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Long Island Vines
A Versatile Boutique Winery
Clovis Point, a Jamesport vineyard planted in 2001, draws on history. It is named for Clovis points, stone spear tips attributed to the Clovis people, who were Paleolithic Indians believed to have inhabited the North Fork. Two such points, around 8,000 to 10,000 years old and now in the Southold Indian Museum, have been found in the area. A photo of one decorates the labels of Clovis Point wines.
A member of the Long Island Merlot Alliance of seven producers, Clovis Point is emblematic of the versatility of some East End boutiques.
The splendid 2007 Vintner’s Select merlot ($35) helps support the alliance’s assertion that merlot should be considered the region’s signature red, as does the pleasingly berrylike 2005 regular merlot ($25). Yet the smoky, earthy, meaty 2007 cabernet franc ($25) makes a good case for that grape’s primacy.
The light, velvety 2008 steel-fermented chardonnay ($16.50) and the graceful, understated 2007 barrel-fermented chardonnay ($25) deftly depict both local styles of this white. Each incorporates a bit of purchased gewürztraminer.
Since everything is produced at the Premium Wine Group, a for-hire winery in Mattituck, Clovis Point demonstrates that investors can enter the area’s wine business and make premium wines without a sizable capital outlay for equipment. All a producer needs is a vineyard maybe. Without one, grapes can be bought locally, as Clovis Point’s chardonnay is.
A tasting room comes in handy, though. The one at Clovis Point, a renovated potato barn, has an awning-covered porch abutting 7.5 acres of merlot and cabernet franc planted on 10 acres at 1935 Main Road (Route 25). The managing partners, Hal R. Ginsburg, a lawyer, and Nasrallah Misk, a builder, both from Queens, have a vineyard consultant, Peter Gristina, and one full-time vineyard worker.
For more information, visit clovispointwines.com.
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