Jordan Vineyard & Winery

A few months back, I was out to dinner with the family at one of our all-time favorite restaurants, The Country House in Stony Brook right here on Long Island.  The Country House, owned and managed by our very dear friend Bob Willemstyn, is a lovely restaurant with elegant cuisine, a fabulous wine list, and beautiful decor, and over the years has made important events for our family all the more memorable.

On this particular evening, I got to try four new wines and enjoyed them all, but the one that stood out most to me was the 2005 Jordan Cabernet.  The wine was first paired with steak au poivre and then I enjoyed it with a decadent chocolate dessert.  The wine is a rich and deep maroon/purple with a slightly lighter rim, and the color reflects the aromas and flavors, which display characteristics of dark fruits and berries and currant.  There is a hint of spice with a modest presence of vanilla, indicating the use of both French and American oak.  This wine is wonderfully balanced and fills the palate without being overpowering, making it rather food-friendly, particularly for meat dishes and chocolate desserts.  The finish is very long and memorable.  Since that evening, this wine has become one of my favorite Cabernets.  I have tasted the 2002 and 2005 vintages and am hoping to try the 2006 before long.  I will mention that the 2002 was given nearly two hours to breathe in a decanter, while the 2005 was given perhaps a half an hour, and I think the two hours did the wine a great deal of justice (on that evening it was paired with Beef Wellington).  Jordan Cabernet appears to have great aging potential, so of course we keep some in our wine rack and somehow resist the temptation to open them right away.

2002 Jordan Cabernet

Months later, back at The Country House for another lovely dinner, I had the opportunity to try the 2008 Jordan Chardonnay, with Maryland crab cakes.  The Chardonnay is excellent - it has a lovely pale straw color indicative of its clean, crisp texture.  The well-balanced wine hints at fruits green and white in color, namely green apples, pear, and white peach, with a long finish that leaves the palate clean and ready for another bite of your meal and another sip of the Chardonnay.  I think the wine would pair very nicely with a shellfish or seafood dish, or a light chicken dish.  Recently it seems Chardonnay is a bit out of style, perhaps because so many are the same as the next, and perhaps because some are over-oaked.  But I believe Jordan can bring a disgruntled wine drinker back to Chardonnay - in my opinion, it’s everything a California Chardonnay should be.

2008 Jordan Chardonnay