Posts Written OnAugust 2010

  Long-time readers will recognize the name Donavan Hall. He used to cover the beer world for us back in the day. Well, he and a couple friends — who I’ve met at various Long Island Malt & Beer Enthusiast (LIMBE) events — have created their own nano-brewery — Rocky Point Artisan Brewers. We’ll be doing a story on this project soon, but in the meantime, check out this video from the local news. And be sure to check out their beer at Saturday’s North Fork Craft Beer Festival at Martha Clara Vineyards. If we weren’t going to be on…

 By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photo by Morgan Dawson Photography Thursday brought a positively elysian setting for the annual Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty dinner. Chefs from a number of local establishments used local ingredients to create an inspiring menu, highlighted by rabbit that nearly fell off the bone. And of course the wines were local, punctuated by Sheldrake Point Gewurztraminer and a sparkling wine from Dr. Konstantin Frank.  Thanks to FLCB for asking me to emcee the proceedings at Geneva On the Lake. It has become a hot ticket, and membership in the FLCB is a pittance for an…

Photo courtesy of Peconic Bay Winery

By deeming this imperial black ale, the "antithesis of Unearthly" the label on this Southern Tier Brewing Company offering promises another 22 ounces of pure hedonism. It pours jet black into a goblet with a puffy three-finger head, for a sexiness shorter-lived than Lindsay Lohan's; fifteen seconds and it falls away like a deflated bouncy castle leaving minimal lacing. The nose is milk. School cafeteria milk, chocolate milk, sweetened condensed milk maybe, and just a suggestion of light hops. Supposedly there's Chinook and Willamette in here, Cascade and Centennial on the finish, bu they're surprisingly restrained for this normally hop-crazy…

Photo courtesy of Macari Vineyards

Sometimes, size does matter. Over the weekend, I tasted two samples of the same wine — Lieb Family Cellars 2008 Pinot Blanc ($20). One sample was from a standard 750ml bottle. The other was from a 375ml bottle. Many wine lovers already know that wine in smaller bottles ages more quickly. Partly, that's because a larger bottle has a smaller ratio of air to wine, but it's also because a smaller bottle is more susceptible to temperature changes. I knew all of that going into this little experiment, but I wasn't expecting such a different in a wine so relatively…

Photo courtesy of Bedell Cellars Pinot noir isn't the only grape going through veraison in New York. Syrah and malbec both are in the vineyards at Bedell Cellars. Focusing specifically on the syrah, Bedell's vineyard manager Dave Thompson says "The season today is about 10 days to two weeks earlier than average — but it's no indication that we will ripen two weeks earlier. It all depends on what the weather does over the next few weeks. Syrah is typically one of the first to go through veraison and it goes through fast and with lots of drama but it…

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor On a recent visit to Rooster Hill Vineyards, owner Amy Hoffman said something that got my attention.  The new Rooster Hill Dry Riesling has .8% residual sugar, or 8 grams of RS. Their dry riesling used to have 4 grams. There's a reason for the change. "Our experience has shown that .4 is a niche product," Hoffman told me. "There's a much wider and more accepting market when your dry riesling is at .8."  Today my colleague Lenn Thompson reviewed a Finger Lakes dry riesling that received one of his highest scores: 91 points…

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Over the years, we've had several people cover New York City for us, but I think (hope) we've finally found a long-term solution — David Flaherty, who you may already know as the man behind the great NYC-based blog Grapes & Grains. In addition to his amble blogging duties, David works as the Operations Manager for Hearth Restaurant and Terroir Wine Bar in NYC's East Village and Tribeca.  He holds a Level 3 Advanced Certificate with Distinction from the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust and has built relationships in the wine industry from such countries…

David Flaherty is the Operations Manager for Hearth Restaurant and Terroir Wine Bar in NYC’s East Village and Tribeca, and has also built a reputation for his blog Grapes & Grains. He holds a Level 3 Advanced Certificate with Distinction from the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust and has built relationships in the wine industry from such countries and regions as Chile, Napa Valley, New Zealand, Finger Lakes, Rioja, Barossa and Long Island. His passion and knowledge have been developed from working in the restaurant, bar and retail wine industry for more than fifteen years. In addition to food and…