Posts Written OnNovember 2005

Shinn Estate Vineyards’ James Beard Dinner — December 14

On Wednesday, December 14 at 7:00 p.m. Shinn Estate Vineyards will host a winemakers’ dinner at the James Beard Foundation. They will be pouring old and new releases, as well as barrel samples that aren’t available anywhere else. The dinner will feature the James Beard House debut of chef Ian Boden, who has been retooling the menu Home for the last six months and is excited about this unique opportunity to cook at the Beard House. His "All North Fork" feast menu looks absolutely amazing. Tickets are $100 for members and $125 for non-members. Call 212-627-2308 for reservations. Visit the…

Finger Lakes: Seneca Lake Wine Trail Names New Executive Director

The Seneca Lake Wine Trail has named Paul Thomas, a graduate of Cornell University and a long time Finger Lakes resident, as its new executive director. He has been working in the position on an interim basis since the summer when the previous director, Barbara Adams, passed away. Thomas brings a background in marketing and communications to the wine trail and in the past has served as director of communications for both the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce in California and the Corning Area Chamber of Commerce in New York. He was also the former Assistant Vice President of Product…

Raphael 2004 Grand Cru White Table Wine

Raphael, established in 1996 in lovely Peconic Bay on Long Island’s North Fork is best known for it’s red wine — particularly merlot. (In fact, they are a charter member of the Long Island Merlot Alliance.) Winemaker Richard Olsen-Harbich also crafts one of the better sauvignon blancs around, but he’s told me before that only having the one white (and it’s not chardonnay!) wine has turned some tasting room visitors off. There is no doubt in my mind that their latest white release, a 2004 Grand Cru White Table Wine ($15) was conceptualized to cater to those white wine wanters.…

Napa’s Pine Ridge Winery Buys Two Long Island Vineyards

Napa is invading the North Fork! Napa-based Pine Ridge Vinery has purchased both Broadfields Wine Cellars (along with both Tasting Room locations) and Charles John Vineyard, both on Long Island’s North Fork. Both of the recently sold properties have released estate-grown wines I’ve enjoyed in the past (1|2) so I’m excited to see what Pine Ridge does with the fruit and what their plans are for their presence in the region. Let’s just hope that they don’t try to make Napa-style wines here, because it just won’t work. As Theresa Dilworth points out in the Newsday story, they could have…

Macari Vineyards Cabernet Franc on the Loose

I swear to you that I’m not stalking Stephen — he just makes such awesome dishes that I check his blog several times a day just in case he posts more than once recipe. Anyway…today I got a special surprise — he paired his latest creation with Macari Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Franc. Of course, I was with Beau when he got a few bottles of the wine to share with wine bloggers as part of his revolution, but I didn’t know how quickly the reviews would start rolling in. I’ve got a couple bottles of this terroir-tastic red (and a…

Wine Blogging Wednesday #16 — Judge a Bottle by its Cover

Have you ever found yourself staring at a wall of wine at th wine shop, with no idea what you should by? Subconsciously or not, a wines label often jumps out at us all in that situation and affects our buying decision. I hate to admit it, but it’s happened to me to. (And the opposite is true, Nena and I often comment on the bad labels we see). Of course we know better — pretty labels often hide ugly wines — but we’re human and wineries put a lot of money and time into designing labels that will make…

New Blog: Finger Lakes Weekend Wino

I’ve just stumbled up on the Finger Lakes Weekend Wino blog and it’s a site that I plan to keep an eye on. I’m always interested in learning more about Finger Lakes wineries and wines…and with a definitely lean toward wine value, this new blog should be an interesting read in the sometimes-expensive NY wine world. The picture above is the view from their vacation home in the Finger Lakes (not sure which one). Hard to beat that, huh?    .

Schneider Vineyards 2004 Syrah and 2004 Cabernet Franc

North Fork Negociants Release First Estate-Grown Wines Several of Long Island’s smallest wine producers are Negociants. Negociants buy grapes from a local grower, then make, age, blend and bottle wine under their own label. This practice is common in many wine-producing regions, particularly in Burgundy, home to many well-known negoicant labels like Louis Jadot and Duboeuf. It’s an attractive endeavor to many winemakers because it can be difficult, from a financial perspective, to plant/grow/maintain a vineyard as well as buy all equipment necessary to make and bottle a finished wine. In the United States, negociant-made wines have the words “produced…