Wine Of The Week – 2014 BOE “Broken Land” Orange Wine
The Wine
This wine is dangerously delicious and provides an experience unlikely any other orange wine I’ve had to date. The on-skin maceration imparts a deep golden color and great complexity. On the palate, it has flavors of lychee, orange zest, tea, rose petal complimented by earthy tannins. The perfect wine for Halloween or any other day of the year. Serve slightly chilled similar to a light bodied red wine. Drink now.
The Process
Small batch production where the grapes were destemmed and crushed, then fermented in bins with their skins and seeds. After fermentation, the wine macerated on the skins for another eleven days before pressing giving it a golden hue. The wine was then transferred to neutral oak barrels for maturation. The two varieties were fermented separately, and blended after the second racked to promote an even aging profile throughout the wine. Bottling occurred after 9 months in barrel.
Varietals – 100% Gewurztraminer
The Winemaker
Born and raised on Long Island, Alie Shaper graduated with a degree in engineering from Cornell University and spent a few postgraduate years in Silicon Valley. The rich and complex world of California wines beckoned her to the vineyards where she soon realized her passion for the art and science of winemaking. It was then that she returned to her New York roots, began working at a tasting room in the Hudson Valley and then at the legendary Vintage New York wine shop in Manhattan, all while obtaining her Advanced Certificate from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. She soon segued into managing restaurant wine programs and subsequently into marketing with a major with a major wine distributor. Rounding out her education, she trained in winemaking at Premium Wine Group, in the heart of Long Island’s North Fork AVA. Soon thereafter, she founded the wine label Brooklyn Oenology (‘BOE’) and its eponymous Williamsburg Tasting room.
BOE Wines are the convergence of New York pride and creativity, bringing the best of the state’s grape growing regions to New Yorkers within bottles showcasing pieces by Brooklyn artists on its labels. The BOE Wine bar is heralded as the first urban winery and went on to win many accolades before shutting in 2016 when Alie made the decision to relocate to Long Island Wine Country. She independently founded two more labels: ‘As If,’ a reflection of life’s possibilities and deeply personal series of wines, and ‘Haywater Cove’, her easy-drinking love-letter to the North Fork.
Alie sat on the Board of Directors of the Long Island Wine Council from 2015 through 2018, runs her wine consulting and private label business Alie Shaper Fine Wines, and is the winemaker for Croteaux Vineyards. In her spare time, Alie is either playing hide-and-seek with her business partner Robin Epperson-McCarthy’s daughter or you can find her half-way across the world in McLaren Vale, Australia, making wine with her Australian Partner Tim.
To learn more about Alie and Brooklyn Oenology, visit chroniclewines.co.
‘The Process’ and ‘The Winemaker’ winemaker profile provided by Chronicle Wines.