Once again, no New York wines in this lot. This week we have Italy, France, California, Portugal and Australia represented. Never let it be said that we don't drink a wide array of wines from around the world. Bryan Calandelli: Vallarom Vallagarina Merlot 'Vigneto Belvedere' 2007 Northern Italian wines are always tempting and this Vallarom Vallagarina Merlot looked interesting especially after I noticed the importer is local to western New York. Portovino Buffalo, NY specializes in small batch unique offerings from all over Italy. Many of these include red blends that throw indigenous grapes into the mix. This is actually a…
Posts Written OnAugust 2009
This Week on the LENNDEVOURS (August 10-14)
Welcome to TWOL (This Week on LENNDEVOURS). Every Monday, in an effort to let you know what's coming, we're going to publish a preview, quick-hit style, of the posts coming over the course of the week. We hope that it will entice you to visit often and I (that being Lenn) hope that it helps the flow of content, well, flow better. Sometimes we all need an official deadline to work towards, right? This week on LENNDEVOURS, in addition to weekly features like What We Drank and near-daily wine reviews: Notes from the Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty dinner: What, exactly,…
Seneca Lake Trip Report: It’s All About Service
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photos by Morgan Dawson On a tour of half a dozen Seneca Lake wineries earlier this week, I was reminded just how much service matters. At some stops I found myself wanting to buy wine that I thought was mediocre — simply because the service was so good. At other stops I found myself wanting to wave my wallet in front of the staff and shout, "See this? You could have had everything in it if you understood service!" For the most part I'm going to highlight the positive experiences. There is one exception,…
“They Thought We Were Crazy:” A Matriarch of Vinifera Reflects
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Libby Prejean has not been back to West Virginia in 60 years, but sometimes she just can't help it. The "I" becomes an "Ah." The edges of her speech get lethargic. "I can't call people on the phone without them knowing!" she says. But as she turns 80 years old, Prejean admits that if her speech hasn't changed, so much else has. She helped launch Prejean Winery on Seneca Lake nearly a quarter century ago, and I caught up with her over a glass of Marechal Foch on a slow Wednesday morning, yesterday. "They…
Peconic Bay Winery 2007 “Nautique” Esprit de Rouge
By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to my red house wine of the near future (once I clear out some space in my cellar for a case or two). It's called Nautique 2007 Esprit de Rouge ($16) and it's produced by Peconic Bay Winery. It's one of three wines that make up the new Nautique label (there is an Esprite de Blanc and Esprit de Rose too) and they replaced the winery's old Local Flavor wines as of August 1. The Rouge carries non-vintage label (and subsequent bottlings very well may be non-vintage)…
Blue Point Blueberry Ale
By Kevin Burns, Beer Columnist Dan, one of this blog's most loyal readers, pointed out that all of my reviews up until this point have been big, hoppy beers. He's right, so this week I decided to review Blue Point Brewing Company's Blueberry Ale. Fruit beers are not my all-time favorite style but I do enjoy certain fruit beers that are well made. This particular fruit beer poured an amber color with a nice white foamy head. The nose is fruity with lots of blueberries and some light malt. The first sip is more blueberry fruit along with a light amount of malt…
Announcing TasteCamp EAST 2010: Finger Lakes
By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief By any measure, TasteCamp 2009:Long Island was a huge success. 30 bloggers descended upon Long Island and tasted more than 150 wines over the course of 2 1/2 days. Great discussions ensued, as did a dozens of posts about the experience. I think it was historic both for the blogging world and for the Long Island wine community. Well, tonight I'm thrilled to announce that we're doing it again — May 7-9, 2010 in the Finger Lakes wine region of New York. The programming specifics are still to be worked out, but I guarantee…
Mattebella Vineyards 2008 Rose
By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Today's tasting note is going to be a quick one about a new release from Mattebella Vineyards, a producer you'll be reading about more here on LENNDEVOURS soon. This Mattebella Vineyards 2008 Rose ($15) is primarily merlot (92%) with a small percentage of cabernet franc (8%), and it tastes like many Long Island roses tastes — mostly of strawberries. The nose is dominatedly almost completely by grocery store strawberry aromas with a touch of red apple skin in the background. Medium-bodied and dry, this isn't a wimpy rose. Again, strawberries dominate with a light…
Finger Lakes Wine Festival Love, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Fruit Bomb
By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Correspondent Perhaps the only thing crazier than attending the Finger Lakes Wine Festival as an attendee is actually pouring wine at it. Now, I’d conceded that the crowds, party atmosphere and prevalence of sweet wine kept me from attending in the past, and I would never want to be the ringleader for a team of winery employees planning the logistics of participating in the festival. But, when I was given the opportunity this year to pour for a local winery, I just couldn’t pass it up — especially because all I had to do was show…
What We Drank (8/3/09)
Only three contributions to What We Drank this week, but three diverse ones nonetheless. Evan Dawson: Jean Michel-Stephan 2004 Cote-Rotie Let's hear it for restaurants that offer creative wine lists. I was floored when I picked up the wine menu at Good Luck in Rochester. By the glass I could order a Savoie, a White Rioja, a Carmenere, and a handful of other interesting options. The Finger Lakes was nicely represented. But it was a bottle from the Rhone that impressed me most. My favorite producer of syrah in the world is Jean-Michel Stephan, an idiosyncratic Frenchman who makes gorgeous,…