The Winery Bridge Lane
The Winemaker Juan Micieli Martinez
The Wine 2021 Bridge Lane Red
The Price $15.99
The Grapes 36% cabernet franc, 24% teroldego, 16% lagrein, 14% syrah, 10% merlot
It’s not so much that Bridge Lane has a strict no-wine-snobs policy. It’s just the vibe here is so “Come on in, pour a glass and chill out!” that you get the feeling wine is more about the culture than the icon to be worshipped. You see it in the fun stream of colors on their labels, canned wines, wine taps and striped picnic tables, all in a summery slurry of peach, light blue, mint green, butter yellow and watermelon red. In the dogs-very-welcome atmosphere more akin to a brewery’s ethos than swirling-sniffing tasting rooms. The swoosh of a shuffleboard disc or the slap of bean bags on wooden cornhole boards. The super-affordable price points. It’s a place built around the idea that wine should be enjoyed with your friends and family, be it at a backyard barbecue, while sailing around the Sound or just hanging out.
The wine lineup here keeps it simple: red, white, rosé, sparkling. Easy-peezy. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t care — especially when it comes to creating just the right blend of grapes in the mix for their juicy, fruit-forward red crowd-pleaser.
“As a winemaker, I love to make blends,” says Bridge Lane’s Juan Micieli Martinez. “Blends allow me to make interesting and balanced wines without being restricted by the characteristics of a single grape variety. It’s like making a meal with a bunch of ingredients instead of just one.”
And the Bridge Lane 2021 red — which you can enjoy in bottle, box, can or keg — may have been the result of a challenging growing season, but with the bits of the best of each grape in the mix, its juicy vibrancy hits all the right notes.
What’s in your glass
The grapes were picked in October 2021, each fermented into individual wines prior to blending and aged for six months in Hungarian oak barrels. Savory cabernet franc takes center stage here, with the color-pumping, vibrant addition of teroldego not far behind as a main player with its pretty dark-fruit notes.
Pairs with Spaghetti with red sauce, wood-fired pizza or (of course!) grilled burgers.
To hold or not to hold Drink now, but two or three years on your wine shelf won’t hurt it, either.
