Posts Written OnDecember 2008

Macari Vineyards 2007 Estate Chardonnay

I've been a proponent of low- and no-oak chardonnay for quite some time now. Actually I wonder sometimes if it's that I'm for those wines or just strongly against over-oaked ones. It's probably a combination of both, really. One thing that I do have to admit though: chardonnay made without oak can be awfully boring on the nose. It's just not an overly aromatic grape and that's part of the reason it goes into oak so often… to bring some sort of aromatics to the wine. This 100% stainless steel chardonnay from Macari Vineyards, their 2007 Estate Chardonnay ($19) is…

Quick Q&A with Carlo DeVito, Owner, Hudson-Chatham Winery

For this week's Q&A, we pose our questions to Carlo DeVito, an author, publishing professional, blogger and yes, winery owner. He, with his wife Dominique, owns Hudson-Chatham Winery in Ghent, NY, one of the Hudson Valley's newest wineries. What (and where) was the first bottle of wine you remember drinking? I have been trying and tasting and drinking wine since I was a kid. It was always at our family table. Italian. French. Californian. I've tasted some wonderful California cult wines and First Growth Bordeaux. But I do remember my first bottle of New York State wine, which I bought…

New York Wine News and Notes (12/15/08)

Three quick items this in this weeks New York wine news roundup: The NY Wine Grape Task Force, chaired by Kareem Massoud of Paumanok Vineyards, has released it's first report to to Agriculture & Markets Commissioner Patrick Hooker. They offered more than two dozen specific recommendations to enhance the future economic viability of the state’s grape and wine industry. It will come as no shock to anyone who has dealt with the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) that that that agency was the first target, with the report stating: "The antiquated Alcoholic Beverage Control Law should be reformed in…

Evan Dawson Joins the LENNDEVOURS Team

Every day I realize how lucky I am to have had so much fun and success with this blog. What started simply as a way for me to chronicle my adventures in Long Island wine country has grown into something more than I could have ever imagined. The fact that anyone else would want to write for me has always surprised me, but I think my fellow contributors have been a great and vital asset to LENNDEVOURS in its growth and development. Today, we welcome another writer into the fold, Evan Dawson. Evan, who is writing a book about the…

Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Contributor

Evan Dawson, who is is writing a book about the winemakers of the Finger Lakes, first became interested in Finger Lakes wine on his first trip to the region with his wife-to-be Morgan, whom he met as a student at Ohio University. Morgan is a Penn Yan native; Evan was born in Cleveland but has family in Jamestown, Chautauqua and Buffalo, so the region has always felt like home. He’ll be writing about a variety of things on LENNDEVOURS, including insights from and stories about the people behind the wines. He’ll also cover news items on occasion, which is what…

Wine Spectator’s First Vintage Report Card for 2008: Who Does it Serve? Does it Matter?

By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor Last night over on Facebook, I learned about Wine Specator's first 2008 vintage report card, which includes an A grade for the Finger Lakes and a B for Long Island. A brief comment discussion ensued and I thought that I'd write a bit about it this morning. I have an email in to Mitch Frank, who contributed to the piece and who I know writes about Long Island for the publication, because I'm curious to learn how these grades are calculated. On the surface, it looks like winemaker and vineyard manager interviews are the…

Wine Blogging Wednesday #52: Cono Sur 2007 Carmenere

I'm a bad bad founder. I didn't taste this wine until tonight, even though I've had it lined up for a while now, and this is going to be a quickie review… not what I typically like to do for Wine Blogging Wednesday. This month's edition, hosted by "Big Cincy" Tim Lemke of Cheap Wine Ratings, focuses on value red wines from Chile, a country I've not explored much in the past. To take the exploration even further, I decided to taste a Carmenere, a grape that I don't taste very often. In fact, I can't remember the last time…

Sheldrake Point 2007 Pinot Gris

Sheldrake Point Vineyard, located on the western short of Cayuga Lake in New York's Finger Lakes region, makes some terrific wines. Over the years I've particularly enjoyed their rieslings and even a couple cabernet francs here and there. This wine, the Sheldrake Point 2007 Pinot Gris ($12) was underwhelming. The pinot gris (or pinot grigio) grape should do well in the Finger Lakes, and I've had some bottles that were good, if not great. This one just fell a bit flat for me. In the glass, it's a pale straw color but the nose is surprisingly neutral with only a…

Silver Springs Winery 2005 Bold Merlot

John Zuccarino, co-owner of and winemaker for Silver Springs Winery, does things his own way. His tasting room and vineyard are on Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region, but he makes his wines down here on Long Island at Premium Wine Group. His winery is in smack dab in the middle of the land of riesling, but he doesn't make any. And, unlike most in the New York wine world, he embraces Web 2.0, using Twitter and a video blog, Wine101.tv, to reach his customers. He also named his 2005 merlot "Bold Merlot" which sets an expectation in the…

Quick Q&A with Lisa Donneson, Proprietor, Bouke Wines

To re-start the Q&A series here on LENNDEVOURS, I asked Lisa Donneson, proprietor of Bouke Wine, our standard set of questions. If you haven't heard of Bouke yet, check them out. Lisa, with veteran winemaker Gilles Martin, is making some interesting, affordable wines meant for everyday consumption. What (and where) was the first bottle of wine you remember drinking? When I was on the Experiment in International Living as a teenager, my Italian host family poured red wine into my water glass as a natural course of events. They also introduced me to tripe and pigeon, but I didn’t know…