening at Suhru: August 2022

I can't believe August is already here! In case you missed it, be sure to checkout the lastest on our Blog including an Update from Owner Susan Hearn detailing what she's been up to these past few weeks.

As you may have heard, we have had an exciting few weeks with a number of wonderful announcements including that our 2020 Teroldego won Best in Class at the 2022 New York Wine Classic while our 2021 Rosé recieved Best in Class at the 2022 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition

And in case you missed it, we have a new Cooking with Suhru post! Fish tacos are a summer staple and we have a quick and easy mid week recipe to share! Our Assistant Winemaker, Brad, loves to fish, particularly for fluke. One of his favorite summer recipes is Blackened Fish Tacos, pair with a bottle of Dry Riesling and you can't go wrong!

It's been a busy July at Suhru but Summer isn't over yet and we have lots of great events planned at the Tasting House, so be sure to make a reservation and mark your calendars!

 

August Special Events:

• 8/4: Thursday Happy Hour & Live Music by Julia King, 4-7pm
• 8/4: Art Show with Melissa Hyatt, 4-7pm
• 8/6: Lobster Roll Sliders at the Tasting House
• 8/7: Sundays at Suhru: Lobster Roll Sliders & Live Music from 1-4pm
• 8/11: Thursday Happy Hour & Live Music by Rob Europe, 4-7pm
• 8/13: Lobster Roll Sliders at the Tasting House
• 8/14: Sundays at Suhru: Lobster Roll Sliders & Live Music from 1-4pm
• 8/18: Thursday Happy Hour & Live Music by Robin Sidor, 4-7pm
• 8/20: Lobster Roll Sliders at the Tasting House
• 8/21: Sundays at Suhru: Lobster Roll Sliders & Live Music from 1-4pm
• 8/25: Thursday Happy Hour & Live Music by Dorian Consort (Classical Trio), 4-7pm
• 8/27: Lobster Roll Sliders at the Tasting House
• 8/28: Sundays at Suhru: Lobster Roll Sliders at the Tasting House
• 8/29: Wine Dinner at the Marshall in Manhattan, 7:30pm

A sneak peak at our Labor Day plans—we have Lobster Rolls Sliders Saturday and Sunday and Southold Bay Oysters serving up freshly shucked Long Island oysters from 1-5pm on Sunday!

We are currently hard at work planning a number of great wine events this Fall and Winter. If you have a suggestion on future events or a wine topic you'd like to see at Suhru Wines, let us know! Thank you again for your continued support and happy Summer!

Best in Class Rosé at the 2022 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition

We are thrilled to announce that our 2021 Rosé received the Best in Class award at the 2022 Finger Lakes International Wine & Spirits Competition (FLIWC)!

FLIWC is one of the largest charitable wine and spirits competitions in the US. Internationally certified judges from around the globe converge in Rochester, NY each year to taste and evaluate thousands of internationally crafted wines and spirits.

All proceeds from the competition benefit Camp Good Days and Special Times, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and families, whose lives have been touched by cancer and sickle cell anemia. At Suhru, we are very proud to support this cause and the important work done at Camp Good Days.

In addition to the wonderful recognition for our Rosé, our 2021 Pinot Grigio and 2021 Dry Riesling both took home Silver medals. In celebration of these exciting awards we are offering 10% Off on 6+ bottles of our three award winning wines—2021 Rosé, 2021 Pinot Grigio, and 2021 Dry Riesling. Enter discount code "GOODDAYS" at checkout to save an extra 10%.

Please Note: Discount code valid ONLINE ONLY through August 31, 2022. Discount cannot be combined with any other offer or discount. Online orders can be placed for delivery or pickup at checkout. Shipping is available to 40+ states across the US. 

Learn More About our 2021 Rosé