By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Last week on Twitter, Morgen McLaughlin of Finger Lakes Wine Country said, referring to a short piece by Wine Spectator's Thomas Matthews, "This is why Long Island wineries need to submit wines for review to Wine Spectator." As you can see, the story includes Matthews scoring at\ Lenz Winery 2005 Old Vines Chardonnay 90 points. Morgen has done a great job getting Finger Lakes producers editorial coverage in the Spectator over the last year or so — mostly by submitting a boatload of wine to the magazine (both current releases and library wines). In…
Posts Tagged“wine”
Paumanok Vineyards Protecting Consumers Against Counterfeit Wines
By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher Today, Paumanok Vineyards and Applied DNA Sciences announced a partnership created with the goal of protecting consumers against the growing problem of counterfeit wines. From the press release: "Counterfeiting is a problem known to have a significant impact in the wine and spirits trade," said Applied DNA Sciences CEO James Hayward. “We are delighted to be working with Paumanok to ensure that their products continue to be enjoyed and valued by retailers and consumers.” "Paumanok, wines are highly valued around the country due to high demand and limited availability," said Charles Massoud, Proprietor, Paumanok.…
Notes on Ravines and Wolffer at I Drink NY Astor Place Event
By Sasha Smith, New York City Correspondent Photo by Sasha Smith A few weeks ago I attended the first annual Winebow "I Drink New York" event at Astor Wines featuring Ravines Wine Cellars, Wolffer Estate Vineyards and Millbrook Vineyards. I focused on Ravines, which I knew little about (aside from the fact that Lenn's a fan) and Wolffer. A brief dispatch: A good wine is like a good thriller: it should hold your attention throughout and finish with a surprise. The Ravines Wine Cellars 2007 Dry Riesling fulfilled both criteria. The wine has a mineral and citrus fruit purity that’s…
Anthony Nappa Wines 2008 Anomaly
By Lenn Thompson, Publisher and Editor When Anthony Nappa, winemaker at Shinn Estate Vineyards, interviewed for the job, he had two questions of his own for the owners, could he bring his dog to work, and could he make his own wine? I've seen his dog at the winery myself and with the release of Anthony Nappa Wines 2008 Anomaly ($18), the second question is answered as well. His second wine, the Anthony Nappa Wines 2008 Nemesis, will be released this weeked. Both are available at Shinn's tasting room and both wines are 100% pinot noir sourced on the North…
New York Cork Report Sample Submission Guidelines and Editorial Calendar
The New York Cork accepts wine samples for its independent reviews. To submit your wine for review: Please submit two 750ml bottles (or two 375ml bottles for dessert wines, fortified wines, etc.) of each wine with its suggested retail price and any winemaking/technical notes that are available Email us lenndevours (at) gmail (dot) com for shipping information. Recently shipped samples will “rest” in our cellar for at least a week before being tasted. Please be advised that not every wine that you submit will appear a published story or review. However, each will be tasted in a controlled, professional manner,…
Macari Vineyards 2008 “Katherine’s Field” Sauvignon Blanc
By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher When it comes to Long Island sauvignon blanc, there is a small group of wineries that can be counted on to deliver consisten quality. Macari Vineyards is one of those wineries and puts out one of the region's best sauvignons. This is a wine that I look forward to every spring (when its released) and drink plenty of all summer long, even if I don't eat all of the great local shellfish that this wine is seemingly destined to be enjoyed with. Most of the grapes than went into Macari Vineyards 2008 "Katherine's Field"…
Spring Brings Some Niagara Region News
By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Correspondent With only twelve wineries in the Niagara region, news just doesn’t happen everyday. During most of the winter, a few wineries may only open on weekends, or in one case, one weekend out of the month. So now that winter is loosening its grip, some good news has surfaced with the melting snow. The 2009 Finger Lakes International Competition was good to several Niagara wineries, and there was one standout result. Leonard Oakes Estate Winery was awarded a double gold medal for its 2007 Frontenac. If you haven’t heard of this grape, don’t worry, it’s…
Book Review: The Billionaire’s Vinegar
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Correspondent The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace is, quite simply, the fastest and most enjoyable wine-themed book I've ever read. It is not, to use a rather nebulous term, the "best" book about wine I've read — that distinction rests with Neal Rosenthal's Reflections of a Wine Merchant — but it reads like fabulous and fabulist fiction, and that's a real credit to the author, considering it's not fiction at all. The Billionaire's Vinegar tells the story of the most infamous bottle of wine ever sold, but it tells much more than that. In fact,…
Announcing TasteCamp EAST 2009 in Long Island Wine Country
After weeks (maybe months) of preparation (much more than I ever anticipated), I'm finally ready, willing and able to announce the newest endeavor I've undertaken — TasteCamp EAST 2009, a wine blogger event that will bring more than a dozen wine bloggers to Long Island wine country May 1-3 this spring. The concept for TasteCamp is a simple one: getting enthusiastic bloggers together in a region that is new to them to taste as much wine as possible and speak to as many winemakers as possible over the course of a weekend. Most smaller, lesser-known wine regions in the world…
Clovis Point to Join the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA)
The official announcement is coming later this week, but I've just learned that Clovis Point has decided to become the newest member of the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA). LIMA was formed in 2005 to develop quality standards in the production of classically-styled Long Island merlot and to establish Long Island as the leading region for merlot in the New World. To date, LIMA has been rather quite on the public scene, focusing on vineyard research and conducting tastings to identify the qualities that help define "typical" Long Island merlot. The group, which includes Raphael, Pellegrini Vineyards, Sherwood House Vineyards,…