Posts Written OnAugust 2007

Virginia Winery Owner Bashes Long Island Wine While Promoting His Own

A friend and reader sent this to me this morning. He’s a Virginia resident and is on many winery email lists down in that neck of the woods: Dear Friends, Last week/weekend (July 19-23), I took the Acela train up to New York to visit my daughter. On Saturday evening, my friends all drove up to join us for a trip out onto Long Island. I’m embarrassed to say that after all these years I had never visited this other notable East Coast wine region, and we were all excited about visiting and tasting their wines. I envisioned tasting high-quality…

WTNs: Vineyard 48 Current Red Releases (North Fork of Long Island)

Vineyard 48 (formerly Bidwell Vineyards) might be a winery on the rise. In general, I’ve found their white wines to be their best, particularly the sauvignon blanc and riesling, which are actually better than some local bottlings priced much higher. But, the reds have been somewhat more inconsistent. A nice cabernet franc here. A soft, but integrated meritage there. And some others with somewhat coarse tannins. 2005, a soon-to-be-class vintage, provided an opportunity for complete grape ripeness and winemaker Matthew Berenz, formerly of Pindar, took full advantage. He’s made the neophyte winery’s best reds yet. The Vineyard 48 2005 Vignetta…

Edible East End’s Low Summer 2007 Issue is Out

Just wanted to let everyone know that Edible East End has published its Low Summer 2007 issue recently. It’s one of my favorite local publications and the only one that I find myself reading cover to cover when a new issue comes out. And, this marks the second vintage of my new EEE column "East End Oenophile." In this issue, I look at some of the first 2005 reds to hit the market and touch on the Italian and Italian-American influence on Long Island wine. I’m working on a larger feature story on that for another publication, so look for…

LENNDEVOURS Q&A: Peter Carroll, Owner, The Lenz Winery

It’s been a while since we’ve done a LENNDEVOURS Q&A, so I tracked down Peter Carroll, who owns The Lenz Winery. What (and where) was the first bottle of wine you remember drinking?The first bottle of wine I remember TASTING, was a bottle of 3-Franc rot gut that I bought in Calais in 1962 when I was 13 years old and on a day trip to France organized by my school.  We tasted it back in England and I can still recall the ‘volatile acidity’ (acetic acid, or vinegar flavor). But the first bottle of wine I remember drinking in…