Posts Written OnMay 2009

New York Cork Report Sample Submission Guidelines and Editorial Calendar

The New York Cork accepts wine samples for its independent reviews. To submit your wine for review: Please submit two 750ml bottles (or two 375ml bottles for dessert wines, fortified wines, etc.) of each wine with its suggested retail price and any winemaking/technical notes that are available Email us lenndevours (at) gmail (dot) com for shipping information. Recently shipped samples will “rest” in our cellar for at least a week before being tasted. Please be advised that not every wine that you submit will appear a published story or review. However, each will be tasted in a controlled, professional manner,…

Drink Long Island Beer for American Craft Beer Week

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist I know all you wine enthusiasts do occasionally open up a bottle of beer (or two). I also know that as folks that appreciate better wine, you also appreciate better beer, what most folks call "craft beer." When you reach for a craft beer next week, make it an American craft beer. I'll tell you why. American Craft Beer Week starts on May 11 and runs through the 17th. All that we craft beer enthusiasts are asking you to do is when you reach for that beer to choose an American craft beer. And, if…

Some Early Posts About TasteCamp EAST 2009

TasteCamp is barely in the rear view window and already several blog posts have been written about the weekend-long event. To make it a bit easier for those interested in the event to read what the bloggers are saying, I'm going to do my best to pull together (every few days) a list of links to various posts. Today is the first installment: Becky and Steve Borichevsky of Smells Like Grape Back From TasteCamp East The Way I See It Richard Auffrey from Passionate Foodie: TasteCamp EAST: Initial Highlights Rob Bralow from Wine Post: Absolutely and Totally Geeked Out Walking…

TasteCamp 2009: An Interview with Rob Bralow

By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher All told, we had 30 bloggers and spouses/friends take part in this debut edition of TasteCamp EAST, each with different backgrounds, tastes and impressions of Long Island's wineries, people and wines. Over the course of the next several weeks, in addition to my own posts about the weekend, I'll be asking some of the attendees for their honest impressions and experiences with Long Island wines both before and after TasteCamp. We'll kick things off with Rob Bralow from the Wine Post blog, out of Manhattan. Rob has been in the wine business for the last…

New York Cork Club: April Selections

By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher Obviously I'm a bit behind with this post, given that we're well into May now, but I wanted to write a quick post about the wines I chose for April's shipment of the New York Cork Club. Both were a little difficult to get our hands on, so I'm extra proud of the choices. First is Keuka Lake Vineyards 2007 Reserve Vignoles ($19), just the kind of wine that you're not going to get in any other wine club. First, Vignoles is hybrid grape. Unfortunately, most wine 'experts' ignore hybrids. Second, it's a (almost)…

TasteCamp EAST 2009 — The Thank Yous

As I said earlier today, there will be plenty of posts about TasteCamp, but before we get into those, I wanted to make sure that I wrote this post. I've been getting a lot of "Thank You" emails from attendees, participating wineries, etc. It's of course nice to get such emails, but everyone involved should be thanking one another for making it such a successful event. There are dozens of people that I will be thanking individually over the course of the next few days, but today, here are a few blog-worthy thank yous: To all attendees, thank you for…

TasteCamp EAST 2009 in Pictures

Winemaker Kareem Massoud pouring barrel samples of 2007 reds for TasteCamp attendees. By Lenn Thompson, Publisher and Editor TasteCamp 2009 wrapped up yesterday afternoon and I have to admit, I'm exhausted. It was truly a whirlwind, non-stop tour of Long Island wine country over the course of two days. There will obviously be a deluge of blogs posts, both here on LENNDEVOURS and on attendee blogs, but to give you a taste of the weekend via a handful of photos. You can enlarge any of these by clicking on them. We started the second day of TasteCamp EAST 2009 with…

TasteCamp EAST 2009 is Off to a Great Start

I think that it's safe to say that everyone had a great time tonight at Raphael as we kicked off the inaugural TasteCamp EAST in style with a tasting and dinner sponsored by the Long Island Merlot Alliance and Raphael.  With so many, and so many great, wines poured, it's difficult to pick a favorite, but the Wollfer Estate 1998 Estate Selection Merlot was singled out by several people as their wine of the night. Hard for me to argue. Personally, I liked the Pellegrini Vineyards 1997 Vinters Pride Encore (a red blend), which showed very very nice tonight.  The…