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Thursday, December 28, 2006

2005 and 2006 Will Be Top Red Vintages for Eastcoast


I have now tatsed some reds from barrels from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Long Island, and upstate New York, and from what I've been reading and hearing, 2005 and 2006 reds will be two of the best vintage years in east coast history.

Firstly, most wine growers agree, 2005 and 2006 were solid growing years. Long seasons. Plenty of sun, and sometimes too much humidity and rain in given areas. But the overall concensus is that these were very soliding growing years.

Also, eastcoast reds have come a long, long way. The winemakers have started to hone their skills in ways most eastcoast dinkers have not had a chance to taste before. Sure places like Hargraves, then Bedell and Raphael, Dr. Konstantin Frank's, and some of the Virginia and Maryland wineries had led the way to better reds. But those places have gotten better, and a lot more people are catching up. The red wine dinking experince is going to grow exponentially for in the next few years, an the benficieries are us!!!!

To be sure, the eastcost will not be making any Parker-like fruit bombs, like Plumpjack, Turley, or those caliber wines. The season and the region are not long enough nor hot and dry enough, to bring berries in like that. But to be sure, the reds will be deeper, have more balance and less acidity than in previous years.

So run, walk, crawl, and do whatever you have to, but there will be plenty of good red wine to lie down and plenty more to drink.

And enjoy!