Posts Written OnApril 11, 2007

WTN: Medolla Vineyards 2002 Merlot (North Fork)

The Italian and Italian-American influence on Long Island wine country is strong. Among the thirty-plus East End producers there are ones named Pellegrini, Pugliese, Castello di Borghese and Diliberto – and others that are owned by people of Italian heritage, many of whom grew up making wine with their families. Medolla Vineyards, owned by John and Denise Medolla, has recently joined the fray with its first release, this 2002 Merlot. Medolla Vineyards operates under a tenant winery license at Lenz Winery. Basically, Lenz Winery serves as a host winery and Medolla uses the facilities when Lenz isn’t using them. Lenz…

Continue Reading

WBW #32: Regular vs. Reserve

Today is the second Wednesday of the month, and lately that means it’s Wine Blogging Wednesday. This month’s edition–the events 32nd–is hosted by The Wine Cask Blog, which has asked participants to compare two wines from the same winery and same vintage, but one a ‘regular’ bottling and the other a ‘reserve.’ Definitely a fun concept and one I looked forward to. Rather than just do one comparison, I decided to do two pairs–one white, one red, one from the Finger Lakes, one from Long Island. Starting with the whites, I tasted and compared two 2005 chardonnays from Treleaven Wines…

Continue Reading

How Can I Use Pear Brandy?

So I have a bottle of eau de vie de poire (pear brandy) from Warwick Valley Winery in the Hudson Valley, and I have very few ideas of how I can or should use it. I’ve tasted it, of course, both chilled and at room temperature (much better chilled) and I suppose I could serve it–ice cold–as a digestif at the end of a meal, but there’s got to be some culinary uses. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Continue Reading

Eric Asimov Advocates Learning Wine at Home

In my early travels as a wine writer (outside of this blog that is) I’ve come across more than a few editors who aren’t interested in my wine reviews. That’s all well and good. My style obviously isn’t for everyone. But some of those editors take it a step further and tell me why: "You don’t have any formal wine training, Lenn." I’ve always found that to be a bullsh*t reason. Just because I haven’t spent thousands of dollars on formal training, that doesn’t mean that I don’t smell what I smell and taste what I taste. I’ve always says…

Continue Reading