Duck Walk Vidal Blanc Ice Wine (375ML half-bottle) 2003
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It was the dream of our founder, Dr. Herodotus “Dan” Damianos, that helped create the winemaking industry on Long Island in the early 1980’s. In 1994 he and his son, Alexander, founded Duck Walk Vineyards. The Normandy Chateau-style building in Water Mill, a true Hamptons landmark, became home to what has quickly evolved into one of the most well-known names in Long Island wine. Duck Walk Vineyards has two locations – the flagship winery is located in Southampton, New York. In 2007 we added a new location on the North Fork of Long Island. Surrounded by 30 beautiful acres of Sauvignon Blanc grape vines, Duck Walk Vineyards North is an ideal location to taste Duck Walk’s renowned wines while visiting Long Island’s famous Wine Trail.
<p>Encompassing 140 scenic acres and producing some 5,000 cases of awarding winning wine each year. From Vidal Ice Wine made with grapes actually frozen on the vine, to the renowned Blueberry Port crafted from wild Maine blueberries, our wines are crafted to be distinctive and exceptional. At the core of it all is a family with experience and dedication in creating great wine.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
Increasingly garnering widespread and well-deserved attention, New York ranks third in wine production in the United States (after California and Washington). Divided into six AVAs—the Finger Lakes, Lake Erie, Hudson River, Long Island, Champlain Valley of New York and the Niagara Escarpment, which crosses over into Michigan as well as Ontario, Canada—the state experiences varied climates, but in general summers are warm and humid while winters are very cold and can carry the risk of frost well into the growing season.
The Finger Lakes region has long been responsible for some of the country’s finest Riesling, and is gaining traction with elegant, light-bodied Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. Experimentation with cold-hardy European varieties is common, and recent years have seen the successful planting of grapes like Grüner Veltliner and Saperavi (from the Eastern European country of Georgia). Long Island, on the other hand, has a more maritime climate influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, and shares some viticultural characteristics with Bordeaux. Accordingly, the best wines here are made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The Niagara Escarpment is responsible for excellent ice wines, usually made from the hybrid variety, Vidal.