Posts Written ByLenn Thompson

Lieb Cellars 2014 Reserve Pinot Blanc

You won’t find a lot of pinot blanc here on Long Island but the best-known producer is Lieb Cellars where, legend has it, it was once thought to be chardonnay. Thankfully it’s not treated like most chardonnay in the cellar. It doesn’t see a splinter of oak during or after fermentation and the result is bright and citrusy with aromas of lemon zest and pulp, red grapefruit, lemon verbena and sea breeze. Juicy and even more saline and minerally on the palate, it’s crisp, dry and needs food to sing. Focused citrus flavors turn a bit more floral as the wine…

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From the Archives: What We Learned From 656 Glasses of Cabernet Franc

Photo by Morgan Dawson 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. This week, I pulled a 2009 story by managing editor Evan Dawson from about a cabernet franc tasting at the New York Wine & Culinary Center.    When the demonstration room at the New York Wine & Culinary Center filled up at 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning, 328 glasses of cabernet franc lit up the amphitheater like strands of single-color Christmas lights. It was a bit daunting for the 42 winemakers, winegrowers,…

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New York Cork Club: December 2015 Picks

The December 2015 wines for the New York Cork Club are shipping out to our members this week — so it’s time for me to tell you a bit about the picks. Because this will be the last shipment of the year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for being a member. It’s been a fun year of picking and shipping great and interesting wines to you. I hope you enjoy drinking them as much as I’ve enjoying selecting them every month. This month, we’re doing something we’ve done before: pairing one of New York’s best-known producers with an up-and-comer…

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Keuka Lake Vineyards 2015 Leon Millot Nouveau

And now for something completely different. Keuka Lake Vineyards 2015 Leon Millot Nouveau ($18) is the first 2015 red to cross the NYCR tasting table and perhaps not surprisingly, it counts Beaujolais Nouveau as its main inspiration, though it’s not made strictly in the same way. Leon Millot fruit grown in Dundee, NY at Tabora Vineyard was picked on September 9. It was de-stemmed, crushed and after four days fermenting on the skins was pressed and finished fermenting without the skins. Once fermentation finished, the wine spent a month in neutral oak barrels before being bottled on October 27. If you’re counting,…

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Corks of the Forks: Let the Meadors Farm

Tomorrow, Dec. 3 at 2:30 p.m., Carey and Regan Meador, owners of Southold Farm + Cellar, will go before the Southold Zoning Board of Appeals for what they — and a whole lot of wine lovers — hope will be the last time. I’m a wine guy who has little interest in local codes or politics — and even less knowledge about them. I’m not going to pretend that I know the ins and outs of what the Meadors and their family have dealt with: being forced to close their tasting room, wondering if they’ll be able to stay open without…

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Thanksgiving in New York Wine Country

It’s that time of year once again — the time when we ask our friends in the New York wine industry to share their Thanksgiving traditions as well as their wine (or cider or beer) pairing plans for the holiday. I’ve also asked the NYCR team to chime in with their plans. Here at New York Cork Report international headquarters, I’m feeling a bit behind schedule. Typically I’ve pulled all of the wines we’ll have on Thanksgiving Day by now — but I haven’t pulled a single one from the cellar yet. Perhaps not surprisingly, we drink mostly New York wines and…

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Corks of the Forks: The Last Thanksgiving Wine Story You’ll Ever Need to Read

When considering your Thanksgiving wine choices, here’s the only advice you need: Drink good wine. Don’t complicate it any more than that. OK. You probably want to know why it’s that simple, and I’m happy to explain it. I’ve written Thanksgiving-related stories for at least a decade, just like every other wine writer — from local guys like me to national columnists in the big, glossy magazines. Some feel compelled to do so, but often we’re told to write these stories because they’re apparently popular, though I don’t actually understand why. None of my friends or family members stress about…

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From the Archives: Our First NYCR Wines of the Year Tasting

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. This week, I pulled a quick story I wrote right after the first-ever New York Cork Report “Wines of the Year” tasting, back in January of 2010.    5 tasters. 8 hours. 19 flights. 54 wines. That was my Saturday as I joined most of the New York Cork Report team for a tasting that would determine our 2009 Wines of the Year. It was an incredibly fun, exciting day, but it also an…

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Uncork the Forks: Lieb Cellars and its Brand Makeover

Creating and building a successful brand is difficult in any industry. Building and nurturing a successful wine brand in a region without an established regional identity or reputation is even harder. When Ami Opisso, general manager at Lieb Cellars in Mattituck, and the new ownership team took over what was then known as Lieb Family Cellars in 2013, they had an even more challenging situation. They had to revitalize a somewhat established brand and decide where they would take it, and the company, in the future.  They’ve pulled it off — perhaps better than any rebrand I can remember on…

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Macari Vineyards 2015 “Early Wine” Chardonnay

Le nouveau est arrivé is the official slogan for when Beaujolais Nouveau arrives every fall — the third Thursday in November. As much as I love Cru Beaujolais, I don’t rush out for the Nouveau anymore. It’s become more of a marketing spectacle than anything about the wine. I’d like to suggest a new, locally focused edition — “The Early has arrived!” I look forward to this wine’s release every year. I’ve been harassing  asking the folks at Macari Vineyards about Macari Vineyards 2015 “Early Wine” Chardonnay ($18) for several weeks now — wanting to know when it would be available. Then…

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