JancisRobinson.com

• By Jancis Robinson, MW
  10/16/2007 (link)

  (Bedell Cellars, Reserve Merlot North Fork, Long Island Red) Subscribe to see review text.

New York Cork Report

• By Lenn Thompson
  1/1/2009 (link)

  (Bedell Cellars Merlot Reserve) Loads of blackberry preserve, fresh fig and cafe mocha aromas reach right up out of the glass and pull you in. Big, lush blackberry flavors fill the mouth, with rich chocolate and a little vanilla in the background. The extracted, broad flavors carry through from beginning to end. The structure is a little firm and this wine is very full-bodied for the region and the finish is lengthy, if just slightly astringent. This wine is a little one-dimensional right now. In fact, it really isn't showing much of what makes Long Island wines unique and delicious. But with time, I expect the tannins to mellow revealing those layers of complexity and secondary aromas and flavors. In three to five years, when other wineries are just releasing their 05s, this wine could be a classic.