Brotherhood winery - New York Pinot Noir (USA): an Appalachian gem with character and concentration

New York is not famous for its wines but it's in the third position in grape production by national volume after Washington and California. The varieties produced there have a a good capacity to highlight the nuances of the Hudson Valley Region, for example the Riesling, the Cabernet Sauvignon, some hybrid varieties and the Pinot Noir. This wine is 100% Pinot Noir selected from a number of vineyards in the heart of the Hudson Valley Region.

His Pinot Noir

It is a clear red wine, dark ruby colored at the core to orange at the rim with a hint of aging (6 month according to the label). On the nose it is oaky with moderate intense aromas of fruit compote and barrel. It has a powerful and fruity taste on entry followed by a medium acidity. It also has a dry taste with pleasant tannins and a low finish.  In my opinion to try whis wine can be a good opportunity for taste New World Wines: wines with a high concentration of fruity aromes, an alcoholic mouth-feel (long maturation of grapes) and an inferior acidity comparatively to Old World Wines. 

The Winery

Brotherhood Winery was established by John Jaques in 1858 and later renamed "Jaques Brothers' Winery" by his three sons. In 1886, it was acquired by James M. Emerson and his son Edward R., who expanded the facilities and renamed it "Brotherhood". The winery produced sacramental wine during Prohibition and changed ownership several times, with the most recent change occurring in 1987 when Cesar Baeza purchased it. Baeza established vineyards on Long Island during the 1990s, producing award-winning cabernet sauvignon and merlot wines.

A winery on Nº8, Orange county (Washingtonville)

The style

Before Cesar Baeza acquired the winery, it was known for its Vitis labrusca-based wines, including a popular spiced "holiday wine" and specialty wines like ginseng-flavored wine and a strawberry-flavored May wine. They also produced a mead-like wine from wildflower honey and an Ethiopian-style honey wine called "Sheba Te'j Honey Wine". In the 1970s, the winery started making wines from French hybrid grapes, and under Baeza's ownership, they expanded to include Vitis vinifera grape wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chardonnay, Riesling, and white Zinfandel.