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Amy Zavatto. (Credit: Courtesy photo)

Amy Zavatto got her first taste of wine when her Italian grandfather gave her a piece of bread dipped in vino as a kid. But it wasn’t until 15 years ago when she was commissioned to write The Renaissance Guide to Wine and Food Pairing (which she co-wrote with Tony DiDio) that she began her journey to becoming a passionate and knowledgable wine and spirits writer.

Last month Zavatto, who has written for the Edible publications, Details and Imbibe, was hired as the executive director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance. LIMA strives to promote and educate the public on the region’s signature grape and produces Long Island’s only cooperative merlot blend, Merliance.

We caught up with Zavatto, who lives in Staten Island and Greenport, to talk merlot and ask what are her plans for the organization.

Look for her latest book, Wild Cocktails (Harper UK/Race Point), to be released later this year.

Q: What attracted you to this post?

A: I grew up in Shelter Island, my parents moved there when I was 2. Like Roman [Roth, winemaker at Wölffer Estate Vineyard and LIMA president] said, I kind of grew up along side the vines out there. It’s something

I felt like for years I was having this conversation about New York in general, listening to people saying, ‘oh New York wine isn’t very good.’ I would say, ‘oh really’ and then take people sitting down at my table, blind them and saying what do you think of this.

They’d say ‘wow, that’s lovely’ and I show them it was a New York wine. Now we’re passed that. New York wine is accepted and loved and that fight is pretty much done.

But merlot is another interesting little challenge. I had a converstaiont with an intelligent and interesting women who links to drink wine the other day and she said to me, ‘well merlot isn’t any good, is it?’

It was just a sweeping generalization of the grape, not even New York merlot. The bad work of some producers in the 80’s and 90’s putting out wines that maybe weren’t the best representation of the grape really did some damage to the reputation of merlot, which is a beautiful noble grape varietal.

We make beautiful merlot on Long and some of our oldest vines are merlot. It is our most widely planted grape.

In the movie Sideways, the character Miles is running around and saying merlot stinks, and at the end, he is sitting there drinking a Right Bank red which is a merlot-based wine.

I want people to be in that joke and get that merlot is beautiful and food friendly. We make some of the best merlots in the country and maybe the world.

Q: What do you plan to bring to your new role?

A: We have these phenomenal winemakers in the Merliance. It’s like a super group. Up until now, I don’t know if that that’s been exploited. Who these people are behind the Merliance.

People want to see these guys and I think that’s important. I want to introduce and showcase and praise these amazing winemakers.

I think the education is a big part of it and I want to really be an on-the-ground person for the Long Island Merlot Alliance. In addition to being a person who now spends most of their time in NYC, I know a lot of the community, the restaurants, the bars and the writers.

I can help them knit it together and I think that’s a unique perspective and a helpful one.

When I sat down at the [Merliance cooperative wine] blending trial, it was so cool. Each one of these samples had the winemakers fingerprint on it, that’s something I want to show people at tastings dinners and through social media. Just giving that part of the Merliance a pulse.

Q: One of your ideas is hosting a Long Island Merlot Month in November. Can you tell us what that will entail?

A: I got the idea because Nov. 7 is International Merlot Day. I thought you know this is our 10th anniversary, why don’t we make the whole darn month about Long Island merlot. I don’t have anything in stone yet, but I am absolutely going to be doing a dinner series in Long Island and New York City as well.

I’m planning on creating one big celebratory tasting event. There are other groups and organizations that I am hoping to hook up with.

I think the way to turn around a bad opinion about something [like merlot] is to address it and make fun of it and move along. And I hope to do some really fun events. I think people are often very intimidated by wine, but I want people to trust their palette and trust what they like.

Q: Tell me about the certification you are seeking from Wine and Spirit Education Trust?

A: Wine and Spirit Education Trust is an organization in London that works with people in the trade and average folks who want to learn more about wine. There are lots of different levels, including the diploma, which is what I’m working toward now. It’s sort of the equivalent of getting your masters in wines and spirits. It’s a two-to-three year program. It’s really hard. There’s a lot of science and a lot of farming — which is good because it’s really important to understand what you’re writing about so you’re not talking out of your ear.

I am studying very in-depth the wines of world, everything from geography and history to farming techniques to modern trade issues and how climate change is affecting grapes. It’s fascinating and cool to see the ebb and flow and arc of how wine presents itself to people and how people enjoy it.

Q: Will you continue to write about wine?

A: I am going to write about everything but Long Island merlot. I am still a wine writer and I will be very transparent for any editor I have. I am still going to continue to write about spirits.

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