How did you get into the wine growing business?
I bought 1,000 plus acres of a sheep ranch. It wasn’t much of anything at the time. I literally had no plans to put in vineyards until a drinking buddy of mine from Santa Cruz came up and suggested it. His quote was: “If you plant pinot here, this will one day be a world famous vineyard.” He brought up some vines, Pinot and Riesling, for us to plant; they were also my favorite varieties, and it was slow to start.

You just picked up and started a vineyard?
I was working in the fashion industry and just drinking wine for my own personal enjoyment then. I would travel to Paris twice a year for fashion week and we’d go the few extra hours to Burgundy. I drank a lot of Burgundy at the time. You could say I cultivated a taste for wine then.

And at some point you took the sheep ranch and turned it into a vineyard?
Well, we got rid of the sheep. That wasn’t a good business. The coyotes were eating them up and we couldn’t do anything about it. It really wasn’t until the early 80’s that I got serious about grapes. I was visiting some old aunts in New York and told them about my plans. It was then that I learned for the first time at 40-years-old that my family had actually been in the wine business back in the Old Country. My grandfather in Romania left after the land dried up. Hearing that, I made the decision to leave the clothing business and grow the vines seriously. I had the roots.

Tell us about your 72 acres.
It’s in Sonoma County right along the coast. We’re 1,500 feet above sea level, two miles from the Pacific Ocean, and perched on a ridge all while also in the middle of the Redwood rainforest. Then there’s what you don’t see — that’s just beneath us — the San Andreas Fault. It runs through our ranch – only we don’t get the rumbles. We’re right on the first ridge from the coast. We farm the vines in 60 different blocks because of those details. The geology and geography is exceptional where the vineyard is. The fault plates grinding and sliding, all of it brings us the complex soils and slopes that make our wines very unique. When it all conspires together at the exact time, it’s incredible. The rain, the movement, and the seabed — all of that combined is extreme and [yet] makes for a natural balance.

What has been your best year?
2007 had the most superb vintages. 1995 was good too. They were both cool weather years. The fruits were really able to develop completely. Everything conspired together perfectly – the weather, the good rainfall, the vines were able to take good care of themselves. That natural balance happened perfectly. 2004 was another very special year. It had tremendous focus. It is like a train in the night with one single piercing headlight. It was a low yield harvest though, so we only have a few cases left. Plus, I have drunk most of it! I like to keep it for myself!

What should people know about your wines?
Our wines are all very different each season because of the location. What they have in common is they come from the same place and same barrels. We embrace the complexity of our land. The fruit from each farming block is always different. We create from scratch and always based on the goal to make a serious wine for long-term aging. We make dramatic wines. I like to focus on the Three C’s: complexity, concentration, and clarity. That’s what was so great about the 2004. It all came naturally. You’ll never see three tubes meeting in a tank at our ranch.

What should we think about when tasting them?
Think about the place. Until recently, wine wasn’t shipped. It was drunk locally. So think about where the wine you are drinking is coming from. We are so lucky with the Sonoma Coast because we have these really great natural tannins. Most people add tannins with wood chips, but we don’t need to. We have natural tannins and our fruit has a tremendous amount of acidity that comes from long ripening. Our wines have excellent structure because of this. We don’t pump or filter. We don’t mask the wine from the site it’s from. We don’t manipulate what’s naturally there.

What aromas and hints will we likely detect?
In aroma you get bergamot. That is a signature taste we get. You have this forest cigar box cedar that is pleasant to taste too. Some Christmas spices too, which is unusual. We get hints [of] BBQ meats and roasted meats too. On the fruit side, you can get cherries all the way to prunes and other dark fruits.

What do you suggest pairing your pinots with?
Because of this cooler temperature and the fruit having so much acidity, you can pair it really well with raw fish and shellfish on down to cheeses. It’s great with a lamb roast or stew. Our neighbors have sheep still so we get a few from them and pair them wonderfully with the pinots. It also pairs nicely with the white sole my wife makes. People tend to drink Rieslings and Gewürztraminers with fish, but because of the acidity in our pinots, they act like those wines. It’s one of the few red wines that can do that.

Any tips for drinking your wines?
At the end of the day, don’t make a glass or a bottle more than it is. You don’t want to take yourself too seriously. It’s all about the Three P’s: the plants, the place and the people. It’s OK for a wine to be simple, but you don’t want it to be dumb. It should have structure. And the consumer is essential to the growing and production because you are who completes the chain of production. Think about where your wine came from and all the factors that make it taste the way it does. You are an integral part of the experience. It’s not just me pouring a wine.

Also, I suggest decanting our wines. Open them early in the day and let them breath all day and then drink them. The way the industry is, you are often served young wines. Remember to let them breath and open so you can really enjoy where they came from and their stor[ies].

Has anyone notable enjoyed a Hirsch wine that you know of?
The Obamas had a bottle of The Hirsch when they ate at Blue Hill. We’re good friends with the owners of Blue Hill and we do a blend special for the restaurant.

What did the President and the First Lady think of it?
I don’t know. We didn’t get wine notes from them yet!

Fun Fact: David’s wife designs the bottle labels, which are inspired by their cats, the scenery and their grandchildren.

Come spend An Evening with David Hirsch on October 28th at 7pm.

Where does it all go wrong? Inevitably it’s the stock. I know pundit’s debate over floaters and sinkers and the use of schmalz but you cannot paint without a canvas. Art imitates life, and art has died. Matzo ball soup lived when there was a chicken in every pot on every stove in every kitchen in every tenement on the Lower East Side. Why? Because nothing was wasted! There was no such thing as a free range, boneless, skinless, hormone free, coddled, kissed and whispered-to chicken breast from Whole Foods. People bought chickens and cooked the whole thing. You cannot fake great stock; it’s golden, salty and rich, with just a whimper of fat. It turns the matzo balls yellow and sends the flu packing. It takes time and love to make correctly. Damn you who use chicken base!

Here is a picture of the matzo ball soup from a famous Manhattan delicatessen (Dr. Brown’s in the background). Note the watery color of the broth. BOOOOOOOO! This CANNOT be good.

Matzo Ball Soup

P.S. First person to go to Parkway, snap a picture of their matzo ball soup, and post it to our site gets a free six pack of wine delivered to their door. Next up, pommes soufflé.

That is a distant memory to me now. I rarely bounce balls anymore. I’m fatter and can no longer dunk; I feel like the kid from Hoop Dreams. My idea of sport is a late night game of Golden Tee with Phil, or trudging around a golf course if I’m feeling really crazy. Skiing, by the way, is for morons. I started thinking about this last week when Vintners participated in the Taste of Tribeca, which benefits PS 150 and PS 234. Taste was started as a way to raise money for the schools and it has grown into a behemoth of an event in downtown Manhattan. It’s a street festival on crack, and if you don’t participate, you feel like you’re gonna get a visit from Luca Brazi.

The brilliant thing about TOT is that they get the kids out en masse to help out at all of the tents, etc. They are like Ewoks running all over the place. It definitely helps to hammer home the point. The whole day is an example of how neighborhoods truly exist in New York and amid the madness of the city a community can come together. Who said raising children in the city was crazy?

New York Vintners was a stop on The Wine Geeks V.I.P. wine tour, but more importantly, we had an open house for the community. Hundreds of our neighbors stopped in throughout the day to drink Bastianich Rosato and Sauvignon ‘B,’ Puig Parahy Rose and some Chardonnay. We all had a blast!!!! We were able to show off our event space and make new friends and say, “Hey Tribeca! We are here for the kids!”

So, thank you fundraising, annoying parents for starting this whole thing many years ago, for taking me back to my roots and for making me realize how lucky I was as a child. Friends in Tribeca, come back and see us again soon. Until next year!

The swimsuit thing was embellishment because I can’t swim.

Here are the wines we drank:

Taste of Tribeca Wines

Dirler 2004 Sylvaner Cuvee Luc Antoine $21.99
Bastianich 2006 Vespa Bianco $36.00
Bastianich 2007 Rosato $13.99
Gurrutxaga 2008 Txacolina Rosado $21.99
Michael Sullberg Chardonnay $11.00
Puig-Parahy 2008 Rosé $13.99
Coeur Esterelle 2008 Rosé $11.99

The reality is that the VAST majority of wine is made for immediate consumption. Less than 10% of wine is properly fit or will be improved by the wonderful and mysterious process of aging. Beautiful, enjoyable, forward wines like Beaujolais (and other Gamay wines), Rhone white, Prosecco, Moscato d’Asti, Morellino, Dolcetto, and others by their very natures peak early. Hell stamp ‘em with a ‘Born on Date’ I say! The same is generally true for inexpensive wines of all kinds (under $25/bottle) and wines that have not been aged in oak barrels (especially whites).

A screw top is perfect for a made-to-drink wine. Wine snobs, get over yourselves! There is a tremendous amount of debate over the environmental impact of cork harvesting, and it is a fact that cork contributes to the over oxidation of a certain percentage of wine (industry estimates range from 2 – 10 percent). It is also, however, undeniable that cork is part of the allure and magic of drinking an older wine. Cork, in the perfect world, allows the slightest amount of oxygen to enter the bottle, shaping the wine into the experience that wine connoisseurs cherish. I cannot name an oenophile who claims a young wine to be amongst their all-time favorites.

The sun is creeping out and the shorts I’m wearing are showing off my huge calves and white legs. We will find ourselves in perfect situations for enjoying fresh, young, inexpensive, food friendly wines like innocent Pinots, rosés, and whimsical white wines. We recently sent out an email about the 2008 Redtree Pinot Noir, which scored 88 points from Wine Spectator and sells for $10.99. It has literally been flying off the shelves and has received overwhelming positive reviews. Guess what? It’s got a screw top just to spite all of you cork lovers out there!

Here are 3 other screw top wines drinking great right now:

Bastianich 2007 Sauvignon ‘B,’ $15
Bastianich 2007 Rosato, $13.99
Zull 2007 Blauer Portugieser Lust Laune, $16

These wines are great for the BYO rage sweeping the city because you don’t need a corkscrew…Check these out:

David Lynch Pairs New York Vintners Wine with a meal at Joe’s Shanghai

11:18 am this Friday I will be staring at this sign:

Clearly I can’t read, or am stubborn or deluded, or most likely all of the above. Nevertheless, we venture on!

Here are my hole-by-hole Parker ratings and select wine pairings for the beast known as Black, site of this year’s US Open:

Robert Parker’s Rating System
96-100:
An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase, and consume.
90 – 95:
An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 – 89:
A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 – 79:
An average wine with little distinction except that it is a soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 – 69:
A below average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor, or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 – 59:
A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

Bethpage Black – 2009 Vintage
Bethpage has a great progression of holes, which match a logical progression of wines–like a symphony.

Hole 1 – Par 4 – 430 Yards – Hcp 8 – Rating 89
Great opening hole, difficult tee shot, big dogleg right. Calm the nerves and move on. Members line is down the green first. Back to front green.
Billecart-Salmon NV Brut Rose

Hole 2 – Par 4 – 389 Yards – Hcp 16 – Rating 82
Difficult to wrap head around, bogeys abound. Draw fairway wood off the tee and a difficult approach to an elevated well-guarded flat boring green. Long is way better than short.

Hole 3 – Par 3 – 205 Yards – Hcp 18 – Rating 88
Picturesque one-shotter. Distance control is key; short is bad and long is death. Wide sloping green. Pleasing.
Giuseppe Quintarelli 2006 Bianco Seco

Hole 4 – Par 5 – 517 Yards – Hcp 2 – Rating 100
It begins. Possibly the greatest par 5 in the world. Short knockers will struggle to clear the huge cross bunker on their second shot. Green is well protected in front and hasta la vista in the back. Excellent green. Tired, lonely and all dreams of a great round are now gone.
Bouchard 2005 Montrachet

Hole 5 – Par 4 – 451 Yards – Hcp 4 – Rating 99
Architectural masterpiece. A fading tee shot challenges the diagonal bunker the whole way. A long draw approach to an elevated well-bunkered green is brutal. Long is great because you can grab a beer (wine?) at the snack shack to drown your sorrows. Flat green.
Bizot 2006 Echezeaux

Hole 6 – Par 4 – 408 Yards – Hcp 10 – Rating 83
Hit a straight 3 wood to the top of the hill and you’re good. Downhill 2nd with trouble left and right. Not much in the green.

Hole 7– Par 5 – 553 Yards – Hcp 6 – Rating 87
Hmmmm. hit a good tee shot and ride on home. If you are wearing shorts, your legs are definitely itching.

Hole 8 – Par 3 – 210 Yards – Hcp 14 – Rating 79
There’s a pool… and a pond. Pond is good for you though. Also, enjoy the wait.

Hole 9 – Par 4 – 418 Yards – Hcp 12 – Rating 89
Has gotten progressively more difficult, especially for the chimps (short knockers). Brutal uphill 2nd, unless you are a gorilla (and clear the bunker on the corner off the tee). Miss all the greens long at the Black; short is no bueno. Decent green.
Hirsch 2006 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Hole 10 – Par 4 – 492 Yards – Hcp 9 – Rating 99
The better of two brilliant successive and opposite holes where the wind is most predominant. Tee shot is unmanageable into a stiff breeze. Incarceration left. Loooooong 2nd over a gully into a sloping green. 4 is a birdie. Who invented the handicap system? Its stupid.
Gaja 2004 Costa Russi

Hole 11 – Par 4 – 435 Yards – Hcp 11 – Rating 95
The most deceiving tee shot on the course. Aim right, no farther right; there you go. Very undulating green. Lost ball very likely.

Hole 12 – Par 4 – 499 Yards – Hcp 7 – Rating 92
Another long tee shot is a must. Run and grab another beer. Tricky green. Bogey at best.

Hole 13 – Par 5 – 554 Yards – Hcp 3 – Rating 88
Tinkered with. Left to right off the tee. Green is farther behind the bunkers than it appears. Long. Decent putting surface.

Hole 14 – Par 3 – 161 Yards – Hcp 17 – Rating 79
Don’t get caught in the bunker short right. If you do pick up and move on, you’re 20 over anyway. Pin placement greatly varies club choice. Long is gone. Good green.

Hole 15 – Par 4 – 478 Yards – Hcp 1 – Rating 100
Cross back over the road to the hardest golf hole in the world. Beautiful sightlines to the inner 5 holes (including 1). Tight fairway; perfect draw a must. Pitch out rough. 2nd is uphill long iron (3 wood for chimps) to elevated green with bunkers in front and death everywhere except back left. Green is a three putter, severely sloped from back to front. Snowman is acceptable. So very tired.
Clos Des Papes 2005 Chatauneuf-Du-Pape

Hole 16 – Par 4 – 479 Yards – Hcp 5 – Rating 90
Elevated tee shot to narrowish fairway. Long way home in two. Front and right on approach is bad. Nice green.

Hole 17 – Par 4 – 207 Yards – Hcp 13 – Rating 97
Good luck. Wind exposed, bunkers of death, shallow green with undulation. Brutal. Mom, “I want to come home.”
Giuseppe Quintarelli 1997 Recioto della Valpolicella 375ml

Hole 18 – Par 4 – 411 Yards – Hcp 15 – Rating 70

Clearly not an 1811 Chateau d’Yquem. Go home.
No pairing because it sucks and thus the allusion to famous “comet” vintage Y’Quem, which would have been the pairing for the perfect final hole

Bethpage Black Overall Parker Rating – 97

Black is an architectural masterpiece that has greater variety in shot making tee-to-green than maybe any other course in the world. It is paradise for a strong, accurate driver of the golf ball and hell for someone who sprays it or is short. Several holes are world class. Dollar-for-dollar, it is the best value in the world (unless you’re lucky enough to live in the town of Carnoustie). Black is an impossible tee time (remember the first rule of fight club), an extraordinary long round amongst absolute hackers, the worst caddies in the world and putting surfaces that are generally mundane. Better than Winged Foot West? There goes my membership.

I paired wines with what I consider to be noteworthy holes and in a procession that made sense to both a round of golf and a wine tasting.

Wines for the course:

Billecart-Salmon NV Brut Rose Hole 1
It is quite common to start a tasting with champagne, so I picked a hearty beautiful rose to go with the challenging first hole.
Giuseppe Quintarelli 2006 Bianco Seco Hole 3
Simple pleasing Par 3 = mid level white, nothing too crazy.
Bouchard 2005 Montrachet Hole 4
Hole 4 is a brutal par 5 (which means it longer), so I paired it with the biggest, baddest white wine in the world “Montrachet” and also thought a magnum would be appropriate par 5= magnum.
Bizot 2006 Echezeaux Hole 5
Moving to red wine – also a very difficult hole so I follow white burgundy with red burgundy (two holes in a row = white and red burgundy).
Hirsch 2006 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Hole 9
Take a pit stop and step back to pair a bit of a confounding hole with a pinot noir. Plays off the red burgundy, but less intense.
Gaja 2004 Costa Russi Hole 10
Gotta go with a big wine for a big hole.
Clos Des Papes 2005 Chatauneuf-Du-Pape Hole 15
The biggest nastiest over the top wine in the world – wine of the year Clos des Papes
Giuseppe Quintarelli 1997 Recioto della Valpolicella 375ml Hole 17
Dessert course – fabulous and complicated Recioto to go with brutal par 3 – and served in 375ml half bottle = Par 3.

Golf Digest: Black