Posts Tagged“bloomer creek vineyards”

Thoughts on the Finger Lakes’ Sh!##iest Vintage Ever

“No reserve wines in 2009 due to shittiest vintage ever.” It was one of the greatest tweets I’ve ever read, because it came from a winery employee. The tweet is long since deleted, but that is close to a word-for-word recollection. How could I forget it? I admired it instantly. Wine and food writers are often sifting through spin, and this was unvarnished. That was the summer that wasn’t, as my wife calls it. Almost never sniffed 90 degrees, and spent most of July in the low-to-mid 70s. Ripening was slow, and when frost came in October, it was, for…

Continue Reading

Bloomer Creek Vineyard 2011 Vin d’ete Cabernet Franc

  This isn’t a wine that everyone is going to appreciate. As some would say, this is a cab franc lover’s cab franc. You need to appreciate the earthiness of the grape — the herbal edges too. Bloomer Creek Vineyard 2011 Vin d’ete Cabernet Franc ($18) isn’t driven by bold fruit flavors. The cool, wet 2011 vintage saw to that. Instead, winemaker Kim Engle took what the season gave him, and the result is a unique, impressive wine that the franc lover in me greatly enjoyed. Aromas of Provencal herbs — especially thyme and lavender — float from the glass,…

Continue Reading

Empire State Cellars Wine Club: September 2014 Selections

Harvest season is nearly upon us across New York wine country. In fact, I’ve heard reports of grapes destined for sparkling wine coming in this week. It’s a busy time of year at every winery — and it has been for me too as we worked to finalize this month’s picks. This is a pretty classic ESC club shipment — we focus on the grapes that regions do best as well as some of New York’s top producers. I hope you enjoy the picks as much as my friends and I have of late. “Hello New York” Wines Raphael 2013…

Continue Reading

Decanting Wine: Too Often, We’re Doing it Wrong

A pair of Finger Lakes pinots offered a stark reminder about the potential value — and the potential dangers — of aeration. And it reminded me that it’s easy to make mistakes when it comes to decanting. Recently, we opened a bottle of Bloomer Creek Vineyard 2008 Pinot Noir and a bottle of Fox Run Vineyards 2001 Pinot Noir Reserve. I don’t do a whole lot of decanting, but there are wines that seem to require more air to open up. Our Science Editor can probably fill me in on whether decanting has as much impact as we think, and I don’t…

Continue Reading

Empire State Cellars Wine Club: November 2012 Selections

The November shipment of the Empire State Cellars Wine Club will ship in a couple weeks, but — as always — I’m excited to share the selections with you. If you’re not familiar with the club, you can learn more here. “Hello New York” Wines Lamoreaux Landing 2011 Gruner Veltliner: It’s exciting to include this relatively new grape to New York, and Lamoreaux Landing’s first commercial release of it. Dry and refreshing, it shows aloe, white pepper, lemon-lime citrus, and green herbs — with just a hint of salinity. Roanoke Vineyards 2010 BOND: Some complain about the lack of quality “table wines”…

Continue Reading

Bloomer Creek: The Cult Winery of the Finger Lakes Continues to Take Chances

You can only be a cult winery for so long. Eventually, the secret-handshake nature of your clients’ fandom becomes widespread, and then you’re just a regional mainstay. That was true at Heart & Hands, it was true at Damiani, and eventually it will be true at Bloomer Creek Vineyard. Not yet. There is still a sense of excitement among those who have visited Bloomer Creek in the past two years. There is a kind of illicit knowledge, an ahead-of-the-curve edge. The critical drumbeat is growing, but owners Kim Engle and Debra Birmingham have not seen an explosion in the tasting…

Continue Reading

Bloomer Creek Vineyards 2009 Auten Vineyard First Harvest Riesling

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor When my colleague Evan Dawson first introduced us to Bloomer Creek, I only knew Bloomer Creek Vineyard as the winery that shared a parking lot with one of my favorite places to eat in the Finger Lakes, Stonecat Cafe. But, after speaking with Evan further about them, I knew that I had to get my hands on some of Kim Engle's wines. Evan and I have similar-but-different palates and tastes when it comes to wine, but I think we agree on Bloomer Creek's rieslings — these are some of the most uniquely expressive, genuine rieslings…

Continue Reading