Posts Tagged“leonard oakes winery”

New York Cork Club: November 2015 Selections

The November 2015 wines for the New York Cork Club will be shipping out to our members soon — so it’s time to give you peek at the picks. Harvest 2015 has mostly wound down across the state with many winemakers pressing off the last of their reds over the next couple of weeks. I’m looking ahead — to Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday and it is that holiday that inspired this month’s wine picks. Both are great picks for a diverse, turkey-focused dinner and they will both be served at the dinner I’ll be hosting with my family. Paumanok Vineyard 2014…

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Leonard Oakes Estate Winery 2014 Petillant Naturel Riesling

Pet nat — shorthand for Pétillant Naturel — wines are all the rage these days, particularly in New York City. These are lightly sparkling wines made in a style that, while new to the New York wine industry, is far from trendy or new. In fact, the method is as rustic and old as the wines are fun to drink. Unlike sparkling wines made using methode champenoise (as with Champagne), where yeast and sugar are added to a fully fermented base wine for a secondary carbonation in the bottle, pet nat is made via méthode ancestral, where the wine is bottled before primary fermentation —…

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Leonard Oakes Estate Winery 2013 Reserve Series Sauvignon Blanc

Lightly saline on the nose, with notes of lemony citrus, fresh-cut hay and grapefruit, Leonard Oakes Estate Winery 2013 Reserve Series Sauvignon Blanc ($17) is a snappy, refreshing sauvignon. The palate lacks a bit of concentration, but is bright, citrusy and mouthwatering — with a savory minerality that peeks through on a medium-long finish. Producer: Leonard Oakes Estate Winery AVA: New York State ABV: 12.5% Price: $17 (sample) (3 out of 5, Very good/Recommended)

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Leonard Oakes Winery 2012 Reserve Series Syrah

“I’m not convinced about its place up here — but we had to give it a shot.” That’s one of the first things winemaker Jonathan Oakes told me when I asked about his soon-to-be-released syrah. Syrah is far from widely planted in the region, but most of what I’ve tasted has been delicious. And, after tasting Oakes’, I’m more convinced than ever at the grapes potential in and near the Niagara Escarpment AVA. Aged in heavily toasted American oak — even if the majority was two and three years old — Leonard Oakes Estate Winery 2012 Reserve Series Syrah ($23) shows a…

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NY Drinks NY Means that Winter is Over. I Promise!

At this point, winter has been such a relentless bitch many of us will drink anything to keep warm and shut out the dark, grey days. But with Spring fast approaching, I’m here to remind you to be mindful of what’s in your glass. Don’t just slug whatever bottle you have on hand in order to stay indoors. For me – NY Drinks NY heralds Open Season on Spring wine. New, shiny things I have yet to taste. This yearly event brings together three dozen or more wineries from across New York State for a Grand Tasting and … marks…

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Vineyard Visuals: Icewine 2013 Harvest at Leonard Oakes Winery

Icewine 2013 Harvest @ Leonard Oakes from Bryan Calandrelli on Vimeo. Mother Nature did not disappoint the harvest crew at Leonard Oakes Winery as the week of January 21st provided more than enough time for Jonathan Oakes and gang to pull the rest of their grapes from the 2012-growing season. Bone-chilling temperatures and a massive snowfall didn’t make it comfortable or easy but it did ease nerves and make for a long window to press out their frozen grapes. This quick interview and series of images is a glimpse into what it was like the day of the vidal harvest.…

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Niagara Icewine Update: We Haven’t Started Getting Nervous… Yet

With this weekend’s projected record-warm temperatures, it feels a little weird to be preparing for a weekend of ice wine themed activities across the border. In a region that can usually set its watch to that first big, bone-chilling weather event in early January, Mother Nature has only teased Niagara with a very narrow window for an ice wine harvest so far this year and people are wondering if there will be a full harvest in 2013. “I haven’t started getting nervous yet,” says Jonathan Oakes, winemaker at Leonard Oakes Winery. Oakes is the go-to winemaker in Niagara USA on…

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New York Cork Report Tasting Table — November 16, 2012

It has been my goal for some time to retire the “Tasting Table” posts. I prefer to give every wine an individual post — even a short one — but unique circumstances have brought the Table back again. Though NYCR headquarters didn’t suffer any flooding or tree-falling-on-house damage, we were without power for 11 days in Hurricane Sandy’s wake. That meant only sporadic Internet access (primarily on my iPhone) and while there was plenty of wine drinking (what else can one do in the dark, by candlelight… wait, don’t answer that) there wasn’t much opportunity for writing. Add to that…

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Harvest 2012: Grower Tom Tower on the Rocks

Youngstown farmer Tom Tower is no stranger to the spotlight in Western New York. He’s a driving force behind several local farmers’ markets and he’s been supplying some of the best chefs in the region with his fruits and vegetables long before it was hip to eat local. These days Tower has thrown his trademark hat into the grape growing ring by supplying winemaker Jonathan Oakes and the rest of the crew at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery with grapes grown on his farm just 1.5 miles south of Lake Ontario. I had the opportunity to do an on camera interview…

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Harvest 2012: Chardonnay in Niagara USA

Harvest has ramped up here in Niagara this week as the time for chardonnay had come in several local vineyards. Leonard Oakes Estate Winery had already taken Vignoles before pulling chardonnay in addition to pinot noir for sparkling wine. Freedom Run Winery’s custom crush operation had already brought in Brianna, Edelweiss and Leon Millot before they began their estate chardonnay picking on Monday. The picture at left shows the bounty of chardonnay collected at Eveningside Vineyards yesterday where the yield looked larger than normal and the quality looked to be very good. In the coming days I’ll post the film…

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