Posts Written ByEvan Dawson

Thoughts from a New Father: On Rhys, Riesling, and Teaching Kids to Respect Alcohol

Our son Rhys was about 16 hours old when he tasted his first wine — roughly a quarter of a drop of Champagne, sucked off the end of my pinky — in our hospital room. Our family toasted his arrival, and I attempted to plant a tiny seed that might someday germinate into true appreciation of wine. There is a difference, of course, between wine appreciation and alcohol consumption. I’ve been thinking about how I’ll approach the subject when Rhys grows in age and maturity. Lenn and Nena Thompson have offered my wife and me a nice blueprint for guiding…

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Not Your Average Riesling: The Story Behind the 2011 NYCR Finger Lakes Riesling of the Year

To understand why the Hermann J. Wiemer 2010 Dry Riesling Reserve is such a special wine, it’s important to understand that not all rieslings are created equally. Nor are all wines created easily. Winemaking at Wiemer is more difficult, more patient, more risk, more reward. There is perhaps no better wine to exemplify this than the NYCR Finger Lakes Riesling of the Year. “For me, the 2010 Reserve is the finest riesling I’ve made,” says winemaker Fred Merwarth. That’s an extraordinary statement for a winemaker who prefers euphemism to hyperbole, and who has built a prolific portfolio in 10 short…

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Light Drinking During Pregnancy: What Does the Research Say?

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor This is one of the most delicate subjects one can imagine, so when I set out to explore it, I knew I had to be thorough. The result is one of the longest, most exhaustive pieces of my career. It benefited from the vetting, editing, and guidance of many people in the journalistic and scientific communities, including NYCR Science Editor Tom Mansell. Please understand, this piece is not meant to affirm or attack your position or decision on light drinking during pregnancy. (We know by now that heavy drinking is dangerous for developing fetuses.) I…

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A Magical Finger Lakes Red, and Why it’s Gone Too Soon

It had been two years since I last tasted the Damiani Wine Cellars 2007 Cabernet Franc, and I was down to my last bottle. On release, it was an impressive wine with depth, if a tad besmirched by oak. I liked it enough to buy three bottles. Earlier this month my wife and I went to dinner and decided to open this wine one more time. Sometimes we talk about transformation that can occur in a complex wine, but no one really knows what to expect. If I harbored high hopes for the Damiani Cab Franc, it turns out those…

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Oak-Aged Riesling? In the Finger Lakes, it’s Starting to Happen. Here’s Why

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Two producers do not make a trend, but in any region there are trend-setters and trailblazers. In the Finger Lakes, Ravines Wine Cellars has been producing some of the strongest rieslings for the past decade. And newcomer Forge Cellars comes with the high expectations attached to the wines of Louis Barruol, a renowned winemaker from Gigondas in France. Both Ravines and Forge are now experimenting with old oak barrels when it comes to making riesling. Ravines winemaker Morten Hallgren took the first step, selecting a portion of his 2010 Argetsinger Vineyard Riesling to be…

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The Finger Lakes 2011 Red Wines of the Year Finalists: Explaining the Diverse Selections

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photos from our WoTY 2009 Tasting by Morgan Dawson I’m happy to see that the NYCR selections for Finger Lakes red wines of the year have generated a fair amount of feedback and debate. There have been many questions: Why no cabernet franc? How come every wine is made from a different grape? Keep in mind that for a wine to be eligible, it has to have been released in 2011. Many of the red wines released in 2011 came from the uneven 2009 vintage. The glorious 2009 September produced strong conditions for Finger…

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Winery Websites: Not So Good, it Seems

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor When you visit a winery’s website, you’re probably there for one simple reason. Either you want tasting room hours or the wine list or the winemaker’s story. But whatever it is, you want it quickly and easily. And too often, it’s not easy enough to find what you’re seeking. On top of that, the websites look clunky and amateurish. This is a generalization, of course. Some websites are excellent. Too many are not. But don’t take it from me. Here’s an email I received this week from a reader of my book, Summer in a…

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Admitting What We Don’t Know: Aging Potential for New York Wines

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor The other day I read a truly outstanding piece of wine writing by one of the most underrated writers in the field today. He's underrated probably because he's not actually in the wine writing field; Keith Levenberg is an enthusiast who makes his living elsewhere, but every six weeks or so, he rewards readers with his insights. His blog is not unlike your favorite greasy spoon tucked into high-end restaurant row: You always see the same dozen people there, and they realize that the place is going to be packed if anyone ever finds out how…

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Direct Flight from NYC to Finger Lakes Designed to Attract New Visitors

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor In the days leading up to the recent announcement that Delta Air Lines will soon offer daily flights between New York City and Big Flats, Finger Lakes Wine Country President Morgen McLaughlin hinted at a "game changer." Marketing agents are hoping she's right: They believe this new connection will attract new visitors to the Finger Lakes.  Daily service between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Elmira Corning Regional Airport will launch in June. One flight will run each day, utilizing a 50-seat regional jet operated by Pinnacle Airlines. Tickets for future flights went on…

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Will Climate Change Help the Finger Lakes Wine Industry? Here’s Why it Might

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor I read an article this week that has me thinking about climate and winter and the Finger Lakes wine industry. We head into Christmas weekend on pace for the second-lowest snow total ever — as in, ever recorded in more than 125 years — along with one of the top three warmest Decembers. So with my brain already stuck on the subject of unusual weather, I was interested to hear the take of the wine and science communities on how climate change has impacted other major wine regions. This piece comes from John McQuaid,…

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