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Evan Dawson: Jaquesson 1996 Champagne Thank you Alice Feiring. See, my wife grew up in a family that drinks Champagne at every holiday. Christmas. Thanksgiving. Easter. Arbor Day. Bastille Day. So, she enjoys sparkling wines more than I do, but she wanted to break into a different realm. That's where the wine world's most ardent naturalist came in. After reading Alice's book I tried to track down any of the small production, more natural Champagnes mentioned in her book. This was the only one I could find, and even then I had to have it shipped from NYC. It was…

With the exception of our friend Jason up in Syracuse, it sounds like we all tasted some pretty good juice last week. Bryan Callandrelli: Miles Wine Cellars 2006 Cabe With the obvious buzz regarding the 2007 vintage reds, it's ironic that after tasting dozens of them, I chose a 2006 red as one of the few bottles I brought home from the Finger Lakes Wine Festival. After a lighting-fast flight through Miles Wine Cellar's selections, I found this 100% Hungarian Oak cabernet franc to be a steal at the festival price of 2/$20. With aromas of blackberry, pepper and leather…

Once again, we have a wide array of wines — German riesling, Washington State cab, Finger Lakes riesling and a Blaufrankisch from Austria. Isn't wine fun? Bryan Calandrelli: S.A. Prum Wehlener 2001 Sonnenuhr Auslese  A coworker of mine has gotten into the habit of opening up a nice bottle of wine every time I back out of working a day I was scheduled for. This time I managed to find the remnants of this bottle before someone else finished it. He's always buying premium wines that come from respected Old World producers so anytime I get to taste them it's…

Once again, no New York wines in this lot. This week we have Italy, France, California, Portugal and Australia represented. Never let it be said that we don't drink a wide array of wines from around the world. Bryan Calandelli: Vallarom Vallagarina Merlot 'Vigneto Belvedere' 2007 Northern Italian wines are always tempting and this Vallarom Vallagarina Merlot looked interesting especially after I noticed the importer is local to western New York. Portovino Buffalo, NY specializes in small batch unique offerings from all over Italy. Many of these include red blends that throw indigenous grapes into the mix. This is actually a…

Only three contributions to What We Drank this week, but three diverse ones nonetheless. Evan Dawson: Jean Michel-Stephan 2004 Cote-Rotie Let's hear it for restaurants that offer creative wine lists. I was floored when I picked up the wine menu at Good Luck in Rochester. By the glass I could order a Savoie, a White Rioja, a Carmenere, and a handful of other interesting options. The Finger Lakes was nicely represented. But it was a bottle from the Rhone that impressed me most. My favorite producer of syrah in the world is Jean-Michel Stephan, an idiosyncratic Frenchman who makes gorgeous,…

"What We Drank" is back after a one-week hiatus (caused purely by my hectic travel schedule). As always, we have a diverse grouping of submissions this week. Shockingly, no New York wines made the cut this week! Lenn Thompson: Bois de Boursan 1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Last weekend, we tasted a lot of wine in the Finger Lakes. And I mean a lot. Enough that by Saturday evening, Nena and our friends C and A were a little worn out I think. But, with Evan and Morgan coming to the house we rented for dinner (and more wine) everyone bucked…

From beer to old Bordeaux, ice wine to disappointing wine, here's what we've been drinking. Lenn Thompson: Shock Top Belgian White beer I'm in Orlando right now with Nena and Jackson for a week (yes, a week) visiting all of the usual kid-friendly haunts — Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Sea World, etc. The wine selection in the nearest grocery store isn't much better than the "lists" at the restaurants we've been checking out. I know you don't want to hear about Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay or Blackstone Merlot anymore than I want to drink them, so instead I'll mention a beer that…

I think this might be the most interesting edition of What We Drank so far. We've got big names, big wines and then wines of elegance and restraint. And for the first time, not a single New York wine. From Bryan Calandrelli: Chateau Montelena 2004 Chardonnay In today’s market place there’s a growing number of so-called celebrity wines. In this case the wine itself has become a celebrity thanks to “Bottle Shock” the movie. A friend of mine opened this 2004 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from the Napa Valley recently and I was lucky enough to get a taste of a…

This week's What We Drank is pretty diverse, with a couple New York wines, a classic chardonnay from Burgundy and one of least-flavorful beers in the world. Sadly that beer is my contribution. From Bryan Calandrelli: Louis Jadot 1999 Le Montrachet Having Old World wine geek friends has its benefits too these days. This is a bottle I would never have swooned over and it's a wine that my New World attention span wouldn't have recognized over any of the other of those Jadot selections on the shelf. It takes an educated eye to pick out this vineyard, Montrachet, and…

This week,we have four contributions to What We Drank, including the first from Sasha Smith. I wanted to mention something this week, badly, but there wasn't anything that I drank over the weekend that inspired me enough, sadly. More on that later this week I think.  From Bryan Calandrelli: Freedom Run Winery Celebration Series Rosé This weekend called for a simple, easy to drink wine that I could open up for my family at the picnic table. I didn't need to look any further than my fridge thanks to this Freedom Run Celebration Series Rosé. Now I know you may…