I absolutely love cooking with fire and this weekend, Nena and I are hosting what will probably be our biggest party of the summer. It’s only 13 people, but with all that we have going on these days, it seems pretty big anyway. Now, I don’t plan dinner parties that are anywhere near as ellaborate as the Obsessed One, but I do try to introduce our sometimes culinarily-challenged friends to some new things every time out (while keeping some old standards around as well). So, I do a fair amount of menu planning ahead of time — and one certainly…

When Vincent Galluccio took over Gristina Vineyards in 2000, it would have been easy to eliminate the Gristina name completely. But, with an eye towards tradition Jerry Gristina had built upon founding the vineyard in 1984 and reverence for the past, many Galluccio-produced wines still bear the Gristina name and label. For the most part, these are the winery’s everyday wines — some tasty, some not. The most interesting wines in the portfolio are labeled Galluccio, with two further labeled Cru George Allaire — named for Mr. Galluccio’s father in law. Despite fermentation in French oak and 14 months of…

Looking for a fun, creative summer picnic menu? Head over to the Gilded Fork and check out Mark Tafoya’s latest menu, with wine recommendations by yours truly. The flavors in this menu are incredibly fresh and so are the wines I recommend. Check out the menu.

It’s amazing the issues that arise when one’s wife is pregnant. Until we found out about the baby-to-be, we’d typically drink wine with dinner — we are wine lovers after all. I still do so because I’ve got a lot of wine I need to taste for my various writing outlets, but Nena obviously can’t. So, we’ve been looking for alternatives. There’s a lot less out there than you’d think. Soda? Too sugary and fake-sweeteners are no good for pregnant women. Verjus? There are a couple local wineries who produce this unfermented juice from half-ripe grapes. Nena like it on…

As I said earlier this week, Roanoke Vineyards is, first and foremost, a red wine winery. Cabernet sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties rule, but this spring, they released their first white wine — a $17 chardonnay — in response to tasting room demand. 60% barrel fermentation brings freshness while 40% fermentation in barrel brings depth and a softness. Refreshing apple and Asian pear aromas lead to a well balance palate that blends apple and melon flavors with richer, more tropical notes. Nice acidity brings balance to this wine and makes it perfect for summer drinking. This is a style that…

This weekend on Hamptons.com my Corks of the Forks column focuses on Waters Crest Winery and winemaker Jim Waters’ 2005 releases. Jim is one of the friendliest, most charming people on Long Island’s East End and his riesling is usually one of my favorites. As you’ll see, the riesling seemed a bit off when I tasted it (two bottles) but it’s possible that it was still a little bottle shocked. I’ll definitely taste it again this fall — probably at Thanksgiving because I like it with Turkey. Read Corks of the Forks for more information.

Well, dear readers, it appears that the LENNDEVOURS team is going to be expanding — on or around February 1, 2007 to be more specific. That’s right, the Thompsons are expecting and the woman behind the man behind the blog is doing quite well following her 12-week sonogram. Currently the little guy/girl is somewhere between the size of a fig and a lime and growing every single day. Needless to say, we are beyond happy/excited/thrilled. Of course, it has also changed things here in the Thompson household quite a bit already. As Nena nears the end of the first trimester,…

When Rich and Soraya Pisacano opened their Roanoke Vineyards tasting room in the fall of 2004, their only Roanoke-labeled wine was a stellar 2000 merlot that is — sadly — long gone. To fill in the tasting room menu, they poured wines from Atwater Estate Vineyards in the Finger Lakes and Wolffer Estate on the South Fork, where Rich serves as vineyard manager. What started with that lone merlot has grown into an impressive portfolio of wines, including two distinctly different Bordeaux-style blends, a hard-to-find cabernet sauvignon, a fresh-but-intriguing chardonnay and an extremely popular rose. Rich has been tending vines…

The LENNDEVOURS family garden isn’t doing as well as I would have liked. Unfortunately (for gardening anyway) our back yard is mostly shaded, and I am not sure that our tomatoes are getting enough sun. They are growing fine, but they don’t have any buds/flowers yet. On the other hand, our cukes are doing okay so there may be some pickles in the future. What might be the most interesting part of the garden is something I didn’t even plant. We have a ton of wild raspberry bushes along our fence line. So Nena picked one over the weekend and…

It is with mixed emotions that I announce that I’ve decided to leave Wine Sediments — the wine wing of the WellFed blog network.  There are some extremely talented people involved and I was proud to be a part of it. But, real life (and other writing projects) has forced me to step down as a contributor. I wish the rest of the team and the entire network good luck in the future. Hopefully they’ll hit it big, get rich and I’ll be left feeling like the fifth Beetle. But fear not, my 50 States 50 Wineries 50 Weeks project…