Samples Policy and Procedures The New York Cork Report accepts samples and its wine reviews can appear as standalone reviews, in feature articles and as part of “Tasting Table” articles. If you submit wines for review, our commitment to you is to objectively taste and review them and to provide our readers with as much information about the wines as possible. Wines will be tasted over the course of two or more days and often with and without food, more closely mimicking the way our readers actually drink wine. With very few exceptions, if a wine is tasted in one…
Posts Written OnSeptember 2007
How Will Global Warming and Climate Change Impact the Wine World?
By Special Wine Columnist, Richard Olsen-Harbich Will it be a brave new wine world? During the past year, discussions about the potential impact of “global warming” have dominated the mass media. Although the exact outcomes and causes are in dispute, few now doubt the existence of the phenomenon. What does it mean for the wine industry? As wine is all about long-term agriculture and entirely dependant on the weather, I’d say a great deal. The eventual consequences of climate change on the wine industry are unclear, as are the possible effects on the rest of the planet. The real question…
1995 Long Island Reds Tasting: 12 Wines at 12 Years of Age
Last nights tasting of 1995 Long Island reds was definitely a success. After a couple winemaker cancellations (damn harvest season!) we ended up with six on our panel and we all had a great time seeing how these 12 wines at 12-years old have stood up over time (surprisingly well). It’s probably going to take me a little while to write it up. I was taking my own notes and also writing down things the other tasters were saying (I was the only journalist in the room after all). A big thanks goes out to Jared and Tracy from Grand…
2007 Early Harvest Report: Shinn Estate Vineyards
From David Page, co-owner of Shinn Estate Vineyards: "The best and most important thing that we can say about the harvest is that the sun is still shining, giving us the heat we need to ripen our fruit. We will take as much of this weather as we can get. So far we have harvested chardonnay for sparkling and Anthony, Barbara and myself are all quite pleased with what we have in the tank. Good acidity. Clean fruit. Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon should come in within a few days. The flavors that we are tasting from the fruit on the…
An Early Harvest Report From the East End
By New York City Correspondent Sasha Smith My husband, friend and I had the opportunity to help out with the harvest at The Old Field last weekend. The North Fork’s easternmost vineyard (it’s in Southold) The Old Field produces the typical-for-the-region chardonnay, merlot, cab franc line up, as well as a pinot noir and sparkling wine that has won considerable acclaim. Owners Chris and Ros Baiz and their daughter Perry tend the 12 acres surrounding their house overlooking Peconic Bay, and Lenz vintner Eric Fry makes the wines. (Full disclosure: my husband and I got married at The Old Field…
Tasting Reds from Long Island’s 1995 Vintage This Sunday
I mentioned it earlier in the week, but I thought you might be interested in hearing a bit more about the tasting I’m co-hosting this Sunday evening. Basically, I’ve gathered samples of 1995 reds wines from several Long Island wineries (I think we’ll have 11 wines total). It’s a well-regarded vintage and because these wines are over a decade old, I think they will offer a peek into the potential longevity of local wines. Originally, I was going to do this tasting on my own at home, but for such special wines, I wanted to do something more formal (but…
2007 Early Harvest Report: Peconic Bay Winery
From Matt Gillies, GM at Peconic Bay Winery: "You know I’ll bring the rains in by saying this, but I don’t think I’ve seen more potential in a vintage in my near 30 years here. Even a bit of nasty weather will have a hard time eradicating the benefits of this prolonged dry spell and this wonderful stretch of clear, crisp weather with only a few rain events in the past couple of months. We have not begun picking anything yet. Our first grapes into the cellar will be our Riesling and we’ll be watching them much more closely next…
2007 Early Harvest Report: Paumanok Vineyards
From Kareem Massoud at Paumanok Vineyards: "I have been working at Paumanok full time for nine years, and have been involved since my parents planted the vineyard in 1983, and I can’t remember a season as good as this one. It’s incredible–knock on wood. I always have to add that because we haven’t picked a single grape yet, although we may start as early as tomorrow with Sauvignon Blanc. Since late August, we’ve had day after beautiful day of perfect ripening conditions. Plenty of sun and blue skies, warm days and cool nights. I wasn’t here for the full growing…
New Contributors Page
Just a little housekeeping item to let you know about. I’ve added a new page to this blog that provides a list of contributors (some more frequent than others) along with brief bios. I thought it a little silly to have a huge "About" page that was only about me. I’m not that much of an egomaniac (regardless of what you may have heard). Then again, I will include my new "wine writer" picture in this post. You can expect some more changes like this one soon. I’m going to add a wine samples policy, an overall ethics policy and…
The Morning When The ‘Never Look At Grapes In The Rain’ Rule Was Broken
By Poet Laureate Christopher Watkins Wet socks and all, we trudge the rows, black umbrellas breaking backwards like the battered wings of jackdaws in the winter. It’s early Fall, the grapes show signs of tartness still, but sugar’s on the rise. We chew the berries, macerate the skins between our purpling teeth, and test the seeds for tannins, before spitting out the soft purple masses on the thin, green strips of grass between the rows; on the ground, clusters dropped last week spackle the grass like tiny browning skeletons. …