Posts Written OnJanuary 11, 2007

Remembering Ray Blum — A North Fork Wine Pioneer

I was saddened last night to hear that Ray Blum, one of Long Island’s true wine forefathers, passed away yesterday after a long bout with illness. Ray played an integral part in Long Island wine’s beginnings, founding Peconic Bay Vineyards (now Peconic Bay Winery), planting several vineyards all over the North Fork (including some that are now a part of Bedell Cellars and Paumanok Vineyards), and most recently running and owning Ackerly Pond Vineyards. In such a small, localized wine industry, everybody knows everybody else and I know Ray will be missed. Charles Massoud of Paumanok Vineyards emailed me today…

Blog Find: Virginia Vine Spot

As I was clicking through some of my favorite wine blogs today, I realized that I’ve never highlighted Virginia Vine Spot in a post. Never visited Dezel’s blog and have no idea what it’s about? Well, think of it as a LENNDEVOURS for Virginia wines rather than New York. The writing is engaging and approachable, as are the tasting notes and other posts. Check it out and see what you think. I’ve only had a few VA wines, but most really impressed me. Clearly VA and NY are leading the way in East Coast winemaking. I wish I could get…

It’s the Style, Stupid.

By Contributing Columnist Richard Olsen-Harbich Much has been written and debated lately about the style and direction of Long Island wines — most notoriously, a recent Op-Ed piece in the Long Island section of the NY Times implied that L.I. wine producers needed to spend more energy on experimentation and crafting out our own identity. I would argue that this is exactly what L.I. winemakers have been doing for the past 30-plus years. Most people take it for granted now, but back in the early 70s, the general consensus from Cornell University and many other “experts” on the East Coast…

Long Island Wine Appreciation Month at Asta Wine Cafe (Huntington, NY)

Asta Wine Cafe and Art Gallery is a cafe in Huntington Village, with a wine list that is almost exclusively Long Island Wines — which is cool in my book. Unfortunately, their customers in their silly snobbishness, aren’t buying into the concept. I can only call it snobbishness, because there are plenty of delicious wines made on Long Island (but I’m preaching to the choir here, right?) Would their customers rather have Beringer White Zin and Yellowtail Shiraz? Apparently that is the case because Asta is considering scrapping their LI-only concept and moving to an international list. But it’s not…