Every spring, local wine fans clamor for new releases from the previous fall’s harvest. Steel chardonnays, roses, rieslings and sauvignon blancs dominate the first wines released. They are fresh, often delicious and it’s just plain fun to drink new wines.
As someone who writes about wine, I often plan to go back and taste these wines again in six to nine months, but rarely make a point of doing so. Wine is alive and it changes once it’s in the bottle.
Wines like this week’s Wine of the Week, Macari Vineyards’ 2017 “Katherine’s Field” Sauvignon Blanc ($24), are a perfect example of why I think sometimes we drink these steel-fermented, fresher styles too early.
I liked it at release, don’t get me wrong, but having opened a bottle with some friends recently, it’s developed beautifully. The melange of citrus and melon and peach fruit is framed perfectly by crisp, well-integrated acidity.
Any time that anyone from out of town asks me for a single Long Island sauvignon blanc that represents that grape in this place at its peak, this is the wine I recommend. This is benchmark type stuff.
Best of all, it’s available for only $24 at the winery’s Mattituck tasting room.
