Posts Written OnFebruary 2007

A LENNDEVOURS Pork and Pinot Tasting

When it comes to food-friendly versatility, it’s hard to do any better than pinot noir. But, as you may have noticed, there aren’t many pinots made on Long Island and those that are out there tend to be extremely inconsistent year to year or extremely expensive for the quality. Of course, there is a reason for both the up-and-down quality and the sometimes-hefty price tags—pinot noir is extremely difficult to grow even under the best conditions. It is quite tolerant of cool and cold growing conditions, but because it is an early-leafing variety, it is extremely susceptible to spring frosts.…

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Congratulations to the Winners of the 2007 American Wine Blog Awards

Sadly, LENNDEVOURS didn’t win in either category in which it was a finalist. But, I’m not one for sour grapes (pun intended). It probably didn’t help any that I was the only blog in the category that wasn’t tied to some sort of corporate entity. You know, I’m an old school blog. Some great blogs won and hopefully these awards brought some much-deserved attention to the wine blogging community. Congrats to the winners. And thanks to Tom Wark for putting this together. And most important of all — thank you to all of you who voted for LENNDEVOURS. Maybe we’ll…

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You Want Jackson…You Got Him

I’ve gotten several emails over the past two days looking for at least one more picture of the newest member of the LENNDEVOURS team, Jackson. We here at LENNDEVOURS always aim to please our readers, so with that in mind, I present to you my favorite picture so far. Luckily, he gets his looks from his mother. Jackson and mommy are both doing great. And daddy is back at his day job full-time again. It sucks, but there are bills to be paid. We’ll resume regular, New York wine, programming this evening.

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canvas Magazine Book Giveaway

Do you have a great ethnic recipe to share? How about a tip for taking better care of your animal companion? If you do, canvas magazine wants to know! Post a recipe in the comments under the story World of Flavor at Your Door story. If your recipe is chosen, you’ll win a copy of Nancie McDermott’s Quick & Easy Vietnamese: 75 Everyday Recipes. If you have a holistic pet healthcare tip, post it in the comments under Better Care for Your Best Friend  and you might win a copy of A Holistic Approach to Pet Care By William L.…

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Is Wine X’s Editor a Crybaby?

Mark Fisher, a friend of LENNDEOVURS and owner of Uncorked wrote an interesting post this morning in response to a Decanter.com story about  the demise of Wine X magazine and its editor’s complaints that the wine industry’s ignorance and short-sightedness doomed the magazine to failure after eight years. Mark, never one to pull punches, refers to the editor as a crybaby and I tend to agree after reading the piece. Is the wine industry often snobby, uppity, stuffy and "old school"? Yes. But I expect that anyone with the ambition to start a wine magazine would recognize that from the…

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WTN: Ste. Chapelle 2005 Winemaker’s Series Riesling (Idaho)

You read the post title right–this wine is from Idaho. In fact, I toyed with the idea of naming this post "Who Da Ho? I Da Ho." but thought better of it. It’s been a long time since I have made a tour stop in my 50 States. 50 Wineries. project, but I stumbled upon this wine at a small little wine shop in upstate New York. It was nestled in a display rack next to several Finger Lakes rieslings, and for $11 bucks, I thought "It’s worth a shot." And indeed it was. Of course, most people think of…

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WTN: 2004 Tierce Riesling (Finger Lakes)

Last April, the Long Island Merlot Alliance, formed by Raphael, Pellegrini Vineyards, Sherwood House Vineyards, Shinn Estate Vineyards and Wolffer Estate Vineyards, released their first cooperatively produced merlot—2004 Merliance ($35). LIMA’s founders believe that merlot is Long Island’s signature varietal, and as such have dedicated themselves to its advancement and continued quality in our region. But, LIMA isn’t the only group of New York wineries working together to create special wines from other signature grapes.        There are some that will argue the point, but much like merlot is Long Island’s current leader, the classic riesling grape rules…

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Voting for the 2007 American Wine Blog Awards Ends Today

Today is the last day to vote for your favorite wine blogs in the 2007 American Wine Blog Awards. Even if you didn’t (and don’t) vote for this here blog, you should click through the finalists and vote for your favorites. Wine blogs are increasingly important in the wine world and these awards highlight many of the best. Of course, it can be hard to pick just one in every category–especially for someone like me who has his own wine blog. In the almost three years I’ve enjoyed with LENNDEVOURS, I’ve formed friendships with many of the finalists, so picking…

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A LENNDEVOURS Valentine’s Day

I’m a very lucky man on Valentine’s Day. Nena and I don’t exchange gifts, we don’t do flowers and we don’t go out to dinner. We skip the gifts because there are always much better ways for us to spend money. I don’t like to give flowers on the days you’re "supposed" to–that’s not thoughtful in my book. And, we don’t do dinner on Valentine’s Day because it’s amateur night–restaurants offer over-priced, under-delivering set menus and people who never go out to eat at nice restaurants show up, and it shows. Instead, we cook for one another to celebrate the…

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Gary Vaynerchuk is One Crazy, Wine-Swilling Dude

Gary Vaynerchuk, Director of Operations for Wine Library, friend of LENNDEVOURS and intrepid host of Wine Library TV is at it again. As any of you east of the Mississippi know, a winter storm has blanketed much of the midwest and northeast–some areas with piles of snow, others with sleet and freezing rain. But that didn’t stop Gary from tasting three highly rated wines on today’s episode of Wine Library TV. In fact, he even braved the elements to see just how driving, freezing rain would affect his palate. Gary is always fun to watch, but I particularly enjoyed how…

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