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The label of Southold Farm and Cellar’s 2014 Illegitimi Non Carborundum red. (Credit: Courtesy Southold Farm and Cellar)

Southold Farm and Cellar has joined the elite club of Long Island wine producers who have received a score of 93 and above from a major wine publication — a group that was only formed in the second half of 2015.

Southold Farm + Cellar’s 2014 “Illegitimi Non Carborundum” earned a score of 93 in the December issue of Wine Enthusiast, the highest the publication has ever rated a Long Island wine. It was also designated an “editor’s choice.”

It joins the ranks of Paumanok Vineyards and The Lenz Winery, both of which received scores of 93 in Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate this year, and Wölffer Estate Vineyard, which received two record scores of 94 from that publication in June.

“It was a bit of a shock,” Southold Farm + Cellar  winemaker and co-owner Regan Meador said in an email. “We are excited that the wines are helping shine a light on what’s going on and what is possible on the North Fork. [We’re] looking forward to continuing to knock down barriers.”

Made with a blend of cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot grown at Rex Farr’s organic vineyard “The Farm” in Calverton, the wine is fermented with natural yeast and aged in neutral barrels for seven months. Only 190 cases were made.

It sells for $35 online.

“In only a few vintages, winemaker Regan Meador has created a splash in the New York wine scene and this Bordeaux-style red blend is a testament to the hype,” Wine Enthusiast contributing writer Anna Lee C. Iijima wrote in the December issue. “A deft blend of Old and New-world styles, it contrasts silky, rich black cherry and currant flavors against deep layers of granite minerality, leafy herbs and potpourri florals. It’s complex and yet so effortlessly brisk and spry. The finish is endlessly meandering.”

Other standout Long Island wines mentioned in the recent issue were Anthony Nappa Wines 2013 “The Savage” Cabernet Franc, Anthony Nappa Wines 2014 Bordo Cabernet Franc and Southold Farm + Cellar’s Flying and Falling Cabernet Franc, all of which received scores of 92.

“A standout amid a number of excellent red wines from winemaker Anthony Nappa, this unoaked cabernet franc (made with indigenous yeast) shines a spotlight on cabernet franc’s raw, somewhat vulnerable expression,” Iijima said of the Bordo. “It’s unabashedly herbal and green, almost minty, yet simultaneously luscious and berried in flavor. It’s fleshy in its suppleness, yet elegantly framed within a structure of taut tannins and acidity.”

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