By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Honestly, I drink them all year, but with the weather we've been experiencing, we are decidedly in the midst of cabernet franc season at my house. A combination of the weather cooling and the changing local, seasonal vegetables available have meant more root vegetables, more stews, and more roasts on our dinner table. As a franc fanatic, I often reach for cabernet franc with these foods. Rooster Hill Vineyards 2009 Cabernet Franc ($25) is a wine made for rich foods, particularly those with bacon or another smokey element. Red cherries and pomegranate molasses aromas are…
Posts Written OnOctober 2011
Readers Write: Introducing My Midwestern Parents to the North Fork of Long Island
By Tracy Weiss (@northforkd) Last weekend, I attempted to show my persnickety midwestern parents the glory that is the North Fork of Long Island. But given their track record, I was a little nervous. They find fault in every place they visit: New York City is busy, overpriced and filthy with too many people. (Exactly why other people love it!) Chicago is too windy. (Hence the nickname?) Florida, the whole state, is humid and everyone drives too slowly. (I’m with them on this one.) As far as I am concerned, the North Fork is perfection. My first visit left me…
Three Heads Brewing Bromigo
By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Three Heads Brewing is on a roll lately with new releases, and Bromigo, their very first fall seasonal offering, is an interesting foray into flavorings: it's a smoked maple amber brewed with maple syrup. The nose is wonderfully complex for a fall seasonal — sweet and smokey, with full and thick maple notes backed up by toffee and vanilla and a firm roast. There's no aggressive alcohol to speak of, just the rich scents of a woodsy fall flannel-wearing, maple-syrup-tapping party. Bready malts and roast dominate the palate. It's not a thick beer, for the lushness of…
The New York Cork Report Tasting Table — October 28, 2011
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor These are tasting notes for some wines that have been tasted at the NYCR tasting table but won't be reviewed in standalone posts. Starting next week, we'll be back with daily standalone reviews. Eleven Lakes Winery 2008 Boat Landing Cayuga ($14): Browning/bruised apple aromas with some peach and a chlorine-y chemical note. Not overly interesting on the palate. Pear and white grape that are less oxidized than the nose. Residual sugar is very well balanced, just not much in the way of flavor. Eleven Lakes Winery 2008 Chosen Spot Dry Riesling ($18): Extremely citrusy on…
CaryMo Chocolate: Where Decadence, Artistry and Creativity Meet
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent I guess I had envisioned that chocolate making would be a quiet, relaxing sort of activity, zen-like and leisurely this past Saturday morning. But there we were, half an hour into it at 9:30, and the noise in the kitchen was so deafening you could’ve convinced me a train was running straight through the vineyard down below. Cary Becraft had agreed to give me a lesson in dark chocolate technique at her production kitchen at Anthony Road Wine Company, where her husband, Peter, is Assistant Winemaker. I’d had an inkling of what goes…
What We Drank (October 26, 2011)
Here's a sampling of what our editors and contributors have been drinking… Evan Dawson: Chateau Frank 2006 Blanc de Blancs and Lenz 2005 Cuvee Two New York sparklers were chosen as part of a sparkling wine masterclass in Brescia, Italy earlier this month during the European Wine Bloggers Conference. The organizers chose two wines apiece from Champagne, Cava, England, Franciacorta and New York State. The New York sparkling wines showed very nicely in what was an impressive flight of wines. The overflowing room, sold out at 40 people and consisting mostly of European writers, buzzed about the strengths and personalities…
Kicking Off “Found in the Cellar”: Jason’s Vineyard 2001 Chardonnay
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor I recently spent what most sane people would consider an inordinate amount of time reorganizing my wine cellar. In doing so, I found a number of wines that I had forgotten I had. Some of these 'lost' wines weren't really lost at all — I hid them from myself so that I wouldn't drink them. But, I also discovered quite a few bottles that I simply forgot that I had. Those wines are the inspiration behind what I hope becomes a near-weekly feature here on the site, "Found in the Cellar," which will feature posts…
Video: Evan Dawson on Local Wine Lists — in Barbaresco and in the Finger Lakes
Naked Dove Oktoberfest is Shoe-Slappin’ good
By Mark Tichenor, Rochester Beer Correspondent It’s still a bit confusing to everybody, even the Germans. Oktoberfest is named for October, but takes place in mid-September. And craft breweries usually have their Oktoberfest-style beers ready by the beginning of August. Canandaigua New York’s Naked Dove Brewing Company is blithely tardy, waiting until the end of beer-tent season to release their Oktoberfest. It’s a crafty move for a beer that deserves to be enjoyed apart from the pack. Oktoberfest beers are as subtle as a kick in the Lederhosen: heavy, strong lagers with negligible hop character and a sweet punch that…
Jeff O’Neil to Join Peekskill Brewing Company
By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Award-winning brewer Jeff "Chief" O'Neil (pictured right) has announced that he is ending his nine-year tenure at Ithaca Beer Company to join The Peekskill Brewery as brewmaster, effective November 1. As Ithaca's brewmaster, O'Neil brought the Finger Lakes brewery national recognition with awards at the Great American Beer Festival and other major events; thanks to his fierce skills and flair for innovation, honed at the Siebel Institute of Technology, such Ithaca offerings as Flower Power IPA and the Excelsior! Line (most notably Brute, a 2010 NYCR Beers of the Year finalist) have become sought-after gems…