It’s official: LENNDEVOURS is invading the Bay Area. Everyone’s favorite Long Island wine blogger will be on the left coast from Wednesday, June 21 to Wednesday, June 28. And Nena is joining me for the second half of the trip (once the work portion is complete). I’ll be in all-day conferences Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but Nena arrives aturday and we’re going to celebrate our one-year anniversary a little early and enjoy the Bay Area bounty. Our plan is to stay in Frisco until Tuesday morning, when we plan to check out, get a rental car and drive up to…

This morning over at Wine Sediments, I continue my tour of the 50 states and their wines with a virtual visit to Nyuaka Creek Winery in Oklahoma. You may recognize the namy Nuyaka Creek…that’s because the Oklahoma Wine News blog is run by the owners’ son, Thomas. Come taste with me at Wine Sediments.

As you may have noticed, Eric Asimov’s column (and blog post) today focuses on merlot. He even mentions a locally produced bottling — Lenz 2000 Old Vines Merlot, which I think is one of the best to be had (though pricey at $55 or so). His blog post highlights mainly California merlot, which if you ask me is like talking about the fresh seafood in Indiana. Remember this: Merlot is not dead. She just doesn’t live in California. Living on Long Island and writing so much about its wines, you’d expect me to be fully in merlot’s court, but the…

You have to hand it to Stormhoek, a South African winery — when it comes to marketing, they certainly march to the beat of their own drummer. Marketing disruption they call it. Instead of using any of the traditional methods for getting the word out about their wines, they have decided to provide wine for 100 Geek Dinners throughout the United States to introduce them to the U.S. market. These dinners will be hosted by the people behind the best blogs, forums and websites around. And, as you may have guessed already, I’ll be hosting one of these dinners, along…

We finally did it. I just put my application in the mail to join The Golden Earthworm Organic Farm’s 2006 CSA program. We’re actually sharing a share with some friends of ours (Matt and Tara), just to see how we like it and to make sure we don’t have too much food. Matt, who used to live in the Hudson Valley has some experience with CSA programs up there and he seems to think that sharing a share will be more than enough for us. I’d like to thank our local Stop & Shop grocery story for making this move…

Despite what so many winemakers might lead you to believe, rose wines, also known as "blush" in some circles, needn’t (and I’d argue shouldn’t) be sweet and syrupy like the ocean of ubiquitous white zinfandel coming out of California. As Beau would say — Real Men Drink Pink. I drink rose, partially because I have to review all the local renditions but also because I enjoy many of them. I particularly like the ones made locally from cabernet franc grapes. But more on that another day. Wolffer Estate 2005 Rose ($14) is made in a dry style but is sure…

Tune in to NBC’s The Apprentice tonight at 9 p.m. and get a taste of Long Island wine country right in your living room. Tonight’s episode features Raphael in Peconic and I’m guessing we might even get a peek at winemaker (and LENNDEVOURS contributor) Richard Olsen-Harbich. Raphael has been making plenty of news lately. First they’ll be bottling the first LENNDEVOURS-label wine and now this. I’m not typically a viewer of The Apprentice, but now I guess I’ll have to at least record it on the ole DVR. Tune in and get a glimpse of the wine country I love…

Today marks the first stop on my tour of 50 wineries from all 50 states in 50 weeks. To kick off the journey over at Wine Sediments, I tasted some excellent sparkling wine from Westport Rivers in Westport, Massachusetts. I expect that I’ll taste a wide range of wines (grapes, styles and quality) throughout this virtual tour, but our first stop couldn’t have been better. Check it out, and keep an eye on Wine Sediments for more great writing. I’m just one of several popular bloggers who contribute. 

Hey guess what? I’m not the only one talking up New York wine. I finally got my latest Wine Spectator in the mail (a hearty thank you to all the local winemakers, fellow bloggers and readers who apparently get theirs before me and alerted me to the New York-heavy content this month) and I think the New York coverage, spearheaded by Mitch Frank (who I happen to know reads LENNDEVOURS and who I’ve met in person recently) is nicely done. Mitch is a great guy and writer, and I for one am glad to have him covering the NY wine…

I’ve written before about the wide range of cabernet franc styles one will find while touring Long Island. Some are light and fruity, some are spicier, some are hefty and brooding…but all are aromatic, which is one of the things I like most about this variety. If you’ve visited Long Island’s North Fork or been reading LENNDEVOURS very long, you’re already somewhat familiar with Raphael. Not only do I enjoy their sauvignon blanc, merlot and beautiful tasting room and grounds, winemaker and managing director Richard Olsen-Harbich contributes to this blog. Oh, and you could say that this Raphael 2004 Cabernet…