The Winery Pellegrini Vineyards
The Winemaker Zander Hargrave
The Wine 2019 Cabernet Franc, 13% abv
The Price $32.99
The Grapes 93% cabernet franc, 3.5% merlot (clone 181), 3.5% petit verdot
Pellegrini Vineyards does not do live bands. Or festivals. Or, as a rule, any kind of wine-adjacent hoopla that takes attention away from what they’ve been doing for decades: Making wine.
It was the focus of founders and Long Island wine pioneers Bob and Joyce Pellegrini. They entered the “Wild East” of wine back in the early ‘80s, building and opening their beautiful 14,000 square foot tasting room in 1991. Today, winemaker Zander Hargrave — a legend himself with wine in his DNA; his family founded the first commercial wine operation on the East End, Hargrave Vineyards — vibes just fine with the steady focus on what’s in the bottle and glass.
Case in point: He does not release wines quickly; instead, preferring to hold them back until he knows they’re ready to show themselves, as well as continue to evolve and improve in the cellar. The 2019 Pellegrini Vineyards Cabernet Franc is an excellent example of why the house rules are good ones. Five years in the bottle has allowed the parts — almost entirely made from cabernet franc, but with little tiny stiches of merlot and petit verdot — to knit together the story of the vintage.
“2019 is well recognized as one of the great vintages in the history of Long Island wine. The thing that stands out to me is how balanced the wines were from a flavor and chemical perspective,” says Hargrave. “Hot dry conditions pushed the sugars high without botrytis and the cool nights maintained the complementary acid levels in the berries. In a year like 2019 no adjustments need to be made, which is remarkable.”
What’s in your glass “Cab franc has proven itself to be quite a versatile variety on Long Island,” says Hargrave. “Primarily used as a blending [grape] in Bordeaux and globally, cab franc has found its voice as a solo artist here.” In Hargrave’s capable hands, the grape shows off its innate nuance, full of ripe fruit, floral notes and the quintessential cab franc savoriness that lovers of this grape find unendingly engrossing.
Pairs with For Hargrave, you can’t beat this with duck. “It also pairs beautifully with a crusted rack of lamb with fine herbs!”
To hold or not to hold Hargrave says it’s drinking well now, but the ripe structure of this vintage will benefit from at least five years of continued cellar ageing.
