Posts Written OnAugust 2008

Twitter Taste Live on Thursday

As the founder of Wine Blogging Wednesday, I’m familiar with how much fun virtual wine tastings can be. But what Bin Ends is doing with its Twitter Tastings takes it all one step further… and I’m happy to be participating in tomorrow’s event. Tomorrow, August 19 at 7 p.m. Bin Ends is hosting the second Twitter Taste Live event.  The special guest will be Etienne Hugel of Hugel et Fils, who be joining us live on Twitter from Alsace. My friend Tim Elliot of Winecast will be co-hosting. We will be tasting these wines during the session: 2006 Gentil 2006…

Bedell Cellars’ 2005 Musee Gets 90 Points from the Wine Specator

I’ve been tough on the Wine Specator in the past (and I’ll likely continue to do so) but maybe they are coming around to Long Island wines. One can certainly hope, can’t he? Cellarette beat me to the punch, but it appears that the September issue of the magazine rates Bedell Cellars’ 2005 Musee a 90 on their 100-point scale. The review itself says: This juicy red delivers cherry, cranberry and smoke flavors backed by gentle tannins. It’s full but plush, with lively acidity and a spicy finish. Generous and vivacious. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through…

How the HAIL are Long Island vineyards dealing with this crazy weather?

If wine is truly made in the vineyard — and any quality-focused winemaker will tell you that it is — Long Island wine is being made in one messy kitchen by one crazy chef this year. That chef being mother nature of course. In many ways, Long Island is the perfect place to grow classy, world-class wines… but there are challenges too. Hungry migratory birds and resident deer can decimate crops in short order. The same bodies of water that delay the first winter frosts also mean high humidity levels that can bring disease and rot. The threat of a…

Pedroncelli 2005 Mother Clone Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley)

This is one of the first wines I got as part of my partnership with  the California Wine Club, and I have to admit that I really enjoyed it. I’ve long been a fan of Zinfandel, and I particularly liked the QPR of this one at $15. A medium-dark cherry red in the glass, the nose is everything you’d expect — cherries, raspberries, red licorice and black pepper. On the palate fresh, almost lively, cherry and cherry confection flavors are accented by spicy black pepper and dusty cocoa notes. The most impressive thing, especially at this price point, is the…

Vineyard Visuals: Channing Daughters Winery (Week 4)

Merlot: "These merlot grapes at Channing Daughters are still hanging in big, robust bunches. They remain green for the time being; I did not see any sign of color change. I love the abundant, cascading look of these grapes….." – Ellen Watson Chardonnay: "The late afternoon sun shines on the back of the bunch of chardonnay grapes at Channing Daughters Vineyard.  The cluster which had previously seemed to be defying gravity, has now begun to hang downward.  These grapes are appearing more translucent; less dense. The green of the grapes has more yellow and lightness to it. " – Ellen…

Sips and Slurps (August 18, 2008)

In recent weeks I’ve had several readers tell me that they’d like more "newsy" information here on LENNDEVOURS. With that in mind, I’m going to bring back the Sips and Slurps posts every Monday (or close to it) with little news tidbits that crossed my desk during the previous week. To any members of the New York wine industry who would like their news to be included, just send me an email. This week’s Sips and Slurps: Paumanok Vineyards’ 2007 Chenin Blanc was featured in Lettie Teague’s most recent Food and Wine Magazine piece about buying wines from great vintages.…

The New York Wine & Food Classic Starts Today

This week, 25 judges will taste and nearly 800 New York-made wines at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz as part of the New York Wine & Food Classic. The Classic is New York’s largest wine competition, and even if I’ve been a bit critical of it in the past, it is an important competition that focuses solely on New York wines. This year’s judging panel consists of 7 tasters from California, 11 from New York and 7 from the rest of the U.S. The California contingent includes Dan Berger, wine journalist; Rene Chazottes, wine director of the Pacific…

A Brief Break

I won’t call it a vacation, since I’m only sleeping in a bed other than my own for a single night. But, tomorrow morning, I’ll be heading out to Ocean Bay Park on Fire Island for a little R&R. Nena is already there and so are many of our friends. I think there is WiFi at the house, but I’m leaving the laptop here. 36 or so hours without the Internet won’t kill me. Blogging will resume Friday night or Saturday morning.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #48: Black Opal 2006 Chardonnay (South Eastern Australia)

Welcome to Wine Blogging Wednesday’s 4th birthday celebration. That’s right, it’s the 48th edition of the wine blogosphere’s favorite monthly online tasting event. As the humble founder of the event, I decided to host the event and ask participants to take a look back… back into their wine-drinking history. As I said in the original post, we’re all wine lovers, but we have gotten where we are today in a variety of ways on a variety of paths. These long, windy paths are littered with wines the world over. I just want you to pick one of the wines from…

The Art of Balance: Cool Climate/Maritime Wines in a Global Context

Last week, members of the world’s wine industry descended upon Stony Brook Southampton for “The Art of Balance, Cool Climate/Maritime Wines in a Global Context,” a symposium organized by the Stony Brook Center for Food, Wine and Culture, and the Long Island Wine Council. Over two days of presentations and panel discussions, many topics were covered, including the various winemaking techniques employed by the winemakers, global climate change and its impact on those winemaking decisions, “natural” winemaking and the elusive concept of terroir—a French term loosely defined as a wine’s sense of place. Far too much ground was covered to…