Southold Farm + Cellars 2014 “Minor Threat” Cabernet Franc

Dry rose has never been more popular, but Southold Farm + Cellar co-owner and winemaker Regan Meador hasn’t made one in his label’s two vintages to date — but not because he has anything against the now-trendy style. “I’ve never made one before, for one,” he said when I asked him why he hasn’t made one yet, adding ” But, I wanted to explore a different side of cab franc. There’s a lot of good examples of rose cabernet franc, but I would rather see where else the variety could go.” Enter Southold Farm + Cellar “Minor Threat” Cabernet Franc…

Weekly New York Wine News — June 8, 2015

Photo via Fox Run Vineyards This week’s New York wine news features MLB “in your reserve” list, praise for the Finger Lakes and Long Island scenes, and cold-climate viticulture gaining ground. NEWS Syracuse.com – 6/2/2015 Anthony Road Riesling is on the wine roster for the New York Yankees. Dan’s Papers – 6/3/2015 Q&A with Anthony Nappa about living food & wine on the east end of Long Island. Cleveland.com – 6/3/2015 Seneca Lake gets some love from Ohio visitors after a wine and cheese weekend well spent. Saratogian – 6/8/2015 This AP article about cold climate grapes and Ledge Rock Vineyards in the Adirondacks,…

Kontokosta Winery 2014 Rose

Are you getting tired of reading my rose reviews? I hope not. I’m tasting and drinking a lot of new ones every week and you’re gonna read about the best ones here. To be sure, there is a lot of mediocrity in Long Island rose — with a strong dose of sameness. I tasted a tank sample of Kontokosta Winery 2014 Rose, and it’s anything but the same. With a large syrah component (50%), there is a savory herbal-white pepper edge to a core of slightly jammy wild strawberry fruit flavor. Mouth-watering and delicious, this was the first wine I went back to…

McCall Wines 2014 “Marjorie’s” Rose

For several vintages now, McCall Wines’ rose has been a favorite in the Thompson household. It was also made with pinot noir. With the 2013 vintage, McCall added a second rose, adding a merlot-based wine to the lineup. In 2014, the winery’s entire rose production was merlot (I with a small addition of sauvignon blanc). “The pinot noir was a saignee. We wanted greater concentration in our red pinot noir without over-handling the wine. 2014 was such a stellar vintage that we didn’t need to do saignee. We would rather make the full amount of good-vintage pinot noir,” said Brewster McCall.…

Weekly New York Wine News — June 1, 2015

Planting a new block of cabernet franc at Robibero Winery Our news editor, Todd Trzaskos is busy working on his book (more on that soon!) so Lenn is filling in this week. Check out my not-as-good-as-Todd work. NEWS NorthForker – 5/26/2015 Shinn Estate Vineyards has blended and bottled the house wines for One World Trade Center Evening Tribune – 5/26/2015 New York Wine and Grape Foundation President Jim Trezise, looks back on this 30 years at the helm Examiner.com – 5/29/2015 Arrowhead Springs increases vine plantings by 10,000 MPNNow.com – 5/29/2015 New York Wine & Culinary Center rolls out its…

New York Cork Club: June 2015 Selections

We’re getting ready to ship the June 2015 wines for the New York Cork Club, so I wanted to tell you a bit about them. (If you missed our announcement about the rebirth of New York Cork Club, check it out here.)In the next week or so, members will get:Element Winery 2011 Syrah ($36) — Wow. This wine pushes the boundaries of what we want to include price-wise, but it’s so limited (90 cases) and so delicious (think Northern Rhone meets Finger Lakes) that we just had to include it. Bellwether Wine Cellars 2014 Dry Rose ($16) — A blend of cabernet franc, gamay…

Anthony Nappa Wines 2014 Anomaly White Pinot Noir

I consider this wine a rose, though winemaker Anthony Nappa often refuses to call it one when we talk, preferring to call it a white pinot noir. Some years it’s whiter than others, but I consider it a rose regardless of color because of how it drinks — like a rose. Anthony Nappa Wines 2014 Anomaly ($20) is made with pinot noir grown both in the Finger Lakes and on Long Island because Nappa thinks that “a combination of New York’s two most prominent winegrowing regions complements each other and brings nice balance to this wine.” Unlike so many marketing messages in the wine world, I…

Terence Daly Joins NYCR Beer Desk

There was a time in this site’s history when we tried to cover every corner of New York’s exciting and ever-changing food beverage industry. We had an entire team of beer writers. We even had some food writers along the way. Then I decided to scale back and focus almost exclusively on wine — with Gibson sticking around writing beer reviews for us here and there. That was the going-forward plan until I got to talking with my friend Terence Daly the other day. I met Terence when we were both working at Brewology. He drove and continues to drive…

Weekly New York Wine News — May 25, 2015

Photo via Shinn Estate Vineyards  New York wines still sweeping up awards, a new winery restaurant, new winery owners, and a new association on the East End of Long Island — plus new things on the horizon in the Finger Lakes. NEWS Albany Times Union – 5/18/2015 New York Wines take home close to 150 awards at the recent Tasters Guild International Wine Competition, including six Double Golds by unanimous vote of the judging panels. New York Times – 5/20/2015 Found among a list of new resto action in the metro and Long Island look for WÖLFFER KITCHEN on Main Street in Sag…

Harbes Vineyard 2014 Dry Rose

I’ve been tasting a lot of Long Island rose over the past few weeks — both because it’s the season and because I was researching a story that will be published in the Long Island Wine Press next month. Like any category, Long Island rose is always a mixed bag. There are wines that you know will always be good, regardless of vintage. There are wines you always want to be good, but underwhelm. And then there are the wines that surprise you — either in a good or bad way. Harbes Vineyard 2014 Dry Rose ($18) was a pleasant surprise…