Posts Tagged“vintage”

This Ain’t Bordeaux: In the Finger Lakes, Riesling Rules, But You Won’t Find a Clear “Vintage of the Decade”

The industrial wine machine loves an exalted vintage. For consumers, it’s a chance to create a kind of trophy bottle or trophy case. For wineries, it can be a chance to raise prices (though this rarely happens in the Finger Lakes). But in upstate New York, there simply isn’t a consensus about the best vintage for riesling of the past decade. And it’s fascinating to read the comments of the region’s top winemakers. Because there are some deep divides. The New York Cork Report surveyed a wide range of Finger Lakes winemakers and winery owners to get their take on…

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Long Island’s 2009 Vintage: Quantity Down. Quality…to be Determined.

By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief The downfall of the 2009 Long Island wine vintage has been greatly exaggerated. Especially with regard to quality-focused producers. Yes, 2009 has been a difficult year for grape growers on Long Island. Very difficult. So difficult in fact that David Page, co-owner of Shinn Estate Vineyards told me that “there has never been a more frustrating spring since we started growing grapes.” A Smaller Crop That cool, rainy spring — particularly an overcast June lowlighted by 20-plus days of rain — wreaked havoc on flowering vines and invited a condition known as coulure. Caused…

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Long Island’s 2006 Vintage So Far: Damp and Dangerous

I’ve been reading a few stories locally about how "great" the 2006 vintage is looking here on Long Island. Of course, knowing that the authors of these stories don’t typically cover wine (if ever) I was skeptical. It’s been very wet and humid lately and we’ve had several days where we’ve touched 90 degrees. But, rather than make assumptions, I asked Richie Pisacano, owner of Roanoke Vineyards and vineyard manager at Wolffer Estate for an update on what he’s seeing. He’s been growing grapes on Long Island a long time, and he’s not one to fall victim to marketing/PR spin.…

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