Posts Written OnOctober 2010

Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2007 “Perle” Chardonnay

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor My feelings about New York barrel-fermented chardonnay are pretty well known — there is too much of it made and it's rarely distinctive. True, some of that is just my personal preferences. I don't typically reach for barrel-influence chardonnay often. But I think if you asked many local winemakers, they'd rather have less chardonnay in the ground than they do. More sauvignon blanc, maybe, here on Long Island? Maybe more riesling or gewurztraminer in the Finger Lakes? Being near-ubiquitous doesn't mean it can't be any good, however, as this Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2007 "Perle" Chardonnay…

The Grapes of Roth 2004 Merlot

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Much has been written — both here on the NYCR and elsewhere — about various tasting processes and practices. Much of the chatter focuses on tasting blind versus not, or just how many wines can (or should) be tasted in one sitting. There isn't enough discussion about the length of time over which each wine is tasted, however. If I'm tasting a wine with the intention of writing a review here on the site, I taste it over the course of at least three days — often with and without food. To me, that more…

2010 Harvest Update: Nautique-Bound Cabernet Franc at Peconic Bay Winery

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Peconic Bay Winery hand-harvested cabernet franc at 21.4 brix on Friday for their Nautique rose, with a plan to let the rest of their cabernet franc hang for at least another week. General Manager Jim Silver reported at the time that "Yesterday and today’s weather has been perfect to clean and dry the grapes coming in.  The bunches were beat up just a little due to the rain, but as our winemaker Greg Gove, says, 'You can’t undo a season like this, with a little spot of rain.'"  They picked some of their merlot from…

Blue Monk Belgian Pub Opens in Buffalo — With Local Beer

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor To the delight of a very thirsty crowd of Buffalo beer lovers, Blue Monk finally opened its doors this week after months of agonizing delays. The newly renovated bar on Elmwood Avenue was bursting with patrons almost immediately when it opened on Saturday evening, and as the joyful assembly of Belgian beer lovers took in the warm, friendly vibe of the city’s newest gastropub, one drinker said it well. “This is a great night for Buffalo.” After months of crossing fingers while Blue  Monk dealt with liquor license frustrations and massive renovations, the successful opening…

Atwater Estate Vineyards 2009 Dry Riesling

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor As I've mentioned before, I was first introduced to Atwater Estate Vineyards wines in the Roanoke Vineyards tasting room here on the North Fork. That was when I found myself seriously interested in pursuing Finger Lakes wines. You see, when Roanoke opened its doors, they had a single wine — a beautiful 2000 Merlot — and nothing else. Atwater's winemaker, Vinny Aliperti, worked with Roanoke co-owner Richie Pisacano at Wolffer Estate years ago, and through that friendship, Roanoke tasted and sold a handful of Vinny's wines in their tasting room in those days. I remember…

2010 Harvest Update: Co-Fermentation and Field Blending at Bedell Cellars

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor When Rich Olsen-Harbich left Raphael to take his creativity and native-yeast fermentations to Bedell Cellars, there was no doubt that the wines there would change. At the mid-way point of his first harvest at Bedell, it seems as though the changes might be more significant than most thought. Olsen-Harbich told me via email "I’m doing all kinds of exciting and innovative wines at Bedell this year — from using only indigenous yeast, stone-barrel fermentations, to other types of co-ferments involving various lots of red fruit as well as red and white fruit together." One such…

2010 Harvest Update: Loving Pinot and Handling Low Acid at Ravines Wine Cellars

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor Photo: Ravines winemaker Morten Hallgren shows off the free run pinot noir, which has not yet gone through malolactic fermentation For perhaps the first time ever, Ravines Wine Cellars winemaker Morten Hallgren is preparing to add acid to one of his wines. "This is highly unusual," he tells me on a crisp October day. The variety in question is the hybrid Cayuga, which Hallgren uses in small amounts to blend with Vignoles to create his Keuka Village White (the only wine in the Ravines portfolio that is not 100% vinifera).  Hallgren has carefully followed the…

2010 Harvest Update: Singing In the Rain at White Springs Winery

 By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor One day of rain can't ruin a year-long growing party, right?  Despite the stellar conditions that have run from March to the fall, last Thursday's rains (up to four inches in parts of the Finger Lakes) threatened to soak the party. But at White Springs Winery on Seneca Lake, winemaker Derek Wilber explained why the rain is not likely to be enough to cause real trouble. "The real nightmare scenario is heavy rain followed by real warm temperatures," Wilber said at the end of a long harvest day in the winery. "Tropical storms can be…

2010 Harvest Update: Niagara USA Early Harvest Report

By Bryan Calandrelli, Regional Editor Niagara Wine Country USA is in the middle of its most significant — and exciting — harvest to date. Never before has their been this many vineyards producing vinifera, hybrid and native grapes for wine. My first glimpse of this year’s crush was at Schulze Vineyards & Winery, where owner Martin Schulze was in the middle of crushing cabernet franc grown by one of the region’s newest vinifera growers, his longtime friend Kimball Paterson. Schulze usually produces a nouveau-style cabernet franc along with his reserve dry, so it should be fascinating to taste his estate-grown…