El Paso Winery's Rusty Nail Red and Merlot

So, this review is way late, so firstly, my sincerest apologies to the owner, the lovely and always accommodating Mary Vogel.

OK, now that that's out of the way, when I was at the Spring Crafts Show at Rhinebeck I went to say hello to Mary, and I tasted a few of her wines. The one I really liked was a nice table red called Rusty Nail.

In 1998 Mary and her husband purchased the winery that was founded 21 years before by Felipe Beltra, an "old-world" Spanish winemaker from Uruguay, SA. He purchased the land and the old barn of a 125 year old farmstead and planted his grapes. He then went about converting the barn into his "tasting room". Today, Mary still blends his sweet wine recipes from long ago and has expanded the selection of fine New York wines to include wonderful dry reds -- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir. They make two Rieslings! Their White Riesling is a classic -- sweet, flowery and fragrant. They also make an elegant, clean, crisp dry Riesling.

Mary did not give me a history of the name Rusty Nail, though, as a layman there are several I know of. Regardless, the wine was a complete surprise.

Medium bodied, a nice garnet color, with vanilla, spice, and some essence of smoke. It has a smokiness to it. But it was lovely. Nice fruit up front, cherry and blackberry, and a lovely dry finish. A very, very nice table wine. Great with grilled foods, pizza, pasta. A very lovely wine.

The Merlot was lovely as well, filled with cherry and raspberry, and a hint of vailla. A complex wine with lots of flavor. A big, dry, delicious wine.