Posts Written OnOctober 28, 2009

Sites For Sore Eyes: Why the Vines at Shinn Estate and Argetsinger Vineyard Can Thrive In Tough Years

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Editor's Note: This is the second of three trip reports following a recent visit to Long Island. Portions of the story on Sam Argetsinger are excerpted from my upcoming book. For just a moment, amidst the hum of harvest, we're going to depart from building brix and acid trips and first crushes. We're going to focus on the vineyard. And there, underneath the science of wine, lies a kind of viticultural spirituality that manifests in two of the most impressive sites in New York. If it doesn't impress you yet, it will — when…

Freedom Run Winery 2008 Estate Riesling

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief The first time I tasted this wine was at TasteCamp EAST 2009 and it was poured into my empty glass by our Niagara Escarpment editor, Bryan at some point during the wine-soaked weekend. I came away impressed with the effort and enjoyed a bottle that he gave me a few days later with some friends. Again, I liked it, enough to make this the first Niagara Escarpment wine to be a the New York Cork Club selection.  Bryan reminded me a few weeks ago that I still hadn't given it a formal review, so I pulled…

Q&A: Hans Walter-Peterson, Viticulture Extension Specialist, Finger Lakes Grape Program, Cornell University

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief With these weekly Q&A posts, we typically talk to a winery owner, winemaker, vineyard manager or someone else employed by an individual winery. This week, we pose our questions to Hans Walter-Peterson, someone who, though he doesn't work for a winery, is very much a part of the Finger Lakes wine community. He works for Cornell University as the Viticulture Extension Specialist for the university's Finger Lakes Grape Program. What does that mean exactly? It means that Hans helps grape growers with vineyard site selection and establishment, selection of grape varieties, rootstocks and training systems, pruning,…