If you keep up with wines news and reviews, chances are that you've heard about wines from Long Island. They're getting a lot of attention lately, and I thought I should devote some time to tasting a few. Now I am certainly no expert on the Long Island wine industry. I will leave that to my fellow wine blogger Lenn Thompson of Lenn Devours. His knowledge on the subject is wide-reaching and I would recommend his site to anyone who wants to know more about Long Island wines.

Personally, I have not had great experiences with wines from Long Island and so far I have had a hard time understanding their appeal (especially considering the price tag on many of them). But I feel like I'm missing something - like there is this big secret that I don't know, so I continue to try to figure it out. At the wine tasting I attended last week I tried the following:

- Bedell Taste Red 2005
- Corey Creek Cabernet Franc 2005
- Raphael La Fontana 2002
- Raphael Merlot 2001

My least favorite was the Raphael La Fontana. I tend to favor New York blends over straight varietals, so I thought this had a good shot being Merlot and Cabernet Franc with a small percentage of Malbec. However, I just didn't like it. Raphael's first label Merlot was actually quite nice, though I thought the finish was a bit puckery. I think it could benefit from some time in the bottle and would be lovely. However, at $35 a bottle, I found it to be a bit on the high side. The Bedel and the Corey Creek were decent, but didn't particularly stand out to me. Again, I couldn't tell if I'd been let down, if I'm just not "getting" Long Island wines, or if they're just overrated.

Earlier in the week I purchased a bottle of Pindar Pythagorus, which is a Mertiage blend. Although I'm familiar with the vineyard, what honestly was got me was the name. It's a blend of blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.

I have to say that this is the first LI wine that I really liked, thought at first I wasn't so sure. I poured it in my glass and smelled a bit of overripe fruit. I gave it a shot and thought it was jammy, but had a sourness to it. Did I just set myself up for disappointment? I let the glass sit while I did a few things and came back to it about 20 minutes later. What a difference! The wine had really opened up and you could smell a wonderful floral bouquet that had to be the Cabernet Franc screaming for attention. I took another sip and the wine hit my mouth with a kiss of sweetness, but that sweetness didn't linger. In some ways it made me think of an Amarone. The wine was plummy and jammy, but in a light-to-medium-bodied presentation and with a bit of acidity and alcohol. The oak wasn't overemphasized, and that works to the wine's benefit. I found it to be well-balanced and easy to drink. It's a really unique wine that doesn't taste like anything else, and I look forward to getting another bottle and playing around with food pairings.

For $10, I think it's a great value! I'm so thrilled to have found a Long Island wine that I enjoy. I wonder if by nature we get protective and favor our local wine-growing regions. I know that I tend to favor Hudson Valley wines more than other wine bloggers who live in other parts of the state. But I will continue to give LI wines a fair chance, despite my slight personal bias. The wine industry there is very young - only about 30 years old, so it certainly has time to grow and mature.