I just heard news that I have been expecting all day — the library tasting at Bedell Cellars that I was supposed to attend tonight has been postponed because of the snow storm hitting Long Island. Instead of tonight, it will take place on Friday, February 27. If any other details change, I'll make sure to post about them.
Posts Written OnDecember 2008
Drink Local Beer. It’s That Simple.
By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist Lenn asked me to write a year-end post and I've been mulling over what you might be interested in hearing about. I could give you a list of all the great locally brewed, Long Island beers that I've tasted this year. I could tell you which ones were my favorites, but in the end such lists and recommendations reflect a personal taste. They might prompt you to try something new, but ultimately you'll have to decide for yourself what you like. So, instead, I'd like to tell you about what I've been thinking about this…
2008 Harvest Report: Finger Lakes
By Melissa Dobson, Finger Lakes News Correspondent This fall, I was given the opportunity to pack up my cameras and notebook to get out to some of the wineries here in the Finger Lakes to compile a report on the 2008 Harvest for Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association. I wish it had been possible for me to get out to all of the wineries in the region in person, and want to thank those who submitted their photos for our Flickr photostream. The report was compiled and observations made during the height of harvest season and the following…
Imagine Moore Winery 2007 “Joy” Dry Riesling
Imagine Moore Winery located in Naples, NY southwest of Canandaigua Lake, is a relative newcomer to the Finger Lakes Wine world. There's something undeniably charming about the operation. Co-owners Tim and Diane Moore are dedicated to sustainability and only buy fruit from sustainably managed vineyards throughout the Finger Lakes. Their labels, which are painted onto the bottles, are done with organic ink. And those labels, in addition to carrying the grape names, also feature names like Love, Harmony and Peace. There's got to be some "hippy" in the Moore's, no? I tasted a handful of their wines from the 2006…
How Tierce Riesling Gets Made: Inside the Winemaker’s Lab
Winemaker Johannes Reinhardt at the Tierce blending session By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes CorrespondentAll photos by Morgan Dawson "These are the most precocious aromatics I've ever seen at this point in a wine's development," Peter Bell said, surveying more than 40 glasses containing Riesling blends from the 2008 vintage. "I mean, it's December. This is remarkable. Wine does what it wants to do, and the aromatics could drop a cliff. But I doubt it. This is just remarkable." This is not propaganda. Some winemakers play up the virtues of each vintage. They have to answer to accountants, after all.…
Chateau Frank and the Economics of Bubbles
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent During a recent visit to Dr. Frank's to compile a profile of its sparkling wine operation for Life in the Finger Lakes, I learned more than I expected to about the hard economic realities of creating such wines in the Finger Lakes. As nearly all Finger Lakes winemakers will profess, the region is well suited to making sparkling wine. Because of the cool climate, and a wide open harvest window, growers can let grapes hang just a little longer to enhance ripeness and flavor without sacrificing the crisp acidity necessary for good sparklers. Two of Dr. Frank's team winemakers who work with sparklers, Eric Bauman and…
New York Cork Club: December’s Selections
This month, I've decided to do something a little different with the New York Cork Club, the New York wine club that I manage with Greene Grape Wine Company in Brooklyn. In most months, I pick two wines from two different wineries (and often from two differnet AVAs) This time, I picked two wines from the same winery, Lenz Winery on Long Island's North Fork. With the holidays coming up, I wanted to send two different types of wine — one that members can open at a party (affordably) and just simply enjoy drinking and one that was a bit…
McGregor Vineyard 2006 Pinot Noir
Wine never stops to be fascinating for me. In recent weeks I've been doing my wine tastings a bit differently. Instead of tasting them on the day I opened them, reviewing them and rating them, I'm holding off on giving final scores until I've re-tasted them again the following day. I like to taste and review wines the same way that people actually drink them, and the fact is, a bottle of wine may last a few day or longer in many people's homes. It's been an interesting exercise and I've discovered that more wines improve by day two (and…
Niagara’s 2008 Vintage: Growing Season Expectations
Bryan working the harvest at Freedom Run Winery By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Correspondent This year, only a handful of growers and wineries were expecting anything close to a full crop from their young vines here in the Niagara Escarpment. Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn’t kind to many of them. With at least three hailstorms, relentless humidity and warm, soggy conditions, this was not the season to have your sprayer break down. Those that survived hail damage had to spray often to battle mildew and the not-so-noble sour rot. Ripening was slightly delayed with most varieties, but there’s one silver lining: if…
The New York Cork Club: A New York Wine Club
Have you ever found yourself reading about a magnificent Long Island merlot or a racy Finger Lakes riesling and thought to yourself “Man, I wish I could get my hands on that wine, but I can’t get New York wines here in (insert your home town/city/state here).”? The New York Cork Club, a joint venture between this blog and BacchusWineOnline.com is making New York wines more accessible to people around the country. Every month, I’ll hand select two bottles of New York wine and Bacchus will send them to you if you’re members of our unique New York wine club.…