After Chris’s last poem, a reader and fellow tasting room employee left a comment asking for a poem about fruit flies. Chris, ever ready to please his reading public, obliged with the below. By Poet Laureate Christopher Watkins The Persistence of Irritants We began by just ignoring them, untilcomments became too numerous;we moved to disclaimers, explanations,Yes, they’re everywhere, but they’re harmless—Behind the scenes, we tried everything,even resorting to very expensive dessert wineleft out for them to expire in;In every sweetened dish they capitulated,but they did so too in bottles, in decanters, even glasses!How many times did we discreetly turn…
Posts Tagged“wine”
WTN: Lenz 2005 “Old Vines” Chardonnay (North Fork of Long Island)
Yesterday I wrote about a $20 chardonnay that I just wasn’t into from Lenz Winery. Today, I’m going to tell you about another chardonnay that they just released that shows much more balance, elegance and overall quality. And, it’s only $5 more. Yes, I think you’ll do well to upgrade to the Lenz 2005 “Old Vines” Chardonnay ($25), one of Long Island’s better values in barrel-fermented chardonnay. It’s debatable whether or not any vines on Long Island qualify as old — I think these vines are still less than 30 years old — but that’s a discussion for a different…
What I’m Thankful For This Year (Wine Edition)
This is a list of just some of the wine-related things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Feel free to leave comments about the things you are thankful for this year! The 2007 Harvest. Just like the local winemakers who can’t stop talking about the healthy, ripe fruit they’ve been given to work with and the local wine lovers who will enjoy the result of that work, I too am thankful for the 2007 season. It promises to be one of the best vintages ever. That means I’ll have plenty to write about for years to come. Small Producers. I’m…
2007 Harvest the Best Ever for Long Island Wine?
Was the 2007 harvest the best ever for Long Island wine? Mark Harrington of Newsday seems to draw that conclusion in his piece today after speaking to a large group of local grape growers and winemakers. I’m working on my own harvest-end report for my East End Oenophile column for Edible East End’s winter issue, but this is a great overview. Harrington should be applauded for asking a variety of industry members rather than just the same old people. He also admits that winemakers and vineyard managers almost always laud the latest vintage, but it does feel different this year.…
Rivendell Winery Location for Sale in the Hudson Valley
I just heard this morning that the vineyards and buildings once associated with Rivendell Winery are for sale and on the market. The winery itself is moving to a new location. For $1.6 million, you can get 45 acres, a 3,000 square foot pavilion (currently the tasting room) and three single-family residences and several outbuildings on the property. The property, located in Gardiner, NY on the Shawangunk Wine Trail in the Hudson Valley region, is a little off the beaten path, but the tasting room/building is absolutely beautiful. Nena and I were there a few years ago and really saw…
Humanitas Wines: Good Wine. Good Price. Even Better Cause.
News Flash: I’ve found some California wines I can enjoy, afford for every day drinking, and feel good about. Humanitas Wines, founded in 2001 by Judd Wallenbrock, is a California winery unlike any you’ve heard of before. Seriously. Many wineries are involved in philanthropic endeavors. They host fundraising events or give a portion of wine sales proceeds to various causes, but Wallenbrock takes that to a whole other level. All of his profits go to charity. Every cent. Specifically, the profits are donated to address three primary issues – hunger, affordable housing, and illiteracy. A two decade veteran of the…
Post Pumpkin-Picking Therapy
On Sunday, Nena and I took Jackson pumpkin picking for the first time. Yes, I know. The same guy who complains about the road-clogging, pumpkin-picking families every year joined the fray with his own kid. So sue me. You do crazy things for your kids. Even if they can’t walk yet and can’t actually pick anything. But we definitely did it our own way, first meeting up with some good friends at Roanoke Vineyards for a glass of wine beforehand. Our kids (both under a year old) played as we enjoyed the early afternoon and some wine. Next, we headed…
Am I a Professional Wine Writer?
"Where did you go to journalism school? And what are your credentials as a ‘wine critic’?" That interesting little excerpt comes from and email I received a couple weeks week from the well-respected and well-regarded president of a New York wine organization. Someone who has done a great many great thing for New York wine over the years. This was in an email telling me, more or less, that he didn’t want to answer the questions I asked him. It is his right, of course, to refuse my interview questions. He doesn’t have to speak to or email with me.…
Wines Worth Dodging the Pumpkin Pickers For
I heard a joke last weekend that goes something like this: "Don’t wear orange on the North Fork this time of year. You might be taken home by someone." It’s probably not the funniest joke you’ve heard lately, but it aptly describes the sometimes-chaotic behavior of the pumpkin-picking masses. All those families, dead set on finding the perfect pumpkin, the best hay ride and the curviest corn maze, have been clogging the major North Fork arteries for weeks and will continue to do so through the fall. Whether you call it the harvest parade, a parking lot or bumper-to-bumper, the…
How Will Global Warming and Climate Change Impact the Wine World?
By Special Wine Columnist, Richard Olsen-Harbich Will it be a brave new wine world? During the past year, discussions about the potential impact of “global warming” have dominated the mass media. Although the exact outcomes and causes are in dispute, few now doubt the existence of the phenomenon. What does it mean for the wine industry? As wine is all about long-term agriculture and entirely dependant on the weather, I’d say a great deal. The eventual consequences of climate change on the wine industry are unclear, as are the possible effects on the rest of the planet. The real question…