NY Times- Oct. 26, 2003
LONG ISLAND VINES; Hearty Reds for Autumn
As autumn temperatures drop, the desire for hearty reds rises. So it made seasonal sense to reach again for Martha Clara Vineyards 2000 Syrah.  With indigenous syrahs uncommon on Long Island, Martha Clara's ($25) is especially interesting because it indicates how well this grape, which is increasingly popular nationally, might do locally. 
Martha Clara's version is juicy, ripe, rich and tasty - a spicy, plump mouthful - and just a degree short of resembling liquid jam.  The wine improved in an open bottle over several days.  Martha Clara calls the wine "estate reserve" signaling than it was made from the best fruit in its vineyards.  Some of the softness and fleshiness surely comes from the 21.5 percent merlot in the blend. 
Howard G. Goldberg

NY Times- September 7, 2003
LONG ISLAND VINES; Toasting the Seasons
Labor Day, ignoring cosmic niceties like solstices, unofficially ushers in fall. Thus, last Monday- rainy, unseasonably chilly - seemed like a good time for a Gallic Style white to bid adieu to summer. 
The white was Martha Clara's 2002 Viognier, whose transparency emphasizes the paleness of this Rhone grape's wine and seems to telegraph virtual weightlessness in the glass. Why Gallic?  Look no further than Gilles Martin, the French-born winemaker who did a stint in the Rhone Valley. 
While fermentation in stainless-steel tanks preserved the viognier's delicate fruitiness, it yielded a potent 13.4 percent alcohol, but the wine is so balanced its kick is not noticeable. 
Flirtatiously perfumed but with a noteworthy dryness, this wine offers pineapple and pear flavors in a zippy way that contrasts with its soft texture. Youthful and understated today, it should turn more expressive in six months. Martha Clara touts the viognier's peach and apricot flavors and says that it "complements the rich, sweet flavor of lobster and crab," a sound judgement. The winery, on the North Fork, charges $16 a bottle. 
Howard G. Goldberg

Y Times- Aug. 24, 2003
LONG ISLAND VINES; Thesis and Antithesis
If you want sauvignon blanc that is the antithesis of California chardonnays, check Martha Clara's bone-dry 2002.  To drive its point home with a needling obviousness, this Jamesport estate released the wine at its Anything But Chardonnay festival last month.  Shunning New Zealand's typically full0-blown, vegetal sauvignon style, Martha Clara's in its spareness, copies the more understate Loire versions. 
The white's leanness and simplicity were fully appreciated on a hot muggy afternoon when my aim was not finding complexity but chilling the bottle as quickly as possible for fast relief. 
The sauvignon ($15), made by Gilles Martin, is lightly lemony and faintly herbal. Lunchtime seafood platters would find it a friendly lubricant, especially after you hosed the beach sand off your feet, took a quick shower and eased into white cotton clothing. 
Howard G. Goldberg

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