Sign up for our Newsletter

I don’t know about you, but with this week’s frigid weather, I’m thinking about spring already. Begging for its early arrival, in fact. 

This week’s Wine of the Week — Lieb Cellars 2016 Bridge Lane Red Blend ($20) — dovetails with those thoughts perfectly, while having some ready applications this time of year too. Made with 44 percent Merlot, 22 percent Cabernet Franc, 13 percent Petit Verdot, 12 percent Malbec and 9 percent Cabernet Sauvignon — all grown on the North Fork — it was also aged for six months in older Hungarian oak barrels.

This is a lighter bodied red with brisk acidity standing in place of tannins for structure. It’s the kind of wine best enjoyed with red sauce Italian food Monday through Thursday when you just want a glass of wine that you don’t have to think much about, but will also be delicious in its plummy, blackberry fruitiness with more subtle notes of violets, spice and earth.

Why did I mention spring and early summer? Because this same wine — which is available in bottles and kegs now, will be available in box and cans later this year. This will be Long Island’s first canned red wine and I think it’s well suited to it. Cool weather camping or fishing trips call for wines like this.

For now, this is available in the Bridge Lane and Lieb Cellars tasting rooms for $20 per bottle and $240 per keg, which is the equivalent of 26 bottles.

X
X