Dorn & Blau
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed within 1–5 years of vintage release to appreciate its fresh, energetic fruit profile.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
charcuterie boards, roasted duck, grilled pork chops
✨ Technical Specifications
Channing Daughters' Dorn & Blau is a vibrant and imaginative red blend that showcases the winery's pioneering spirit on Long Island's South Fork. By combining Dornfelder and Blaufr$nkisch (Lemberger)—two cool-climate European varieties that are highly unusual for North America—this bottling challenges traditional regional expectations. Grown in the glacial, silt-loam soils of Bridgehampton under maritime conditions, the grapes yield a wine with a remarkably deep, ink-like color but a surprisingly light-to-medium body. Winemaker Christopher Tracy employs low-intervention techniques, including wild yeast fermentation and aging in neutral oak, to preserve the wine's crunchy blue fruit, wild berry notes, and signature cracked black pepper spice.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1982 when venture capitalist and sculptor Walter Channing planted his first Chardonnay vines in Bridgehampton, Channing Daughters Winery has evolved into one of the most daring and innovative producers on Long Island's East End. Set on 28 estate acres within the maritime climate of the South Fork, the vineyards thrive in well-drained Bridgehampton silt loam cooled by Atlantic sea breezes and buffered by Peconic Bay. Helmed by partner and winemaker Christopher Tracy alongside partners Larry Perrine and Allison Dubin, the estate is a founding member of Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing. Channing Daughters is celebrated for its polycultural repertoire spanning over two dozen grape varieties and an avant-garde cellar program marked by native fermentations, extensive skin contact, and field blends. Benchmark bottlings include their pioneering Ramato skin-fermented Pinot Grigio, Friulian-inspired whites such as Tocai Friulano and Ribolla Gialla, and intricate cuvées like Meditazione and Envelope.
🍇 Grapes
Dornfelder, Blaufr$nkisch