By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Long Island rose is a beautiful thing.. beautiful in its insane diversity. From sweet to dry and every residual sugar level in between the East End of Long Island has you covered. But the diversity doesn't stop there. Just about any red wine variety grown here ends up as rose, including the usual suspects like merlot, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir as well as grapes like refosco and cabernet franc. Blending is common and not reserved for red grapes. Some of the region's best-loved roses are blends of red varieties with large percentages of…
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What We Drank (June 8, 2011)
This week's sampling of what our editors and contributors have been drinking… Lenn Thompson: Sixpoint Craft Ales Bengali Tiger IPA Because my wife isn't drinking at the moment (we are expecting our second child in December) I seem to be drinking more beer than wine — especially at restaurants. Lucky for me, most of the restaurants we frequent have at least one craft beer that I'm interested in drinking. Some have several. And now that Sixpoint Craft Ales is finally putting four of their most popular beers in "nanokegs" — really 16 oz. cans — restaurants without (or with limited)…
Shinn Estate Vineyard 2010 First Fruit Sauvignon Blanc
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor With its wind turbine and in-progress biodynamic and organic certification, Shinn Estate Vineyards gets plenty of well-deserved attention for its sustainable and community-friendly practices. What sometimes gets lost in all that green is just how good the wines can be. There is no doubt that sauvignon blanc thrives on the North Fork, with an emerging regional signature developing over time. When anyone asks me to list the most consistent local sauvignon blanc producers, inevitably Shinn Estate is on the short list. Shinn Estate Vineyards 2010 First Fruit Sauvignon Blanc ($23) is brightly aromatic, delivering bright…
Mark Grimaldi | Director, Marketing and Events
Mark Grimaldi was born and raised in White Plains, NY where an Italian father meant there was always wine on the table. He has worked in the wine business since 2003, currently working for Michael Skurnik Wines for the past 6 years with roles that ranged from wine marketing and label design to now sales and consulting. After moving to the North Fork of Long Island in 2008 from New York City, Mark immersed himself in the local wine and food scene. He then met his now wife, Olivia, who was born and raised in the Finger Lakes, which led…
Ithaca Beer Company Dark Humor All-Brett Porter
By Julia Burke, Beer Editor A porter brewed with 100% brettanomyces, this is a collaboration beer brewed at Ithaca Beer Company with brewer Bobby Barrar of Iron Hill Brewing Company in Media, PA. It takes on the delicious combination of dark and sour. A sexy brownish-black in a pint glass with a half-finger camoflage-brown head, Dark Humor is aptly named. On the nose, chocolate milk (think Nestle Quick) and roasty malts are yummy and almost, just almost, hide the whiff of sour cherry. That cherry's not shy on the palate though. Delicious sour fruit cuts right through the milky texture,…
New York Cheese: Kunik from Nettle Meadow Farm
By Aaron Estes, Cheese Editor One of the things I love most about the cheese made in New York state is the diversity. We have cheesemakers all over this great state, from Long Island to the shores of the Finger Lakes, to the Hudson Valley that strive to bring unique and high-quality products to your cheese board and table. Even though we have historically been a large producer of industrial cheese (think Polly-O), it is the smaller and artisanal production that is slowly but surely finding its way to the forefront. Whenever I talk or write about New York cheeses,…
TasteCamp North 2011: On Acidity, Perception and Other Observations
A reminder at Tawse Winery One of the first wines I tasted when I arrived in Niagara-on-the-Lake for TasteCamp 2011 was a riesling. Its crushing acidity very nearly made ceviche out of my tongue. Now before I start to sound like a certain wine critic, I should point out that I cut my wine teeth on Finger Lakes riesling. I like acidity, but I like balance better. An Acid Balancing Act Back to Niagara, where titratable acidity (TA) in rieslings regularly reaches double digits on the grams per liter scale (for Canadians, that's grams per litre). I made it a…
Sparkling Pointe Winemaker Gilles Martin Demonstrates Sabrage
Video courtesy of Cicilicious
Captain Lawrence Brewing Company to Expand
By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Responding to increased demand for their beer thanks to a growing local following and massive critical acclaim, Captain Lawrence Brewing Company has announced a move and an expansion. The Pleasantville, NY brewery is moving five miles away to a bigger and better home at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford. After over five years in business, Captain Lawrence has built a booming base of tasting room visitors and achieved cult status across New York State and beyond for its innovative and delicious brews, which include a popular IPA and the Smoked From the Oak…
Olsen-Harbich’s Obsession With Soils and an Early Taste of 2010 at Bedell Cellars
A cross-section of North Fork soil composition, part of a new display at Bedell Cellars By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor In late 2007, wine writer Alice Feiring said about Long Island wine in a story about the "World's Most Overrated Wines" for Men.Style.com (now a part of GQ.com): "The strawberries, potatoes, and corn grown out on Long Island are world-class. But grapes? Not so much (though you've got to give local winemakers credit for their perseverance). The fact is, soils are just too shallow on Long Island and the weather's just too humid to make world-class wine, especially from Merlot…