Suhru Blog

Cooking with Suhru: Dry Riesling

One of the many joys of Fall is apple picking, however once you get all of those delicious apples home, the question is always what to do with them? There are only so many sweet apple dishes a girl can eat!

While I love making apple pies and crisps, I find myself gravitating more and more to savory apple dishes like this sweet and savory Apple Goat Cheese Tart! A true North Fork farm-to-table recipe, everything you need can be picked up locally.

After a beautiful Fall day spent apple picking on the North Fork, stop by one of our local cheesemakers Catapano Dairy Farm or Goodale Farms for chevre goat cheese, and stop at one of the many North Fork farm stands for local honey and fresh herbs.

A quick and simple recipe, this Apple Tart pairs splendidly with the crisp acidity and rich stone fruit notes in our Dry Riesling and makes both a wonderful appetizer or dessert.

Try the Recipe

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

Cooking with Suhru: Sauvignon Blanc

One of the wonderful things about Sauvignon Blanc is that it is, what I like to call, an all weather wine. Looking for a rich, nuanced wine to pair with a cheese and charcuterie board? Sauvignon Blanc! Need a dry, cold wine to sip by the pool? Sauvignon Black is perfect. How about a crisp, nuanced white to pair with a savory pasta? You guessed it, Sauvignon Blanc!

While I personally love this varietal in all seasons, it is a particular favorite of mine in the cooler months. Now that the temperature outside has begun to drop, I find myself time and time again reaching for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. One of my favorite meals to pair it with is no other than Roasted Butternut Squash Orzo, or what has become known in my house as "the lazy man's risotto". 

This meal is on regular rotation in my house and works well with any selection of fresh herbs, including rosemary, sage, or thyme. For a richer flavor I recommend swapping out the vegetable broth with chicken broth and mixing in a little parmesan to the dish as well as sprinkling on top. This is a great staple recipe that is easy to play around with and make your own. Grab a bottle of Suhru Sauvignon Blanc and get cooking!

Try the Recipe

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!

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.

Cooking with Suhru: Pinot Grigio + Easy Shrimp Bake

Nothing says summer like shrimp on the BBQ! Pair it with a nice, chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio and you have quite the quintessential summer evening! 

I stumbled across this Delish.com recipe for Grilled Shrimp Foil Packets a few weeks ago and it has quickly become a staple in our household and one that is sure to make a splash this summer at a BBQ because it has all the wow factor with very little work! This delicious dinner is fast and easy for a mid-week meal and with no mess and quick and simple cleanup, it is quickly becoming one of my favorites!

I have long been a fan of the Cajun/Louisiana Crawfish Boil, and while not quite the same, this 30 minute recipe is a close second! But don't take my word for it, try it with a bottle of Pinot Grigio and prepare for an all around excellent evening!

Try the Recipe

Cooking with Suhru: Sauvignon Blanc + Goat Cheese Asparagus Pasta Salad

One of the (many) great things about living on the East End of Long Island is the incredible access to fresh, local produce throughout the Spring, Summer, and early Fall months! I have been patiently awaiting the arrival of local asparagus and now that Wickhams Farm Stand (across the street from the Suhru Tasting House) has asparagus on the stand nothing will stop me from eating it at least once a day!

Given my love for asparagus you can only imagine my delight upon stumbling across Lauren Lombardi's Farmers market pasta salad with Catapano goat cheese (another favorite!) recently featured in the May edition of Northforker!

Lauren's original recipe can be found on Northforker.com, however I have included her recipe with a few additions of my own below. I'll be serving this at all my upcoming outdoor and warm weather events, paired with a crisp, cold bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, I hope you enjoy!

Try the Recipe

What's Happening at Suhru this May

It has been a cold, long winter but with the arrival of May there is no denying that Spring has Sprung! 70+ degree days, sundresses, and lazy days in the backyard, on the boat, at the beach (insert delightful outdoor setting of your choice) with a glass of wine... here we come!

To say that I am ready for Spring is the understatement of the century. I am the first to admit that I am a Fall/Winter girl but let me at some warm weather! It has been a long, cold winter full of twists and turns. In the wine industry as in many businesses across the country supply chain delays have been the constant topic of conversation along with the many other economic and political challenges that are facing the globe at the moment. We have seen major delays in glass deliveries meaning that many of our 2021 white and rosé wines have seen delayed release dates this season. However those delays have come to an end!

We are excited to be releasing our 2021 Pinot Grigio, the first of our 2021 whites to hit the market (more soon to follow)! This refreshing white wine is slightly different from years past with softer, more delicate fruit notes with notes of gala apple and rich pear and a hint of lemon showcasing the round mouthfeel and rich texture on the pallet. A beautiful wine, particularly well suited to a meal, we are beyond excited to share this new vintage!

In addition to new releases, we are excited to welcome our seasonal team back to the tasting room! Over the next few weeks you will start to see many familiar faces in the Tasting House and behind the bar, as well as a few new faces so be sure to stop by and say hello!

We have tons of great things planned for the season including a full events calendar that is currently up-to-date through the end of July with lots of great events featuring oysters, lobster rolls, succulents, watercolors, live music and more! In addition to our events, I have been busy in our backyard seating area transforming it into a wine garden for the season! We hope you will stop by to enjoy a glass in our beautiful new backyard wine garden this season. Happy Spring!

2022 Mother's Day Gift Guide

Mother's Day Weekend is quickly approaching and we cannot wait for all of the wonderful Spring activities that Mother's Day brings! While brunch or breakfast at home is always the classic Mother's Day option, in our house Mother's Day is all about prepping the house indoors and out for Spring and ensuring that Moms garden is planted and beautiful for the warmer growing days ahead!

Given this we have put together a few floral based Mother's Day specials that fit perfectly into any Mother's Day plans whether you're seeing mom in person this year or celebrating her from afar we have you covered with a number of great gift options as well as a Mother's Day event. 

Plus for those who are looking for a day of wine tasting this Mother's Day (you are my kinda Moms!!) our backyard wine garden will be open and we will be pouring tasting flights, glasses, and serving up bottles and cheese plates from 12noon to 6pm on Sunday, May 8th so make a reservation and spend Mother's Day relaxing among the flowers with a glass fo your favorite wine in hand!

Reservations at the Tasting Room

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We are beyond excited to have partnered with Nerdling Acres Flowers this year to put together a number of excellent Mother's Day offerings featuring their stunning, local, sustainably-grown blooms and botanicals!

On Sunday, May 8th at 2PM we will be hosting a Wildflowers & Wine Workshop during which you can create your own unique mixed garden style arrangement with an abundance of local blooms and botanicals grown at the Nerdling Acres farm while sipping your favorite Suhru wines and snacking on a sweet & savory cheese plate! During this fun and informative workshop you'll learn about seasonal specialty flowers as well as techniques to create their own beautiful floral arrangements. 

We are also offering Mother's Day Bundles including a bottle of Rosé or Sauvignon Blanc paired with a beautiful, local bouquet featuring heirloom tulips, lilac, camellia, & more! Pre-Order is Required for these bundles and they are available for pickup at the Tasting House May  6th - 8th or free local delivery available between Riverhead and Orient, NY.

If you are a little further away and looking to send Mom a little something, be sure to checkout our gift options including favorites like our Wine Tumblers, which are great for life on the go! These custom stainless steel tumblers (available in white or black) feature a powder-coated finish, modern stainless steel accents, and revolutionary copper vacuum insulation to keep your wine cold for up 16 hours. Plus, a clear push-on lid makes it worry-free.

A few other gift ideas include Merlot Dark Chocolate bar and a bottle of her favorite wine shipped directly to her doorstep! If you are shipping a gift to Mom this year (we ship to 40+ states!), please allow 3 business days for East Coast addresses and 6 business days for West Coast deliveries. 

However you are spending Mother's Day weekend, we hope that you have a great day surrounded by family and friends, enjoying great food and sipping on an excellent wine! Cheers to all the amazing mommas!! 

 

What's Happening at Suhru Wines this February

I can't believe that it is already February! Our annual Winter Holiday has flown by and we are looking forward to getting back in the Tasting House for another wonderful season!

We are excited to announce a few changes in 2022. We are extending our Tasting House hours and will now be open 5 days a week—Thursday - Monday from 12noon to 6pm—year round (with the exception of our annual Winter Break). Reservations are currently open for indoor seating though April and we highly recommend making a reservation if you plan to visit the Tasting House in the coming months as our indoor seating is limited. 

We also are introducing Thursday Happy Hours! Each Thursday we will be featuring a selection of glass and small bite specials. Follow us on Instagram and keep an eye on our Stories for updates on the weekly specials! 

With a new month also comes new releases—our new 2019 Ember is now available and is being poured at the Tasting House! If you are a member of our Wine Club, this wine will be familiar as you received it as a pre-release in your December Wine Club, for everyone else, this wine is now available and tasting beautifully! The 2019 Ember, our Bordeaux blend, is medium bodied with rich dark fruit notes, think cherry, plum, black currant, & cranberry as well as nice dried herb notes tarragon and sage. Warm and inviting the 2019 has a long, lingering finish and the classic touch of smoke on the finish for which this wine is so well known. There are so many great pairing options when it comes to Ember, but with the piles of snow blanketing the North Fork from this past weekend's snow storm, it seems only appropriate to recommend pairing a bottle of Ember with a warm, smoky bean & beluga lentil Chili, you can find a great recipe on the Suhru Blog. 

Beyond the Tasting House we have a number of great events quickly approaching including:

1. Valentine's Day Virtual Tasting: I will be participating in a Valentine's Day Virtual Tasting Panel featuring five producers from New York State on Tuesday, February 8th at 7PM EST. This virtual event hosted by Crush Wine Events is part of their 2022 virtual tasting series and the second that I have done this year. Registration is free and I would love for you to join me to chat about the great wines
    
2. Riverhead Indoor Farmers Market: If you live on the East End you may have heard that the Riverhead Winter Market is back and open Saturdays from 9am-1pm now through April. We have long participated in this market and this year have a rotating booth in the Long Island Wine Country corner. On select Saturdays you can find myself or owner Susan Hearn pouring a selection of our wines alongside other Long Island wineries, famers, artisans, and artists. You can next find us at the market on February 12th and March 5th with a complete list of upcoming dates on our events calendar.
    
3. March Wine Dinner: As I mentioned before, the Suhru team has been hard at work planning a number of great upcoming events. We are beyond excited to once again be partnering with Chef Adam Kaufer of Grace & Grit in Southold for a six-course Wine Dinner on Monday, March 7th with insights into the wine pairings by winemaker Russell Hearn. Seating is limited, reservations required.
    
4. Watercolors & Wine: We are thrilled to welcome back local watercolor artist Melissa Hyatt this April 7th for a Piping Plover watercolor class. As an added bonus, at this class we will be joined by Christie Jones who makes non-toxic, handmade watercolor paints that you will use during the class. These classes are so much fun and open to all levels. Come explore your creativity with us! 

That's all for now, but I hope to see you in the Tasting House soon!

Cheers,

Shelby Hearn Ulrich, General Manager