A week ago, I invited my friend Kiara to join me for a walk in Brooklyn as I wanted to show her some of my favorite places… our first stop was Red Hook Winery and we ended up spending most of the time there 🤣
The urban winery in Red Hook, founded in 2008 by Mark Snyder, is located at 175 Van Dyke Street, Brooklyn – on Pier 41.
Overlooking the Verrazzano Bridge on one side and Statue of Liberty and NYC Skyline on the other one, the winery produces more than 100 wines. They select grapes directly form North Folk (Long Island) and Finger Lakes (Upstate NY) farmers: from bottle to wine!
Mostly white wines – 75% of the production – as they reflect the nature of NY climate, geology and viticulture.
Its look is very much industrial, with classic red bricks and wood barrels… I personally LOVE the view from this window!
Vince welcomed us for our wine testing.
His grandparents came to Red Hook from Italy and even if he grew up in St. James – Long Island (where Pinot Gris grapes come from!), he recently moved back here, neighborhood full of memories he loves.
Warm, very welcoming and knowledgeable, Vince made us taste 4 different wines: Christopher Nicolson Pinot Gris and Rosé, Robert Foley Chardonnay and Abe Schoener skin fermented Chardonnay.
Vince knows a little bit of Italian and claims he can speak it when drinking with Italian friends!!!
During the wine tasting, Vince beautifully described each wine, its grapes, its making process and it was really interesting getting to know more about wine history and wine makers stories!
North Fork vineyard for example was first planted in 1973… while in 1977 Robert Foley, Bob, started his wine career in Napa Valley. Besides making wines, Bob loves scuba diving and he plays in a rock band, The Robert Foley Band.
Christopher Nicolson learned how to make wine in Tuscany in the late ’90s, before moving to California. His stile is very austere and classic: he’s always looking for the wine truth and purity.
Abe Schoener is a ancient philosophy scholar and professor. He fell in love with wine in the late ’90s during a sabbatical. Now he translate his philosophic knowledge the art of making wines, exploring the outer limits of each wine’s microbiological potential.
🎥 Vince two passions are wine and movies… so here’s his analogy: Robert Foley is like Scorsese or Coppola, Christopher Nicolson is an Italian neorealist like Visconti or Rossellini, and Abe Schoener is David Lynch.
If you are wine lovers I highly recommend you to check Red Hook Winery out, even for a glass of wine or for a bottle to go. If you have time and you’re looking for a very interesting experience, reserve your wine tasting: you’ll love it! 🍷
Do you want to WIN a wine tasting for 4 – value of $100 – at Red Hook Winery?
Follow @VivereNewYork and @RedHookWinery on Instagram, like this pic below and tag at least a friend you’d bring with you.
The winner will be selected on July 17th at 9am EST… good luck!!!
