Posts Written ByLenn Thompson

#NYTastemaker: Peter Bell | Fox Run Vineyards

“Tastemaker” is a term typically used to describe a person — typically either a sommelier or writer in the wine world — who decides what is good, cool or otherwise interesting. With our new #NYTastemaker profiles, I’ve decided to usurp the term to mean someone who is making the wines, ciders, spirits, etc. that we taste. The traditional “tastemaker” doesn’t really make anything, after all. Not really, anyway. Peter Bell, winemaker at Fox Run Vineyards, has been a reader of the New York Cork Report (and LENNDEVOURS before that) for many years. He’s also served as an informal proofreader, often sending…

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Announcing TasteCamp 2016: Vermont

The organizers of TasteCamp are proud to announce that the event will make it’s return this spring in Vermont on June 3-5, 2016. After visiting Long Island and the Finger Lakes, the Niagara Region, Virginia, Quebec and most recently the Hudson Valley, this weekend of regional discovery will focus on Vermont in search of great wine, but also of cider, beer and various food specialties. More than 35 bloggers and writers are expected for TasteCamp 2016: Vermont, which will provide participants with the usual mix of great meetings with producers, grand tastings, vineyard (and orchard) visits and, of course, one of the great traditions…

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From the Archives: Roanoke Vineyards Debuts on the North Fork

Editor’s Note: Every Thursday — call it Throwback Thursday if you’d like — we’ll pull a story from the more than a decade of NYCR stories and republish it. As you may or may not know, Roanoke Vineyards’ primary tasting room — the one on Sound Avenue — closed to the public at the end of December. It will re-open February 1 after some renovations only for wine club members. That got me thinking back to when Roanoke first opened and the first time I wrote about them back in November of 2004, when this story first appeared on the site. This summer,…

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Corks of the Forks: 5 Resolutions for a Local Wine Drinker

I’ll be the first to admit that I think New Year’s resolutions are a bit silly, which is why I rarely proclaim them privately — let alone publicly, in print. Would I like to lose some weight? Sure, and I will. Should I be a nicer person and help others? Absolutely. I’ll try to do that, too. Without measurement and being held accountable, these types of resolutions often fall by the wayside around Feb. 1 every year. But when it comes to the wine portion of my life — what’s left over after a full-time day job in a high-tech…

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New York Cork Club: January 2016 Selections

Happy New Year! Our friends at the Cellar d’Or are packing up my January 2016 picks for the New York Cork Club this week, so it’s that time again — to tell you about the wines I picked. To kick off 2016, we’re thrilled to include wines from two of the Finger Lakes’ premier producers. Red Tail Ridge Winery 2014 Pétillant Naturel — A few of my friends have started calling me “Mr. Pet Nat” because I keep writing about them and putting them into the club — but I can’t help it. They are so fun and refreshing and a pleasure to…

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Pellegrini Vineyards 2014 Sauvignon Blanc

Pellegrini Vineyards 2014 Sauvignon Blanc ($25), one of Zander Hargrave’s first releases as winemaker at Pellegrini Vineyards — a job he took over just before the 2014 harvest — offer a bit of Long Island wine’s past, its present and it’s future. The Hargrave name goes back as far as Long Island wine history can go. Zander’s parents, Louisa and Alex Hargrave, founded Hargrave Vineyard, Long Island’s first commercial winery, in 1973, and Zander’s uncle, Charlie Hargrave, has been a vineyard manager on the North Fork for more than a decade. In 2011 Zander was hired as assistant winemaker at the now-closed…

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#NYTastemaker: Steve Casscles | Hudson-Chatham Winery

“Tastemaker” is a term typically used to describe a person — typically either a sommelier or writer in the wine world — who decides what is good, cool or otherwise interesting. With our new “NYTastemaker profiles, I’ve decided to usurp the term to mean someone who is making the wines, ciders, spirits, etc. that we taste. The traditional “tastemaker” doesn’t really make anything, after all. Not really, anyway. I’ve known Steve Casscles and have written about him and his wines — particularly his baco noir-based wines — for many years now. What has always struck me as most interesting about Steve, though,…

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The Road Forward: What You Can Expect from the New York Cork Report in 2016

Happy New Year! After a great week-plus largely away from my laptop, it’s time to dive back into things for the new year and that includes a slight change of focus and direction here on the New York Cork Report. In March, this site will turn 12. That’s far longer than I expected it to last, but as I look back on 2015, I think I’ve lost my way a bit. For a variety of reasons, the site has become largely a wine review site — something I never expected or wanted. Wine reviews, while valuable, are nothing more than a snapshot of…

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Corks of the Forks: A holiday gift guide for the wine lover

The following are some of the wine-related gifts I’d love to receive this year, but this list isn’t going to do me much good. My wife is done with her shopping. She has been for weeks, maybe months. She’s done buying for my family, her family, our kids and me. I, on the other hand, have barely started shopping for her, but that’s not relevant for a wine column. Besides, that’s what Amazon Prime is for. Wine. Every year I’m surprised at just how few people buy me wine. I’m a wine lover! Wine lovers, by definition, love wine. And…

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Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard 2013 Josef Vineyard Riesling

It’s easy to get complacent when you taste a lot of Finger Lakes riesling — overall quality has risen to the point that even producers that historically fell below the median are now making wines I’m happy to drink. It’s almost to the point that one can take for granted that Finger Lakes riesling is going to deliver. Then you taste a wine like Hermann J. Wiemer 2013 Josef Vineyard Riesling ($39) and you’re reminded just how high the ceiling is for Finger Lakes riesling. The Josef Vineyard, located 10 miles north of the winery, is just south of the better-known Magdalena Vineyard.…

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