"Wine makes everyone hopeful" . . . Aristotle
THE NEW YORK STATE OF WINE
New York . . . the
greatest city in the world . . .
and a winemaking region. Yes, with
42 vineyards and wineries on eastern Long Island, just an hour and a half east of New York City, and over 220
statewide.
WINNING
WINEMAKING
Comtesse
Thérèse is an
artisanal wine producer located in Aquebogue, on the eastern
end of Long Island, New York. The first wines were from the 2001 vintage, first put on the market in August 2003, and things
are already off to a good start.
Howard G. Goldberg of the New York Times, in February 2007, called the 2004 Château Reserve Merlot "a pretty wine . . . soft, plush, round, meaty and spicy. . . The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is robustly gamey, smoky, somewhat minty and redolent of macerated dark berries." The 70% Cabernet Sauvignon/30% Cabernet Franc "offers an inviting cabernet sauvignon aroma and a smoky body" and the 2004 Hungarian Oak Merlot he called "spicy, a bit tarry, slightly woody."
Sommelier News, March 2006 said "Thérèse has become known for its textured, brooding merlots, and the 2003 we were served didn't disappoint us."
In August 2004, a year after releasing its first wines to the public, the 2002 Hungarian Oak Merlot was named "BEST MERLOT IN NEW YORK" at the New York Wine & Food Classic, out of 54 merlots and 194 wineries across New York state.
In October 2005, the 2002 Russian Oak Chardonnay won "BEST CHARDONNAY" in Dan's Papers "Best of the Best". The previous year, the winery won "BEST NEW WINERY" in Dan's Best of the Best.
A 2001 merlot from the debut vintage (the '01 Château Reserve) was the only merlot out of 30 New York-grown merlots included in Wine Enthusiast's annual worldwide review of merlot. Another 2001 merlot (the '01 Traditional Merlot) received a 90 rating from Wine & Spirits.
(For other
mentions in the national and local press, click on the name of the article on the left,
or see the NEWS page for all articles).
Feature article on Theresa Dilworth in the Wine Press Summer 2008 issue
Click here for a PDF version of the Long Island Wine Council map.
THE TASTING ROOM
Comtesse Thérèse is the proprietor of The Tasting Room, located on Peconic Lane in Peconic, NY. THe Tasting Room in Long Island's only multi-vineyard tasting room. There, the full line of Comtesse Thérèse wines are available, as well as the wines of other, smaller, boutique-style wineries that do not have their own tasting rooms. See the TASTING ROOM page for more information or go to www.tastingroomli.com.
COMTESSE THÉRÈSE BISTRO OPENING SOON!!
The years-long process of getting all the licenses and permits for the bistro is ongoing, and renovations are slowly underway. Located in a charming historic house from the 1830's on the Main Road in Aquebogue, NY, the bistro is expected to open in late 2008 or early 2009 and will serve a small selection of local foods along with Comtesse Thérèse wines.
ABOUT
US
Comtesse Thérèse is owned by attorney Theresa Dilworth and two Japanese friends, Chizuko Tomita and Kayomi Hirota. During her "day job", Theresa is responsible for global tax planning for MasterCard Inc. in Purchase, NY. Chizuko is a tax partner at Ernst & Young in Tokyo, and Kayomi is a US and Japan CPA with her own tax and accounting firm.
Theresa
is a 4th generation Long Islander, from the Lloyd Harbor/Huntington area who has owned land on the North Fork since 1993. Her
grandmother's grandmother's family was in the vineyard
business in Alsace, France, which at the time was German. Theresa's husband, Mineo "Sammy" Shimura, left the steel industry several years ago and now manages the vineyard full-time (see VINEYARD page.)
Theresa is one of the few
winemakers in the world using Hungarian and Russian oak
barrels, in addition to French and American
oak, and the first winery on the east coast of the US to use Canadian oak barrels. Wines are made using native, wild yeasts,
and are manipulated as little as possible, without racking,
fining or filtration.
Bernard
Cannac, Consultant Winemaker, is from the south of France, where his family owns a vineyard. He has an Oenology
degree from the University of Bordeaux, and an MBA from
the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Dijon. He worked
in Saint-Emilion before coming to the U.S., first to Jefferson
Vineyards in Virginia, then to Long
Island.
Lisa
Julian Cannac is Director of Sales as well as Assistant
Winemaker. Previously she was Lab Director at Premium
Wine Group, the custom crush facility in Mattituck where
Comtesse Thérèse wines are made. Lisa and Bernard have started their own wine consulting company, Wine Connection. Please see www.wineconnectionconsulting.com for more details.
Click here for more information about the owners of Comtesse Thérèse.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
- To get on the mailing list or to contact us, click the email link at the bottom of the page.
- For more about the Long Island wine industry, visit the Long Island Wine Council at www.liwines.com.
- For the Long Island Wine Press, the official guide to Long Island Wine Country, click here.
