Posts Written OnOctober 2005

Matt Campbell, co-owner of Charles John Vineyard along with his wife Jackie, can trace his love of wine back to when he and Jackie were living in Rochester, N.Y., in the early 1980s. “I knew nothing about wine. (But) we went to dinner and I ordered an ‘expensive’ glass of Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon for about $7 – to impress Jackie. I couldn’t believe how good it tasted.” For a man who grew up on the Jersey Shore “listening to Bruce Springsteen” and knowing beer “as the only alcoholic beverage that had four letters,” that glass of Cabernet was a…

Okay, it’s official. Martha Clara Vineyards (and its winemaker, Gilles Martin) have climbed up my ranking of Long Island vineyards. I don’t actually have a list from one to thirty-plus, of course, but what was once a winery highlighted by its high-profile events is really starting to win me over with what matters — the juice. Sure, they still make (and sell) a ton of their white zinfandel-esque rose (isn’t the beagle-adorned label cute?) and the Glacier’s End line of wines, but a look further down on the tasting sheet reveals wines with nice varietal character that are worth elbowing…

Wet. Wet. Wet. After only about an inch of wine rain over the summer, Long Island’s East End has endured at least a foot of the wet stuff in just the past seven days. The result — water-covered roads, some vine damage…and very few tasting room visitors yesterday as Beau, Kori and I visited four of the six tasting rooms we had planned. I guess no matter how hard you try to stick to an itinerary, talking to owners/winemakers/tasting room staff always results in extended, and enjoyable, stays. I’m sure you can expect a more complete write up in the…

If you want wine from the LENNDEVOURS wine rack, you have to go through Ben. You’ve been warned. I can’t be held responsible for his actions.

Chateau Lafayette Reneau isn’t a new winery to the LENNDEVOURS tasting team. We’ve had their seyval blanc blend before (it’s not bad) and for July’s WBW#11, we tasted their Johannisburg Riesling. The basics are: Located in Hector, NY on  Seneca Lake (in the Finger Lakes region) Bottlings include: pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, riesling, chardonnay and a late harvest riesling After I was disappointed by a different Finger Lakes pinot for the most recent WBW, I wanted to get right back on the proverbial horse and try another one. The cool growing conditions in that region make it hard for me…

Brotherhood Winery was founded by John Jaques, with a first commercial vintage 1839. (see previous post) And while their winery and tasting room are located in Washingtonville, NY and thus in the Hudson Valley, the grapes for this particular wine were grown right in my back yard on Long Island. Any time I see that, I worry a bit. In my experience, most of the best grapes (particularly Merlot) stay on Long Island. There are exceptions I’m sure, but I digress. I popped the cork on this bottle to enjoy with Nena’s spiced chicken black bean soup because I remembered…

Sigh. The 2005 vintage was widely expected to be one of the best ever on Long Island (particularly for red wines). A hot, dry growing season led to small, concentrated fruit that was ripening extremely well. We literally have had almost no rain all summer and early fall…until the last few days. Rain has been soaking most of Long Island (and the eastern seaboard) for days…and I fear all that water is going to dilute the flavors and potentially neccessitate earlier-than-wanted harvesting. I know several vineyards already picked their chardonnay (and some other whites) before the rains…but most were holding…