Wine Pickup Day 17 June 2021

By LONG ISLAND WINE DAD June 22, 2021

Today was the first post COVID pickup of the 2021 season, as we were able to stop and enjoy a tasting along the way. The crew this time consisted of Jo, Sister Mary, and Val, a new and good friend. As I was the driver, I needed to be a bit circumspect in my tasting and limited myself to only an exceedingly small sip from time to time. The trip was slower-paced with only three winery stops and lunch, as we will be returning next week to complete the June pickups. First up was the Roanoke members' tasting room on Sound Avenue. Roanoke's members-only site is a charming place inside and outside; a large lawn with well-spaced seating leads down to the vineyard [1-7]. Roanoke is a members-only place, but as the commercial says, membership has its privileges. As is often the case on Long Island, the traffic is quite variable, so one tends to arrive early or late but rarely on time. On this occasion, we were about 20 minutes ahead of the open. A Roanoke team member greeted us in the parking lot, and to my pleasant surprise, accommodated us at the outside seating area well before the opening. This time, the tasting flight [8] consisted of three wines: a 2019 Roanoke Vineyards Infinite Possibilities, 2020 Rośe, and a 2018 Cabernet Franc. All three were particularly good, and a separate tasting note on each will be out shortly [9].

Next, we stopped at one of our traditional places in New Suffolk called Case's Place. Case's Place is a traditional waterside place with great views of Peconic Bay and a large outside deck for dining. They have a full bar, but the service was limited today as they are still looking for a bartender. The food is classic Seafood with an exciting set of daily specials. I opened with Oysters, kept on going with the Calamari and Mussels, both a rewarding and filling meal all complimented with a fine New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Case's Place continues to exceed so that we will be returning many more times [10,11,12].

Next was a quick drive-by pickup at Raphael [13,14], even though they are technically close on Thursday until the beginning of July. We grabbed our neighbors June club selection, and I also added on two bottles of Raphael's new Teller wine to try. There will be a separate note on the Teller wine coming out shortly (It was terrific).

Lastly was a stop at Lieb [15,16] for both a pickup and a complimentary glass of wine. Today's pickup consisted of two bottles each of 2019 Lieb members-only Viognier, 2020 Bridge Lane Rośe, 2020 Bridge Lane Chardonnay, and 2019 Lieb Estate Cabernet Franc. All looked to be good, and I expect to comment on them later. One slight distraction is the reservation system. Unlike many vineyards, the system is relatively rigid, limiting your arrivals to only one of several 90 minutes slots on two-hour boundaries overlapping on one-hour boundaries base on the size of your party. The third-party system also requires you to set up an account, provide a credit card for a deposit, and receive junk mail events not related to Lieb or the wine country in general. Hopeful as the covid restriction lift the system will become much more friendly to regular members. We wrapped up this expedition to wine country and headed home to plan next week's pickups.