By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Correspondent The other day I had a conversation with a friend and we tried to answer this question: If a winemaker can truly say that he or she focuses on quality, and carefully tends the grapes and makes the wine, how many cases (in terms of production) is realistic? Five thousand annually? Seven thousand? Ten thousand? Twenty? We went back and forth, as there isn't a concrete answer. But I can say without hesitation that 1.2 million cases of wine was not in the ballpark of "quality." All of which is to say, reading the…
Posts Written OnMarch 2009
First Social Media Basics Workshop Held in Finger Lakes Wine Country
By Melissa Dobson, Finger Lakes News Correspondent What exactly are Facebook and Twitter? Do these platforms offer benefits to small businesses like wineries? These are questions that are asked of the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing team quite frequently. And after I also noticed a swell of interest in social media from businesses here, Morgen McLaughlin and I presented a full-day workshop to provide an overview of the most popular social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Of the 60 attendees, more than half represented local wineries, and several others were in the tourism business. Our…
McGregor Vineyard 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay
I've been vocal in my appreciation for winemakers who eschew the overblown use of oak in their chardonnays. I can appreciate well-made barrel-fermented chardonnay, but it's not a style I drink a lot of. Maybe it's the riesling lover in me, but I tend to like a purer expression of fruit and the vineyard in my whites. That doesn't mean that I love every no-oak chardonnay that I come across. This McGregor Vineyard 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay ($17) is not one of the better examples I've had. Such a pale green-tinted yellow that it's nearly colorless, the nose is similarly light…
Napa Winemakers + Long Island Fruit = I’m Not Sure Yet.
The view from inside Mark Snyder's new winery in Red Hook, Brooklyn By Sasha Smith, New York City Correspondent Technically, Brooklyn is part of Long Island, so it’s fair to call Red Hook home to one of Long Island’s newest wineries. The as-yet-unnamed winery is a joint project between distributor Mark Snyder, Napa winemakers Robert Foley and Abe Schoener, Michael Cinque from Amagansett Wines and Max Loubiere, a long-time friend of Snyder’s and Billy Joel’s tour director. (Snyder is a veteran of the music industry.) The project sources fruit from a number of Long Island growers/vineyards, including Macari Vineyards, Jamesport…
Fulkerson Winery 2007 Riesling Reserve
One of the wineries we were disappointed not to have to visit during our recent trip to Seneca Lake was Fulkerson Winery. They are a large producer in the region, making more than 50,000 cases annually. They are also one of the larger growers in the region and sell a significant amount of fruit and juice to home winemakers. Their portfolio is large and varied. In addition to the expected varieties (riesling, Gewurztraminer, etc.) they also grow and bottle things like Vincent, Dornfelder, Delaware, Diamond and Noiret. Some wineries struggled to make balanced, lively riesling from the hot 2007 vintage,…
LENNDEVOURS Wins “Best Single-Subject Wine Blog” Award
I just received word that LENNDEVOURS has been named the winner as "Best Single-Subject Wine Blog" in the 2009 American Wine Blog awards. This is obviously an honor and I'd like to thank each and every one of you reading this post for reading LENNDEVOURS. We'e coming up on the 5-year anniversary of its creation and I never expected my blog to become what it has today, but I'm certainly glad that is has. I've met so many great people, tasted so many great wines and had so many great experiences because of LENNDEVOURS that it is more than worth…
Introducing ‘Sonis Cellars 2008 Watercolor White
That didn't take long. Not even a week, in fact. The white wine that I bottled last weekend at Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard not only has a name, it also has a label, which you can see by looking just a few inches to your right. By the way, if you don't know what 'Sonis Cellars is, you can learn about it in a previous post. Back to the label, this is truly a family affair. The watercolor that adorns the label was painted by our little Picasso, Jackson sometime in the fall. When Nena brought it home with her…
A Trip to Anthony Road Wine Company
Two weeks ago, when Nena and I were in the Finger Lakes region to take part in the PALATE 2009 festivities, I wanted to keep our visits to tasting rooms casual and mostly as 'civilians' so we could taste at our leisure like we did years ago before LENNDEVOURS became what it is today. There was one exception, however — our visit to Anthony Road Wine Company the morning of our arrival. I don't remember when I first learned about Anthony Road, but assistant winemaker, Peter Becraft, used to live in Brooklyn and work at Greene Grape (the shop I…
Voting in the 2009 American Wine Blog Awards Ends Tonight
I truly hate mucking up my blog with posts like this one, so I'll keep it short. Today is the last day of voting for the 2009 American Wine Blog Awards. So please go vote for LENNDEVOURS and your other favorite wine blogs. Wouldn't it be great to see a non-pro from the East Coast win a couple of these things? I think it would. Vote today!
Castello di Borghese 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Estate
It seems that just about everyone interested in Long Island wine knows Castello di Borghese, located on Route 48 in Cutchogue. You see, before the property was bought by Marco Borghese (an Italian prince) it was Hargrave Vineyard, where Alex and Louisa Hargrave founded the Long Island wine world back in 1973. If you're visiting Long Island wine country, you really should stop by Borghese to get a taste of that history. Focus on the pinot noir and cabernet franc when you're there. This Castello di Borghese 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Estate ($20) is a pale straw-yellow in the glass and…