TNs--Mike on Tour--Oct 18--Day at Paumanok, Night Pinot with Pobega

At last I was able to get out here, with much thanks to Mikhail Lipyanskiy for making the appointment and doing the driving. We were met first by Charles Massoud and then by his son and current winemaker, Kareem. To my delight, Dianne Kessler was able to join us as well. What followed was one of the most memorable winery visits I’ve ever had. We spent 5 hours discussing everything from the history of the vines to the reasons for the continuance and discontinuance of batonnage to a particular solution they came up with to deal with various mildew incursions to use of red grapes in their various wines. We were very fortunate to get so much of their time and attention, not to mention the wines, and we are very grateful.

2016 Paumanok Winery Chenin Blanc

Honey and banana and so much fresh fruit salad. Turbocharged Chenin—the lanolin feel, good ripeness of yellow fruit, delicious carry.

2012 Paumanok Winery Blanc de Blanc

Quiet crisp apple bouquet, bit of grapefruit. Done method Champenois, very refreshing and crisp, lots of life and minerally line with grapefruit main

2015 Paumanok Festival Chard

No oak or malo here. Touch of Sulphur to me. Melon and a non-oak nutty nuance. Follows through in mouth—Light-ish, but no lack of flavour, sprightly

2015 Paumanok Barrel Ferment Chard

10-15% new oak, nose and mouth of pears and plantain with good curvy presence and nice back-carry, pistachios a bit on the breathe-back. Some butter sense here. Good wine.

2016 Paumanok Minimalist Chenin Blanc

A project Kareem wanted to do, to great acclaim. Done in puncheons. This has more dried fruits and an almost funky side note. Sultana raisins, star fruit…dragon fruit too? I see what Mikhail means—this does have depth and length to age out a goodly ways. Florals are pronounced. 120 cases or so, shows as good Chenin.

2015 Paumanok Minimalist Sauv Blanc

Mushroomy! Bit of leaf smoke, smells of the farmland fields. Very “clean” in the mouth, traces of sweetness throughout, but nowhere close to some of the California versions. Also a saltine kind of thing with a second taste. Interesting for sure.

2016 Paumanok Dry Riesling

In context here, apples and ginger and some graham cracker. I like this a little better than its predecessor, more liveliness and acid, still not a go-to wine for me

2016 Paumanok Semi-Dry Riesling

Much more lilting and sweeter, with crabapple, apple, even a touch of orange. Semi is still quite sweet. A little limpid here for me. Blend of 4 cuvees of Riesling plots.

2015 Paumanok Cabernet Franc

No bell pepper or olives here. And we all connect with this wine—like a gamay with blue-red fruit. Even in a red, seems like banana or plantain lurking. Le gout, it is CF, but a very sweet and gentle exposition. Touches of black leather and licorice to juicy red fruit. Not bad.

2014 Paumanok Cab Sauv

Bouquet speaks of violets, roses, cranberry and boysenberry. Meaty in feel with lost of dark berries, give time.

2013 Paumanok Merlot

14 months in oak. Nice sniffs of underlying pipe smoke, with violets, plum and currant. Not small on palate—good, solid tannins, sharply-defined red cranberry and currant fruit with acidity.

2013 Paumanok Grand Vintage Merlot

We try this from screwcap and cork closure. Very attractive fruit compote bouquet. Some meats behind. That is excellent. Well-judged with great red fruit and paprika carry. There is lots of body and char. Bit of char but only bolds the red fruit. Young but with panache

From the cork closure, more “ready” in nose and mouth, same wine but a tiny bit more polish. Finely tasty

2015 Paumanok Minimalist Cab Sauv

No sulfites added to this, no yeast or additives, 100% CS and contact with skins for 2 months. 50% steel barrels, 50% neutral French barrels, 4.5 barrels total. 17 months in oak. Smells like a PV or an old world Syrah—Mikhail gets a lactic note which I could see—along with sweetmeats, blackberry and black cherry. This is awesome juice. It is so poised already. Gorgeous chocolate-infused black cherry and black forest cake. Cool and long and beautiful. WOTD, couldn’t leave without buying a bottle and I’m on a very strict import limit.

2014 Paumanok Assemblage

13.5% alc, 20% new oak. 50% merlot, 37% CS, 10% CF and 3% PV. Round aromatics, though also spiky. Cocoa nibs and sweet herbs with plum and black cherry. Strict still and almost fiery in feel. Red and black fruit and red licorice tinge later. Plenty going on.

2014 Paumanok Tuthills Lane Cab Sauv

This is just from one vineyard. Chickoree, a little cedar box. Fruit is currant and small berry. On the tongue, rugged, more primary with raspberry and boysenberry fruit. Note that this is screwcap as well, which Kareem believes slows the wine’s evolution.

2013 Paumanok Apollo Drive Petit Verdot

Cork closure for this, planted in 01, they did their first single bottling in 05. The peppercorns and earthy that I want. An interesting note of clean linens and violet. the food friendly wine. Black fruit, terrific acidity, years and years left. I could sip this all day long, endless length and drinkability. My #2 here.

2010 Paumanok Tuthills Lane Merlot

Very honoured that this was brought out for us to try. Screwcap here to. Aromas are of chestnut and sweetmeats and cherry and plum. Coruscating nose doesn’t stay still. A definite refinement here, a developed red cherry with cinnamon, cumin and plum pudding. Dark chocolate at the back, this is a kinetic and “conversational” wine that has long yet to settle in.

The biggest, biggest thanks to Charles, Kareem and everyone at Paumanok for making me feel so warmly welcomed and for their generosity.

I feel very privileged that ye fine gentleman, paysan Pobega, invited me to join his current pinot-tasting small group for their get-together tonight. I loved meeting and talking with his son, seeing Josh Boyd again, and meeting Lance Lieberman and—very, very much overdue—the legend himself, Ray Ormand.

We chatted about movies, a bit of politics, business and, of course wines, with lots of laughs as I had brought the Frenchy interlopers to this OL. Each of the wines gave us something to talk about for sure.

This was also my very first time at PDH. Glad to have been able to see what the fuss is about! Food’s good.

2006 Hartford Court Arrendell Pinot Noir

Cherries are a clear expression, baking spices, bit of cola. First blast is big and sweet, but food helps this a lot. Plenty of blue and red berry fruit, a solid Hartford that was the fave of some.

2013 Littorai Les Larmes Pinot Noir

Foresty here, with tangible red strawberry. To taste, this is balanced and solid enough, but missing some identifiable “more” or “class”. I think we all felt it here, that this was a bit of a disappointment considering all our previous experiences with Littorai Pinots.

2015 Bevan Cellars Pinot Noir

This may be my first Pinot from Russell—will have to check. almost a touch of soy sauce in the sniffer, along with cooked plums, but not in an overt way. Big? Yes, but it is well-made too. There is a blast of cola and sarsaparilla through the plum and peppery black cherry. Good now, but maybe only a 6 year or so lifespan. Maybe not—it’d be interesting for sure to check on it down the road.

2015 Benovia Martaella Pinot Noir

Little bit of sweet roasted chestnut threading through the red fruit nose here. Savoury and polished, good wine here, there’s carry and juicy cranberry, strawberry and a dash of citrus. Might have been, by a little bit, my WOTN, as it was for some others.

2015 Joblot Givry 1er Cru Clos Marole

Locked tight at first. Eventually, almost nut -tinged piney side to black fruit bouquet. That is puckering when it hits your tastebuds….but it is good. Tart raspberry, earth, chocolate, for me it takes me to the commune very well. My #2

2012 Joblot Givry 1er Cru Clos Servoisine

I brought this as well for comparison. Slowly comes out of its shell. Sous-bois, some iron, sour cherry. Found this awkward tonight—raspberry and some solid tannins but not showing great. Packed it up and we’ll see how it looks in a couple days.

2009 Peay Scallop Shelf Pinot Noir

Some herbs—sage and thyme—accent bright-ish red fruit nose. Fresh as well, laced with cola, pomegranate and black cherry. Decent to good.

Lots of fun, hope to be able to do it again sometime

The only way I can check out another winery on the North Fork is to go before stopping at Paumanok, but I so rarely do that. The hospitality at Paumanok is unsurpassed, and the 5 hours we spent there flew by. Sitting in the warmth of the sun on the deck overlooking the vineyard, except for Mikhail who sought out the shade, added to the lovely afternoon, and this was just the diversion I needed.

I have short notes on some of my favorite wines.

I liked the 2012 Blanc de Blanc more than I thought. Nice and dry, with small dosage, light apple and bready, with just a slight sweetness on the end. I usually prefer my bubbly from Champagne, but I could see drinking this.

2015 Minimalist Sauvignon Blanc crisp, little diesel, citrus. Reminds me of a dry Riesling, but Charles compared it to a white Bordeaux. I can see that as it is the same grape, but I’m going with my interpretation and I love dry Riesling, and I really liked this wine.

2014 Assemblage I always pick up a couple of this Bordeaux blend. This one needs time. Bright fruit but the tannins clamped down.

2014 Tuthill’s Lane Cabernet Sauvignon the subdued nose needs aggressive swirling. Deep dark fruit that is tightly coiled. Another one for the cellar.

2010 Tuthill’s Lane Merlot cherry, chocolate. Big tannins, long finish. One for now, one for the cellar.

What impresses me about these wines? I appreciate the low alcohol, and they are all well below 14%. They are well balanced and food friendly.

Celebrated my birthday last September tasting with Charles…Always a pleasure to visit with and taste with Charles, a most charming gentleman. As Diane points out, the hospitality at Paumonok is unsurpassed…Also got to meet his son for the first time…His Chenin Blanc is always a favorite of mine…The Festival chard is a terrific QPR wine and not short on flavor…The 2013 Grand Vintage Cab Franc and 2013 Appolo Drive Petit Verdot were brilliant wines and bottles of these gems are slumbering peacefully in my cellar. Jusr as we were about to leave, Charles insisted that I try the Minimalist Chenin Blanc…That wine also accompanied us on our journey home…I served it to friends last month. Have gone through most of a case of his dry Rose as well.

i still got sunburned some of us are creatures of the night, ya know.
as i have said on numerous occasions - Paumanok is simply the standard-bearer for the region. every wine was delicious. many were impressive. I have a bunch in the cellar already. Added a new one today - the minimalist Cab Sav. intriguing wine and i want to see what will evolve. the whole minimalist lineup, to me, is worth seeking out.

on the other hand - the G.V. Merlot is perennially my favorite LI wine. may not be as mind-blowing as the single vineyard offerings, but it always delivers.

another giant thanks to Kareem and Charles and hope to see you guys soon!

Jon - grab a bottle of the minimalist Sav Bl. it is unique. and a one time deal it seems for now. def worth slipping into a blind tasting and watching the expressions.

and I really am sorry we didn’t get to see and meet with Kelly at Macari (sp?). I want to make that a priority my next time out there. Oh, to have more time!

Mike

My cellar agrees with you. It’s always difficult (such a problem) deciding how to assort my case.

No LH sweeties?

We ran out of time! They were definitely offered.

It was good to see you Mike. Always a good time.
I Enjoyed the 2006 Hartford Court Arrendell Pinot Noir right out of the gate. I did not find any sweetness but to me it was pure, multi-layered and very elegant. Perfectly aged and stored, just a wonderful expressive bottle. This is one of the bottles Dr Glenn exchanged with me a few years back. This was in the ‘Grand Cru’ class as per the good doctor and it sure lived up to the billing. The 2015 Benovia Martaella Pinot Noir was a young show-er and a real contender for WOTN. I think in the end, I nodded to it but both were just amazing. Ray has outdone himself, again. The Bevan shows more like a Syrah maybe Cab than Pinot and I am not sure how I feel about that sometimes. Best left alone. The 2009 Peay Scallop Shelf Pinot Noir probably suffered from its company on the table and not given its full attention. An easy third on the night. The 2013 Littorai Les Larmes Pinot Noir (mine as well) was a real dissapointment. Flabby and one dimensional and not faulty. My seventh time with it and it has always showed nothing shy of stellar. Too bad. The water is boiling over in the kitchen so I really can’t tell you anything about the French stuff on the table other than it was red.
I don’t think I stopped laughing for the full 2 hours and I look forward to the next time Monsieur Grammer graces my table— but, next time stay in theme. (kidding!!!)

What? Burgundy is pinot, right? Thanks again, lots of fun.

Actually, both of the Givrys were coming around tonight.

I mostly agree with Mike P’s notes, except my favorite was the Hartford Court–serious and complete, in great shape. Never had a Peay I did not like, this one was solid and satisfying. The Littorai was simple and fleeting. Interesting that my first word after tasting the 2015 Joblot Givry 1er Cru Clos Marole was “tart” and Mike G’s first word after tasting the Hartford Court was “sweet.”

Mike G–great to meet you, happy wine tasting 'till we meet again.

Mikhail: thanks for the headsup, appreciate it…I did taste and buy the regular SB…Also enjoyed and purchased SB’s from Macari, Bedell, Wolffer and Channings Daughters during our visit to LI last year.
Had hoped to taste at Jamesport as well, having enjoyed their SB’s in the past, but they were closed when we were in the area

Wow! A great Pinot night…Love those Arrendells!