Like its 2000 counterpart a 70:30 Pinot - Chardonnay cuvee, Lenz’s 1996 Cuvee RD was disgorged after a dozen years and released after six months more under cork. This was a long, cool vintage, explains Fry, and that shows in a wine of tremendous finesse, with bittersweet floral perfume, toast, caramel, and buckwheat in the nose; startling freshness of pit fruit and citrus on the palate; and remarkable transparency to persistently wafting florality; saline, alkaline mineral nuances; and toasted grain. Enjoy this over the coming year, confident that if there is no more 1996 left, there will be other memorable Lenz late disgorgements. Micro-biologist Eric Fry reached New York from his native California 25 years ago on the recommendation of mentor Andre Tchelistcheff and has long ago become a Long Island veteran. He and owner Peter J. Carroll follow a release regimen that would give most winery proprietors headaches and heartburn not to mention red ink, with whites usually appearing a couple of years after harvest, while red wines and the estate’s wonderful sparkling wines are typically released after four or more years. Fry believes oxygen is a friend at the right time, and his reds often get “splashed” following what usually are very slow malos; are given extended time in barrel before racking to tank; and are bottled extremely late.Tel. (631) 364-8403