Pindar Vineyards is one of Long Island’s most iconic vineyards with wine lovers of all ages flocking there for their vast selection of wines.
Sometimes you just want a deep, dark, delicious red – not a light-bodied, lyrical red wine, but a bold, full-bodied red, layered with flavors and silky tannins that can smooth out the rough edges of a challenging day, or week, or month, or year. A wine buyer’s first impulse would probably not be to check out the Long Island wine section in their local wine store, and it almost definitely wouldn’t be to look for a Pindar wine, but they’d be wrong – very wrong.
Pindar Vineyards is well known for fun, affordable, and often sweet leaning, semi-sweet, or semi-dry wines. But down at the bottom of the vineyard’s tasting menu are two wines that should be at the top of any wine lover’s list: 2019 Merlot Reserve and 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.
Let’s start with the 2019 Merlot Reserve. This merlot is tempered with a small amount of three other noble grapes: 9.2% syrah, 1% cabernet sauvignon, .2% malbec. These small additions truly allow the merlot at 89.6% to sing. Lush notes of berry, spice, and toast enhance this velvety wine. This wine can pair with steak or a hearty Italian dish but also drinks beautifully on its own. In fact, on its own, this truly is a soul-soothing red.
The next wine, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, is an elegant yet brawny expression of cabernet. This wine is 100% cabernet sauvignon full of both ripe and bright cherry, dark berry, and toasty vanilla flavors. Again, this is a wine that can be sipped on its own, but just slightly lighter than the merlot, still by no means light, this wine will pair wonderfully with steaks, barbeque, and hearty Italian dishes. Want to elevate a meal as simple as pizza? Enjoy it with a bottle of this wine.
Both the 2019 Merlot Reserve and the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve retail for $34.99, and both are well worth it.
