By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief (Note: A version of this column will appear in the 7/23 issue of Dan's Papers) I don’t typically pay much attention to the awards, scores and medals bestowed upon Long Island wines by a seemingly un-ending list of publications, festivals and fairs. Most of these competitions are flawed and I just don't think that the results can be seen as authoritative. Over the past 5 years that I've been writing about New York wines, I’ve seen too many great wines “win” bronze medals while obviously inferior wines get gold. I still think, and I…
Posts Written OnJuly 2009
A Quick Tasting Tour of Finger Lakes Wine Country
Our view from the house on Seneca Lake. By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief The blog is going to be quite for the next couple of days, because Nena and I are in the Finger Lakes for a three-day post-Orlando vacation (with Jackson at my in-laws'). We're joined by our friends C&A who enjoy good food and wine as much as we do. We got to the region yesterday in the late morning and were joined by Evan and Morgan Dawson at Ravines Wine Cellars, where owners Lisa and Morten Hallgren spent some time with us. Lisa is an amazing…
Rough Restaurant Experience With Wine Offers Reminder: Vintage Matters
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Editor's Note: The photograph, taken in the low restaurant lighting, shows the offending disclaimer mentioned in the text below. I had a horrible wine experience at a popular restaurant this week, and yet I don't want to unfairly malign the restaurant involved. My friends know that I'm constantly talking about service in all industries — in a competitive and hurting economy I find the easiest way to differentiate yourself is through stellar service — and yet I don't want to be unfair. This was one server on one night, hardly a large enough sample…
Day Dreaming About Pinot Noir in the Niagara Region
By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Regional Correspondent When I venture out to other wine regions in New York State and introduce myself as being from the Niagara region, the most common response is…”Oh pinot noir, huh…how’s Warm Lake doing?” I usually give a generic answer and then talk about the other wineries that have just opened and more importantly, the other grapes that have been planted. The reality is that Warm Lake Estate and the creation of the Niagara Escarpment AVA has intentionally branded the region for pinot noir. Given the climate, length of growing season and abundance of clay over…
The Great Northern Migration (of Grapes, That Is)
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Regional Correspondent I encourage followers of the New York winery scene to check out this article by Syracuse Post-Standard writer Don Cazentre. For some time, wineries in the frozen hinterlands north of Syracuse in the Thousand Island region, the Tug Hill Plateau, and the Adirondack foothills have been making a brazen attempt to grow a significant amount of grapes using cold-hardy hybrids developed by Cornell and the University of Minnesota. This article focuses on the operations in the Thousand Islands region and specific varieties developed by the University of Minnesota. Formerly, these wineries relied heavily on grapes sources from vineyards…
TasteNY Kicks Off in California and Georgia
The Top 5 Wines from the Dirty South Wine's TasteNY Tasting of 12 Finger Lakes Rieslings By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief I'm still digging out at work after a week in hot, often-sunny Orlando last week, but the New York wine world certainly doesn't stop for lil ole me! You might remember that I announced TasteNY back at the end of May. In a nutshell, is that I hand-pick a set of New York-made wines, beers or spirits and get them into the hands of a small group (10-12) of bloggers. The first edition features a mixed case of…
Peconic Bay Winery on NBC Nightly News
Last night, Peconic Bay Winery was featured in a NBC Nightly News report about the current job market and some off-the-beaten-path jobs in industries that are still growing even in this tough economy. It was also the focus of a Web-only segment on MSNBC.com.
Keegan Ales Joe-Mama’s Milk Stout
By Kevin Burns, Beer Columnist A few weeks ago I reviewed Ithaca's TEN which won the 2008 gold medal of the F.X. Matt Memorial Cup as the best beer in New York State. Well this week we decided to review the 2009 winner of F.X. Cup, Keegan Ales' Joe-Mama's Milk Stout, their latest draft-only release. It's a coffee stout that blends coffee from the Muddy Cup Cafe with Keegan's wildly popular milk stout Mother's Milk. Joe-Mama's poured a pitch black color with a finger width tan head. The aroma has some light roasted malt, but is dominated by coffee beans.…
Heart & Hands Wine Company: Unique Focus (Pinot!) and a Unique Tasting Experience
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent Editor's Note: Jason and I both visited this wine company in recent days and we both left with the impression that, at $10, the cellar tasting at Heart & Hands is the most unique tasting experience in the Finger Lakes, just made for wine enthusiasts. Jason details it below. Higgins is the winemaker who organized last week's industry tasting of Finger Lakes Pinot, which was detailed here. -Evan I recently paid a visit to Heart & Hands Wine Company, a new winery on the northeastern shore of Cayuga Lake, to scoop a story for…
Video: Why Limestone Helps Make Great Pinot
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes EditorPhoto by Morgan Dawson Photography Those are literally chunks of limestone sticking out of the earth. That’s unique because when we hear winemakers talk about the composition of the soil we have to use our imagination. In the case of Heart & Hands Wine Company on Cayuga Lake, the vines have not yet been planted. It’s all about the site, which prominently features limestone, and we have the rare chance to see the composition up close before vines begin to grow (until his site can produce wine-worthy fruit, Higgins is sourcing his grapes from several…