Merry Xmas from LENNDEVOURS

Nena, Ben, and I wish you and yours the merriest of Xmas seasons and the happiest of all holidays. We’re in upstate New York visiting Nena’s side of the family. We had a delicious Xmas Eve meal last night — with plenty of delicious vino. Of course the bottle that I wanted to share with everyone last night was corked, but we I’ll talk more about that tomorrow. For now, I’m going to enjoy my mother in-law’s homemade apple sausage and a vegetable fritatta. Merry Xmas everyone. Regular blogging will resume tomorrow.

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Come on People, Give till it Hurts (and Win!)

Today is the last day that you can donate to A Menu For Hope, an amazing collaboration of the world’s culinary bloggers. This morning when I checked the donation site, we had raise nearly $39,000 — which means that you have already shattered my expectations. Thank you for your generosity thus far. But, this thing isn’t over people! Donations are being accepted the rest of the day today and there are new prizes being added every day. Many of the Long Island wine-themed prizes I put together only have a handful of people in the running, so your chances of…

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A Long Island Holiday Brew Round-Up

By Contributing Columnist Donavan Hall In the last couple of days I’ve made partial rounds of our Island’s brewpubs to see what the brewers have on tap for us this holiday season.  John Harvard’s in Lake Grove has my favorite locally brewed holiday ale, the Holiday Red.  The best thing about this ale is that it’s fully bodied, malty, and isn’t a spice tea.  You might recall how much I like pumpkin spice ales from my last contribution.  I would probably like spiced beers more if the spices were used more subtly to finesse the beer’s natural flavor rather than…

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Is the Town of Southold Supporting Wineries Like it Should?

I heard through the grapevine this weekend (yes, pun intended) that the Town of Southold is trying to change the way that it taxes orchards, farms and wineries by charging them a separate commercial tax as "processors." So, if an apple orchard just picks and sells apples, it’s not going to be taxed more. But, if they make apple cider for sale at their farm stand, that means a higher tax. Same is true for a corn farmer…if they roast corn to sell at their farm stand, they have to pay more. Seems a little ludicrous to me. And, apparently…

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Last-Minute Gift Guide at canvasli.com

For the first time in my life, I find myself completely done with my holiday shopping and it’s not even December 20 yet. Typically, I’m the guy who waits until today to start his shopping and finishes up around Xmas eve. If you’re I usually am, check out the 2006 canvas magazine holiday gift guide. There are a lot of cool, unique gift ideas and I bet you can order them today and get them just in time.

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Holiday Wine Survival Tips

Ah yes, the holiday season. It overflows with extra food, extra family time and – if we’re lucky – lots of extra drink to get us through that extra family time. Of course it also brings the ubiquitous holiday party as well – thrown by your neighbor, your friends, your boss or, again, your family. This time of year, it seems like everyone I know asks me for suggestions on what wines they should take to all of those parties. Maybe your friends try to serve you koolaid-like white zinfandel or cheap, way-too-simple-for-the-holidays Aussie shiraz with a furry creature on…

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Donate to the United Nations World Food Program — And Win Prizes

Friday is the last day to donate money to A Menu for Hope, so don’t forget to make a donation and put yourself in position to win one of the dozens of great food- and wine-related prizes. It looks like quite a few of the prizes I’ve put together are still ripe for the winning, with only a few people trying for them right now. Every time I read through the prizes again, I’m proud of the generosity on display. Long Island B&Bs have donated nights at their beautiful inns. Wineries are offering wines and private tours that you can’t…

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Take THAT California?

"Yes, California does produce some good merlot, though I could make a case that better merlot is coming from Long Island than from California, albeit in very small amounts." So says New York Times wine writer and wine blogger Eric Asimov in this week’s column "Panned on Screen, Merlot Shrugs and Moves On" Of course, the rest of the column goes on to sing the praises of Washington State as America’s best source for merlot. I’m not as familiar with Washington merlots as I am Long Island ones (obviously) so I’m not going to comment on that. But, that doesn’t…

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Wine Blogging Wednesday #28: Martha Clara Vineyards 2001 Rose Brut (North Fork of Long Island)

Wine Blogging Wednesday is here yet again, with Brenda aka the Culinary Fool playing the role of hostess with the mostest. The theme — Sparkling Wine not from Champagne. I love many of the local sparklers here on Long Island. Our relatively cool growing conditions seem to lend themselves to the craft of methode champenoise. But which bubbly to choose for WBW? A new release caught my eye…and my palate as well. Martha Clara Vineyards, named after Martha Clara Entenmann (of Entenmann bakery fame), might be best known for their always-fun events and always-packed tasting room, but winemaker Gilles Martin…

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Sweetening the pot…

Okay everybody. So far, the bidding on the Menu for Hope prizes I’ve put together has been a little slow. Maybe you’re waiting until the end to see who is trying for what to increase your chances of winning. But…I, and Peconic Bay Winery, have decided to sweeten the pot a bit. So, I’m adding a bottle of the Peconic Bay Winery 2000 Cabernet Franc to the "Big Reds of Long Island" prize and adding a bottle of their 2001 Steel Fermented Chardonnay to the Romantic Weekend prize. Both are library selections that are no longer available anywhere else.Donate people…it’s…

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