Posts Written OnJuly 2009

“With water comes life. All kinds of life.”

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor The photo and the quote come courtesy of Amy Cheatle, tasting room manager at Damiani Wine Cellars on Seneca Lake. Like so many other vineyards, Damiani is battling mildew and trying to tamp down the water-inspired swell of disease pressure. "We need the sun," she says. Across the lake at Hermann J. Wiemer, Fred Merwarth goes further: "We need it to be dry and hot, and we need those conditions soon. We're looking at a serious challenge for this year already, and it's time for the weather to cooperate." If the Finger Lakes has…

A Mouse in the Dining Room

I'm down in Orlando with Nena, Jackson and my parents this week, so that's why my esteemed colleagues have been handling the wine-related content this week. It's been a long time since I spent any sort of time down here in the city that Walt made, but when you're here with a 2 year old, you're not exploring the food and wine hot spots. You visit the places where the kid has fun. So that's what we're doing. As you can see, not all of my dining companions have been human either. But that's not to say that at least…

The Four Stages of Riesling

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor It occurs to me that, as the Finger Lakes produces an increasing amount of world-class riesling, there is a cycle of riesling appreciation that we all seem to go through. I admit to having gone through each stage. I am now a stage-four junky. This is expanded a bit from its nascent Twitter form, so I ask you to take a fresh look and answer: Where stage are you in? STAGE ONE: Riesling As Training Wheels It's true that most people who are new to the world of wine prefer sweeter wines, and that…

What We Drank (July 7, 2009)

From beer to old Bordeaux, ice wine to disappointing wine, here's what we've been drinking. Lenn Thompson: Shock Top Belgian White beer I'm in Orlando right now with Nena and Jackson for a week (yes, a week) visiting all of the usual kid-friendly haunts — Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Sea World, etc. The wine selection in the nearest grocery store isn't much better than the "lists" at the restaurants we've been checking out. I know you don't want to hear about Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay or Blackstone Merlot anymore than I want to drink them, so instead I'll mention a beer that…

Should More Long Island Wineries Submit to Wine Spectator? (Part 1)

By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Last week on Twitter, Morgen McLaughlin of Finger Lakes Wine Country said, referring to a short piece by Wine Spectator's Thomas Matthews, "This is why Long Island wineries need to submit wines for review to Wine Spectator." As you can see, the story includes Matthews scoring at\ Lenz Winery 2005 Old Vines Chardonnay 90 points. Morgen has done a great job getting Finger Lakes producers editorial coverage in the Spectator over the last year or so — mostly by submitting a boatload of wine to the magazine (both current releases and library wines). In…

Blind Tasting of Finger Lakes Pinot Noir Reveals Progress, Challenges

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photos by Morgan Dawson Photography On Wednesday night, on a rain-soaked evening on the southeast side of Seneca Lake, a group of grape growers and winemakers met to taste through a line of 2007 pinot noirs. Many of the wines were made in the Finger Lakes; a few came from the American West Coast, and some from Burgundy. Tom Higgins, winemaker and owner of Heart & Hands Wine Company, organized the event because he wanted to know: Where does pinot noir stand in the Finger Lakes? Is it truly a recalcitrant mystery, yielding near-constant…

Evan Dawson Becomes LENNDEVOURS’ Finger Lakes Editor

By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Long-time readers of this blog will remember the days when there was one lone voice represented here — mine. When this blog was founded over 5 years ago, that was the intent, the goal really — somewhere for me to share my passion for wine, particularly New York wine. What once was a solo performance has become a bit of a chorus with new voices bringing texture and layers to my coverage of New York wines. LENNDEVOURS has evolved and grown to become the premier source for real, unbiased news, commentary and reviews of…

Q&A: Josh Wig, General Manager, Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars

Today's Q&A subject (standing), harvesting cabernet franc This is a Q&A that I've been looking forward to doing for several months now. Why? Well, it's kind of a funny story really. I've been writing about Finger Lakes wines for a few years now, but until maybe a year or so ago, I didn't really know very many of the players. A few winemakers here. A few winery owners there. Maybe some marketing folks. But one day, I was looking on Lamoreaux Landing's website for some information about them and I noticed "Josh Wig – General Manager" and thought to myself…

Coming Later Today: Finger Lakes Pinot Tasting

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Last night a group of Finger Lakes winemakers brought their own 2007 pinots together to find out how the vintage is showing. Organized by Tom Higgins of Heart & Hands Wine Company and hosted by the Stonecat Cafe on Seneca Lake, the Finger Lakes wines were tasted blind with other Pinots from Burgundy, California and Oregon. It was an enlightening experience and a full story is coming later today.

Maybe I Could Be a (Part-Time) Vegetarian

By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Founder This is a quick (phone camera) picture of the dinner Nena cooked tonight. On the bottom is local, organic Swiss chard from our CSA share this week. Topping that chard is a pork chop that was crusted with rosemary, oregano and chives from our own garden, with some balsamic vinegar onions on top. What you can't see is the CSA-sourced baby summer squash sauteed with garlic scapes and a little butter. So what does this all have to do with me mentioning being a vegetarian? Well, as I was devouring (you know, like the…