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Cellar Brews: Beer for Winemaking

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor I'd venture to say many of you are winemakers. I'd venture to say many others are home winemakers. And a fair number of you have undoubtedly spent some time in a cellar. So you're all too familiar with the necessity of beer during the winemaking process: to celebrate at the end of a long night of crushing; to sip while filtering (this may just be an intern thing); to enjoy in the lab while figuring out the next day's picking schedule; or just to cleanse the palate after hours of bench trials. Beer's vivacious carbonation,…

Heron Hill Winery 2008 Blaufrankisch

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Though on the oakier — and pricier — end of the Finger Lakes Blaufrankisch spectrum, the Heron Hill Winery 2008 Blaufrankisch ($35) is worthy of a taste when you visit their tasting room with stunning views of Keuka Lake. Not content making a juicy, fruity, peppery wine, the folks at Heron Hill always push the envelope with this grape. At first, the nose seems like it will be dominated by chocolate and smoky oak, but those aromas don't completely obscure those of red cherry, cranberry, black pepper, clove, tarragon and mint. Hefty on the palate,…

Comtesse Therese 2006 Hungarian Oak Merlot

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor 2006 was anything but a banner year on the North Fork. What was a mediocre growing season to begin with was worsened by two early frost events in early fall. The reds from the vintage generally — remember, there are always exceptions — reflect that as a lack of ripeness and fruit intensity. This Comtesse Therese 2006 Hungarian Oak Merlot ($21) largely lacks under-ripe or green flavors but does lack some concentration. On the nose, scents of cigar box, black pepper and brown spice are a bit too much for the understated red cherry aromas.…

One Woman Wines 2008 Merlot

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Because of the diminutive size of its tasting room and location at the far eastern end of the unofficial Route 48 wine trail, One Woman Wines is still under the radar for many visitors to North Fork wine country. The one woman behind One Woman Wines is Claudia Purita, who grew up on her family's farm in Calabria, Italy, where she learned farming and viticulture. After moving to Long Island as an adult and working in the restaurant industry, she decided it was time to "return to her roots" in 2004 planting much of the…

NYCR Q&A: George Romero, Roanoke Vineyards

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor If you've visited Roanoke Vineyards over the past several years, you've probably met George Romero. He's hard to avoid. He's a fixture behind the tasting bar and outside on the patio, often seen pouring wines for and chatting up customers. More often than not, I get to Roanoke when they first open on Saturday morning and — almost without fail — George is there cleaning the floors and preparing the tasting room for the throngs of red wine lovers to follow. Yes, he's a man of many talents. He's also an interesting and gregarious guy…

Tousey Winery 2010 Pinot Noir

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Why do I explore every corner of New York wine country? Wines like this one. Yes, I taste a lot of mediocre (or worse) wine, but discovering a hidden gem of a wine like this one is what energizes and inspires me. Tousey Winery, located in Clermont, NY in the Hudson River valley, is owned by Ben and Kimberly Peacock. Ben makes the wines but he's quick to point out that he is "merely a student."  "I find the term 'winemaker' hard to wear because that would put me in the same category l as…

Southern Tier 2XIPA

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor When beer enthusiasts rate a beer, they often talk about balance. Technical correctness. Drinkability. Good integration of flavors. Nothing out of place or over-the top. When hopheads rate a beer, they want one thing. Dank, sticky, resiny, more-bitter-than-a-tongue-scraper hops. Lupulin junkies don't necessarily want a "balanced" or "sessionable" brew. When the Brits learned that they could use hops as a preservative when shipping beer to the troops in India, the India Pale Ale was born. When the San Diegoans learned that they could take that idea and crank up the hop bill and alcohol past…

Bedell Cellars 2010 Viognier

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor I have fond memories of Bedell Cellars' viognier. Back when my wife and I were dating and exploring North Fork wine country nearly every weekend, it was a favorite in all of its melon and honeysuckle glory.  Then it was gone, removed from the portfolio… because the winery introduced and began to focus on white wine blends like Taste White and Gallery. That's where all of the viognier went.  It remains an important component in those blends, but starting with this wine it's back as a varietal wine — permanently. According to winemaker Rich Olsen-Harbich…

Mud, Sprays, and Compromise: Veteran Lakewood Grower Explains How He Handled a Tough Vintage

 By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Dave Stamp, the vineyard manager at Lakewood Vineyards on Seneca Lake, wears shorts every day during harvest, which he says "might be tradition, and it might be just stupid." If it's the latter, then it's one of the only stupid things Dave does in the vineyard; everything else is carefully considered and based on 25 years of experience. That doesn't mean he makes the right call every time, and it doesn't mean every other grower will agree with his decisions. But it does mean that there are few people more qualified to tell the story…

Lamoreaux Landing 2010 Yellow Dog Vineyard Riesling

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor There are other single-vineyard riesling programs in the Finger Lakes, but Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars was among the first wineries to enact one. It's a part of their portfolio that I always find fun and educational to explore and topping at out at $20 per bottle, it's probably the most affordable site-to-site exploration available. Lamoreaux makes three labeled single-vineyard rieslings and their reserve riesling comes from another single vineyard. Lamoreaux Landing 2010 Yellow Dog Riesling ($20) comes from one of the winery's youngest vineyards, planted in 2007, and opens with aromas of grapefruit, peach and…