Shinn Estate Vineyards in Mattituck has been one of my favorite North Fork producers ever since my first visit last fall. Then, they only had two wines available for tasting, a great value Chardonnay and a tremendous 2002 “young vines” Merlot, which was touted recently as Long Island’s best red in a New York Times article by Eric Asimov. I don’t agree with how Asimov came to this conclusion (no matter how good the wine is) but let’s get back to Shinn Estate Vineyards, which debuted four new wines at Windows On Long Island on April 25. I’ve written several…
Posts Written OnMay 2005
A Week of Few Posts
I know. I haven’t done a ton of posting this week…at least not nearly as much as I usually do. But there’s a good reason–Nena and I are cooking for 150 people tomorrow. Our first catering gig. Our fridge if filled (over filled really) with food that we aren’t even allowed to eat. Our tiny kitchen has extra card tables set up to stack and chop and package stuff up. Today I’m talking half a day off from work to do the roast beef and marinate the chicken. It’s hectic…it’s fun…and everyone thinks we’re crazy for doing it. Back to…
Mother’s Day in Long Island Wine Country
This Sunday is Mother’s Day and several Long Island wineries are pulling out all the stops for all you moms out there. Here’s some highlights of what’s available: Corey Creek Vineyards is honoring mothers not with roses, but with rosé, offering a 15% discount on cases of their 2003 Domaines CC Rosé (individual bottles are $12). They are also offering special, handwoven "Hamptons" wine carriers ($30 for a single-bottle carrier and $38 for a two-bottle carrier). For more information, call 631.765.4168 or email wine@coreycreek.com Lieb Family Cellars is pouring free tastings for moms (library wines excluded) and handing out flowers…
WANTED: New York Area Wine Tasters
Do you live in the New York area, with at least somewhat easy access to the East End of Long Island? If the answer is yes, I want to hear from you…so email me. I don’t know when or where, but there are some Long Island wine tasting events I’m putting together (over the next six month), and I’m looking for interested tasters for the LENNDEVOURS panel. The tasting will include: Long Island Merlot (<$15) Long Island Merlot ($20 and up) Long Island Chardonnay Hopefully many, many more… Interested? Email me for more details.
Merlot vs. Cabernet Franc…Which Will Take Long Island Wine to the Promised Land?
On Sunday, Howard Goldberg’s Long Island Vines column in the New York Times focused on Peconic Bay Winery’s recent and upcoming releases (which I’ve got in my tasting queue as well). What I love about this week’s column is what he says about Cabernet Franc on Long Island: "…ultimately Long Island’s signature red wine may not be merlot, as is now routinely assumed. Given the glacial pace at which young wine regions develop — there is only one annual vintage, after all – decades are needed for patterns of strength to become boldly distinct." I don’t always agree with Howard’s…
10 Sips…With Louisa Thomas Hargrave
In the interest of bringing the many faces and personalities of New York wine to my readers, I’ve decided to start doing bi-month (or so) posts about the amazing number of interesting, intelligent and supremely talented people in the New York wine world. For the first "bottling" I’ve chosen Lousia Thomas Hargrave, who I often call the "founding mother" of Long Island wine. She was the co-founder of Long Island’s first vineyard, Hargrave Vineyards, planting the first wine grapes on the North Fork in 1973. She is also a founder and a member emeritus of the Long Island Wine Council…
New Wines From Old Vines at Vineyard 48
Route 48 on the North Fork is home to some of our region’s best wineries. Now, it shares a name with one of the newest. A year ago, Italian-born Rose Pipia purchased the former Bidwell Winery in Cutchogue, Long Island’s second oldest vineyard, and has renamed it Vineyard 48. I never liked Bidwell’s wines much, so this is great news. Pipia and her son, Joseph Pipia, the winery’s general manager, are obviously dedicated to turning the winery around, having hired some Long Island wine heavyweights to help exorcise the demons of bad Bidwell…