Benmarl Vineyards, Marlborough-on-Hudson

Benmarl Vineyards, Marlborough-on-Hudson

Our Hudson River Valley wine experience included a visit to Benmarl Vineyards, the oldest vineyard in America, boasting New York Farm Winery license no.1. Nestled in the lush green hills of the western riverbank of the Hudson River in the village of Marlboro sits the historic Benmarl Winery's 37 acre estate, vineyards, and hospitality center tasting rooms, deck and lawn.

 
Benmarl produce small batch wines that capture the unique character of each vineyard from which they are sourced. They have tripled estate production in the past six years showing faith and commitment to the wines that the Hudson River Region can produce. 

 

The 37 acre estate overlooking the historic Hudson River Valley has the "Oldest Vineyard in America,”  the winery and cellars, and a hospitality center with tasting rooms indoors, on the deck and lawn overlooking the vineyards and the river valley. Just off the main Route 9 along the west bank of the Hudson, they are set up for large bustling crowds on weekends with ample parking, multiple tastings settings and a well oiled process for service.

The Benmarl portfolio consists of eighteen different labels on offer by the bottle, they produces two dry wines, an Estate Red and Estate White, several specialty wines and a sparkling Verdelet and Seyval Blanc blend. 

They provide a design your own tasting flight of four wines from the broad selection. We each selected a flight of four wines to our liking from the menu that offered 2 sparkling, five whites, six reds and three sweets. 

I will typically ask a producer what they consider their signature wine, their best representation of their terroir and artcraft. The Benmarl server cited the Estate grown Baco Noir, sourced from sixty year old vines, as one of their signature labels.

Benmarl Winery New York Baco Noir 2019

I selected their featured 2019 Baco Noir vintage release that is supposed to be from estate sixty year old vines, however they admitted most of the vines have been or are being replanted in the vineyard adjacent the tasting deck as shown in these photos. 

Dark blackish garnet colored, medium-full bodied, black berry fruits were overtaken by notes of charcoal, smoke, leather and dust with some spice tones. 

RM 86 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4027227

 

Benmarl Winery New York Proprietor's Reserve 2019

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, black berry fruits offset by notes of smoke, tobacco, some dark mocha chocolate and some spice on a moderate finish. Not as balanced or integrated as it might be, perhaps it will become moreso with some bottle aging, noting its youth. 

RM 87 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4082963

 

Benmarl Winery New York North Fork Long Island Syrah 2020

Being huge fans of Syrah, we were hoping this would be notable but it did not meet our lofty expectations, but then we appropriately recalibrated for New York wines rather than compare to the California, Rhone and Aussie Syrahs we're so accustomed to drinking. 

Dark ruby colored, medium-full bodied, black berry fruits are accented by black cherry, herbs and smoke with a moderate finish. 

RM 86 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4074530

 

Benmarl Winery New York Cabernet Franc 2019

This is what I here-to-fore would consider the signature wine, or the benchmark wine for New York, having found it to be 'best of' in our tastings on Long Island and the Finger Lakes region. So it was that it was probably a standard bearer and met expectations accordingly. 

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, slightly more complex black berry fruits with notes of pepper, spice with hints of vanilla and a layer of cedar on the finish. 

RM 87 points.   

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4085073

 

Benmarl Winery New York Slate Hill Red Wine 2019

This is a Bordeaux Blend made from Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, all sourced in New York State. 

Dark garnet colored, medium-bodied blackberry with notes of cassis, leather and a touch of oak and moderate tannins on the finish. 

RM 87 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4074157

 

Benmarl Winery New York Malbec, Petit Verdot, Riesling, Petillant 2019

An interesting blend of a couple of Bordeaux varietals, a German / Washington State / New York varietal and a unique New York grape. The diversity of the grapes resulted in a bit of a cacophony of flavors, lacking seamless integration or elegance, or depth and breadth of a blend. Perhaps several years of bottle aging may transform this into a more harmonious sipper. Clearly a blend unique to this producer or region. 

Garnet colored, medium bodied, black berry, black raspberry fruits with notes of tobacco, cherry sprites, spice and tangy acidity. 

RM 86 points. 

Visit the Benmarl Vineyards website.