I definitely enjoyed this wine's 10% barrel-fermented sibling, but Croteaux Vineyards' 2007 Merlot "3 Clone" Rose ($18) was fermented entirely in oak and aged for 5 months in older oak barrels… and I just don't 'get' this wine. I like that Croteaux makes "rose on purpose," even if it seems a bit insane in such a tremendous vintage to use all of that beautiful merlot fruit for rose. And, it's kind of interesting that they do three different ones (I'll post my review of the third tomorrow), but this wine is just weird. Sometimes weird is good. Here, I'm not…
Posts Tagged“wine”
A Long Island Thanksgiving: The Turkey
This year I wanted to do something a little different to celebrate Thanksgiving here on LENNDEVOURS. So, I've asked some local chefs to contribute some of their favorite Thanksgiving recipes and pick a local wine or two to serve along side. The turkey, obviously, is the centerpiece of most Thanksgiving celebrations, and David Page (seen at right), former executive chef and co-owner of Home in Manhattan, and current co-owner of Shinn Estate Vineyards has offered this recipe for roast turkey. This is actually the recipe that I'm going to follow next week, and it comes from David's cookbook, Recipes from…
Drink Charitably: Twitter Taste Live w/ Humanitas Wines is Friday Night
This Friday night, I'll be hosting This Twitter Taste Live for the first time, featuring the wines from Humanitas Wines. Owner-winemaker Judd Wallenbrock is someone I've known for years via email and this blog, and I really love what he's doing with this project. He makes small batches of wines (literally in his garage) and donates all of the profits to charity. All. Of. The. Profits. As we head into the holiday season, how can you not love the idea of a winery doing something like that? This Drink Charitably edition of Twitter Taste live is a joint venture between…
WBW #51: Baked Goods: The Rare Wine Co. Historic Series Madeira, Charleston Sercial Special Reserve
Wine Blogging Wednesday just cannot be stopped. Here we are, more than 4 years after its inception (this IS the 51st edition) and the theme is one of the few that shoved me way out of my comfort zone. Not only was I forced to leave my beloved state of New York, but I also had to try a style of wine that I know very (very very) little about: wines that are intentionally oxidized at warm/hot temperatures. That's why the one and only (thankfully!) Joe Roberts, known in the blogosphere as 1WineDude, our esteemed host, termed the theme "Baked…
Drink Charitably: Twitter Taste Live w/ Humanitas Wines (November 21)
Twitter Taste Live is surely one of the most exciting things going on in the online wine world today… and I'm thrilled to be hosting for the first time on November 21 at 8 p.m. What was once a monthly event has grown to the point that I can barely keep up with all of the TTL goings on, but I'm really excited to tell you about the one I'm hosting later this month. I know what you're all thinking: "Which New York winery has Lenn worked with on this?" Well, this time around anyway, the answer is "None of…
C. Donatiello Winery: The Aroma Garden
Not every wine-related happening from my recent trip to California was directly related to the Wine Bloggers Conference. One non-WBC event was a trip to C. Donatiello Winery in Healdsburg. I'll be writing more about the visit and the wines (which were among the best I tasted on the trip) but for now, I wanted to share this video I took of owner Chris Donatiello showing us the aroma garden. All of the plants offer flavors and aromas often found in the two varieties they focus on — chardonnay and pinot noir. Thanks to both Chris and also to Joel…
Macari Vineyards 2008 “Early Wine” Chardonnay (North Fork of Long Island)
Outside of Beaujolais Nouveau (and we all know how over-hyped and mediocre those wines are) there aren't many opportunities to taste wines only weeks after the grapes were harvested. But every year Macari Vineyards' Early Wine is one such wine that I look forward to. As the name implies, this 100% chardonnay wine is an extremely early release. In fact, just about everything about this wine is early. It was harvested on September 9, bottled October 16 and then released October 23. Just over 1,700 cases were produced. The 2008 edition pours extremely pale greenish yellow in the glass —…
Bottling Reds at Shaw Vineyard
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent Although Ravines Wine Cellars is located on Keuka Lake, owner-winemaker Morten Hallgren crafts his wines using space at Shaw Vineyard, located a few miles to the east on Seneca Lake. Hallgren and Steve Shaw, winemaker and owner of Shaw Vineyard, work independently but of course try to coordinate production schedules to enhance services and manpower. Before the fall harvest, Steve Shaw invited me over to the winery to watch as he bottled some of the reds wines from both wineries. I was interested to check it out because both winemakers use a mobile bottling…
Tropical Storm Hanna No Big Deal for Long Island Wineries
Hurricanes, and their remnants, are a hazard that very few wine regions need to worry about. But as harvest approaches each season, Long Island vineyard managers and winemakers always have an eye set on tropical systems as they develop in the Atlantic and build steam in the Caribbean. Sometimes the can, and do, make their way north and the results can devastating. Growing fine wine grapes on Long Island is a delicate balancing act. Growers are always trying achieve the most ripening that the growing season will allow—trying to eek out every last bit of sugar—while ensuring that they get…
Wine Chick Wendesday: The Return of a Native
Surely, you’ve heard the expression ‘You can take the girl out of Long Island, but you can’t take Long Island out of the girl’? Plead ignorance on that if you must, but it is a truism if ever there was one. Along with enhancing my innate predilection for strip malls, spandex and merging ‘ing’s with the next vowel, returning home to the Mother Land (or “Muthuh”, if you’re a local) allows me to romp among the fields of plenty. I’m actually un/fortunate enough to hail from the East End of Long Island. Fortunate because I remember being able to walk…