Posts Tagged“Review”

Anthony Nappa Wines 2010 “Bordo” Cabernet Franc

I first tasted this wine last summer at The Winemaker Studio during a rare childless wine country jaunt with my wife and friends. As winemaker Anthony Nappa poured it and I first put my nose in the glass, I knew this was a wine I would fall for. And I did. Hard. Anthony Nappa Wines 2010 “Bordo” Cabernet Franc ($20) was the first wine I picked for the first shipment of the Empire State Cellars Wine Club. Truth be told, the chance to have it again was the initial inspiration behind our recent dinner with Nappa and his wines.  I’ve…

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Clovis Point 2007 Vintner’s Selection Merlot

Clovis Point is a North Fork producer that is quickly pushing itself onto the region’s short list of premium producers. The white wine portfolio is limited, but if you’re talking merlot and other red wines, Clovis Point is already on my must-visit list when people email me asking where they should taste. This wine, their Clovis Point 2007 Vinter’s Selection Merlot ($35) is a blend of 86% merlot, 6.5% cabernet sauvignon, 4% cabernet franc, 2.5% syrah and 1% petit verdot, is one that should put the winery on the map in a more substantial way. Complex and still young, the…

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The New York Cork Report Tasting Table — April 17, 2012

I keep trying to retire the “Tasting Table” series, but my recently chaotic day job along with the all-consuming reality of an infant and a 5-year old have once again reminded me that no matter how obsessed I am with local wines, beers etc. and this website — it’s still a hobby. Add to that the fact that we’ll be cutting over to our new site design and platform soon (maybe even next week) and Tasting Table remains a valuable tool. I’d like to start things off at the new site fresh. Tasting Table will not be a part of…

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Shinn Estate Vineyards 2008 Nine Barrel Merlot Reserve

With so many communication channels at our finger tips these days (Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.) it feels like I’m discussing local wines with people almost constantly. It’s fun, but I’ve noticed something recently — great vintages can cause an interesting side effect. The other, ‘non-great’ vintages can very easily be looked down upon or ignored altogehter. 2007 and 2010 were among the best vintages ever for Long Island. We all know that by now. But, because many 2007 reds have come and gone, and 2010 reds are trickling into the marketplace, it’s almost like 2008 and 2009 didn’t happen. Don’t make…

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3 Heads “The Common Man”

Craft breweries make their bones by marketing big, unique beers to big, unique individuals. High alcohol levels, forceful flavors and innovative ingredients put many great brews on the map, but remain the characteristics of a niche product. Most of the “great” American beers are a bit much for the casual beer drinker  to have out on the porch with the sun beating down. Conversely, most “mainstream” craft beer styles, brown and pale ales come to mind, bore hardcore beer lovers to death. It’s hard for a brewer to win. Three Heads Brewing, however, thinks they’ve found the perfect formula, and…

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Shmaltz Hop Manna IPA

Selecting a beer called “Hop Manna” is about as close as I’ve come in years to celebrating Passover/Easter, but it had been too long since I’d had a Shmaltz Brewing Company (Saratoga Springs, NY, and San Francisco) brew and I was feeling particularly like a chosen person. Hop Manna is a new IPA brewed with Citra, Warrior, Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo, and Crystal hops and dry hopped with Centennial, Citra, and Cascade. It’s the brewery’s first single IPA, released last year in four test batches and in distribution for the first time this year. It’s got a beautiful hop nose: fresh, with orange…

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Bedell Cellars 2010 Syrah

Winemaker Rich Olsen-Harbich did some things differently during his first crush at Bedell Cellars in 2010. He brought his ambient yeast fermentations, of course, but he also made a couple blends by co-fermenting the grapes together — making his blending decisions from the outset. Bedell Cellars 2010 Syrah ($50) is one of those wines, made with 90% syrah and 10% viognier in the model of the Northern Rhone. That squirt of viognier is most apparently on a pretty, effusive nose that shows melon and honeysuckle aromas layered over fresh red berries, plums and a combination of earthy cumin and coriander. The…

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Red Newt Cellars 2008 Glaciers Ridge Vineyards Merlot

Living on Long Island, I drink a fair amount of merlot. It’s every where you look in wine country — literally and figuratively. I don’t need to look north to the Finger Lakes for merlot. And honestly, I don’t. Merlot is well down the list of what I’m looking for in the Finger Lakes. In fact, it’s probably not on the list at all. That brings us to Red Newt Cellars 2008 Glaciers Ridge Vineyards Merlot ($45), a wine that I decided to write up for Wine Blogging Wednesday #75, hosted by Joe Roberts of 1WineDude. The theme? “Singles Night” — focusing…

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Saranac White IPA

You never know what’s going to shine in a blind tasting. That’s why it’s so important. Big-name beers from lauded breweries may actually be lackluster in a lineup, without the pomp and circumstance their fame would normally require, while lesser-known or less respected breweries may surprise and force the drinker to reconsider relegating it to “party beer” status. The latter is exactly what happened the first time I tried Saranac’s new white IPA. I was blind-tasting Belgian styles with a group of experienced tasters, and after several samples that turned out to be from Ommegang, Dupont, and Lindeman’s we were…

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Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars 2009 Rkatsiteli

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor I was first introduced to the Rkatsiteli grape when I tried the 2006 vintage bottling from Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars. I was quickly hooked by the aromatic white that can be described as riesling-meets-gewruztraminer-meets-sauvignon blanc in its aromas and flavors with a beam of beautiful natural acidity. Since then, Dr. Frank’s Rkatsiteli has been a bit up and down for me — always drinkable, but sometimes without the verve and length of that first taste. Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars 2009 Rkatsiteli ($15) is lemony on the nose with notes of citrus…

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