While on our recent visit to the Hudson Valley of New York, we managed to squeeze in one winery visit. The area actually has many, as the wine industry seems to be thriving here. Our choice was Millbrook Vineyards and Winery in the town of Millbrook. While the downtown is really quaint, with adorable shops and a few good restaurants, the winery is a litle outside the town center. It makes for a good combination visit, as you can spend some time in town, get some lunch, and then go visit the winery. That’s the order we followed this particular day.
At the winery we spent some time with Jake, a volunteer fireman and jack of all trades at the winery. He had a
wealth of knowledge of both the Millbrook products as well as the wine industry in general. One Millbrook fun fact he shared with us is that the founder and owner of the winery, John Dyson, was previously the Commissioner of Agricuture and Markets for the State of New York. It was during John’s tenure that the ubiquitous “I ♥ NY” campaign was developed and rolled out. You’ll see it on display at the winery, where they have a special license to use it.
Millbrook Vineyards and Winery is a bit unique. What really attracted us there was not just the local wine varietals, but also that they own and sell juice from several other wineries around the world. This includes Villa Pillo in Tuscany, where there are 100 acres of vines located near San Gimignano in the Chianti Region. Another 30 acres there are devoted to olives. You can taste some of the wine from Villa Pillo as well as the olive oil in Millbrook’s Reserve Tasting.
The same Reserve Tasting will let you try a wine from one from one of their other properties, Williams Selyem. Without getting into too much detail, suffice it to say that this is a flagship property by any standard. Located in the Sonoma Valley, Williams Selyem is know as one of the best producers of Pinot Noir on the planet. Look at some of their scores from the major wine rating publications and critics. They are consistently excellent.
There are additional vineyards, the Pebble Ridge Vineyards, located on the North Central Coast of California. Here the 850 acres grow a range of varietals, are used for research on the varietals and clones, and primarily are sold off to major wineries such as Beringer and Kendall Jackson. Roughly 5% of the best grapes are shipped back east to Millbrook in refrigerated cars for the winemaker to craft small lots of varietals they can’t grow in New York.
This is really quite an impressive family of wines. We didn’t get to try anything from Williams Selyem on this day, but did go through a range of Millbrook’s local wines as well as a bottling from Villa Pillo and Pebble Ridge. The results were surprising. Let’s take a look.
2023 Pebble Ridge Pinot Grigio – this juice was almost colorless with just a tiny hint of straw. There was rich
fruit on the nose, including peach and pear, along with aromas of bubble gum and floral notes. This has some texture. During the trip from the west coast Pebble Ridge vineyards the berries start to go through carbonic maceration. The result is a great summer sipper. $20
2022 Tocai Friulano Proprietor’s Special Reserve – from estate grapes, this is a light straw in color with dominant grapefruit on the nose. There’s also some melon. It’s lean on the palate, with brisk acid and a crisp finish. Grapes were harvested late August into September. It will be very good paired with food. $25
2022 Un-oaked Chardonnay – Another wine with a very light straw color, and a nose of
bright apple with some banana. There’s a little body here, and some texture in the mouth. It is clean with minerality and a long finish. Very nice all around. $22
2022 Chardonnay Proprietor’s Special Reserve – this sees oak, but it is all neutral French oak and not aggressive. Ripe apple and honeysuckle appear on the nose. Some white flowers join in the palate. Good acid keeps it fresh, even with the wine undergoing 100% malolactic fermentation. This is really quite good. $28
2021 Villa Pillo Cingalino Red Blend – this wine is 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc, from Tuscany. It is a medium ruby red in color, with cherries, other berries and orange peel on the nose. There are also some herbal notes. Tannins are medium and the wine has good length. This is very Tuscan and very good. We bought a bottle to bring back to our Air B&B. $24 and an excellent value.
NV Hunt Country Red – the blend here is 49% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 11%
Syrah. The juice is a medium dark ruby in color. Currants, blueberry and touch of smoke appear on the nose and palate. The wine spent 15 months in neutral oak. It is quite rich on the palate, with light tannins and medium body. This is a very nice wine. $22
2021 Cabernet Franc – 75% Cabernet Franc with 20% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine is a medium ruby color with red plums, herbs and spice on the nose. Medium body supports lean fruit with good intensity. Black pepper pops in the finish. Yet another nice wine. $26
2021 Cabernet Franc Proprietor’s Special Reserve – medium dark ruby in color, this
has plum and savory notes on the nose with some floral as well. On the palate there is a touch of bitterness. The tanins are medium+ and hit quickly. You get herbs and spice on the palate as well. A long finish caps off a pretty high quality wine. Superior and excellent. $45 and a good value there.
We have to say we were pleasantly surprised by the quality across the board here at Millbrook. Their locally grown wines were very good. The Villa Pillo wine was excellent and the Williams Selyem line speaks for itself. What was also surpising was the value. Most local wineries tend to be a bit pricey due to limited production, but they make around 10,000 cases annually here. The price points are good, the wine is good, and that makes for some pretty good values.
You can learn more about Millbrook Vineyards and Winery here: https://www.millbrookwine.com/.
If you’re in the area we suggest you visit.
A votre santé!
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