I’ve been visiting Schoharie, NY for four-plus years now. It’s Nena’s home town and we visit every couple of months to get away from the hustle of Long Island (and to visit with family of course). There are a few things that we do almost every time we visit and one of my favorites is our mandatory pilgrimage Nena and her sister both worked at the Carrot Barn growing up and with such a place in town, there’s little need to buy produce at the grocery store. Local vegetables, potatoes, berries and apples are the main draw (for me anyway),…

I’ve written about Channing Daughters Winery several times here at LENNDEVOURS (just use the search function to your left for a list of posts). And while I think most of their wines are over-priced, they do almost always sell out to their wine club — so I guess they are the closest thing to "cult wines" that we have here locally. What I like best about CDW is how they experiment with varietals, blends and yeasts, often using natural yeasts for their chardonnays. Their 2004 "Clones" bottling is one such experimental blend. Composed of 90% chardonnay (11 clones of it:…

Please join us in wishing our little guy, Ben "the Beagle" Roethlisbeagle, a happy birthday! He turns one today (at least we think he does based on the information the shelter gave us). As you can see, he certainly enjoyed the birthday present his aunt Kimberly gave him on Saturday. Tonight he will dine on expertly prepared lamb and rice dog food and non-vintage tap water. But, he will certainly enjoy a few extra treats on his birthday.

Mrs. LENNDEVOURS and I spent last weekend in beautiful Schoharie, NY with her family. It was the first time we’d been home since our wedding in early July. As always, a fun time was had by all — particularly at the now-annual Pumpkin Carving Party. (the one on the far left, with the off-center goatee, was our contribution). In the coming days I hope to bring a bit of Schoharie’s local flavor to LENNDEVOURS, including a review of Sweet Thyme Cafe and a piece about Schoharie Valley Farms — known locally as the Carrot Barn.

If you’re like most Americans, you’ll drink that bottle of wine you bought today within the next few days. In that scenario, how and where you store wine isn’t nearly as important as if you buy a case of Long Island’s  finest Merlot and want to age it over the next decade. If tasting how a wine changes as it spends time aging in the bottle is important to you, how and where you store it is paramount. And yes, there are many wines made locally that are worthy of such aging. First, we all know that wine should be…

As a wine (and food) blog that focuses almost entirely on New York wines, I don’t often find myself getting much pub, but I got an email today from the editors at Top TenSources letting me know that LENNDEVOURS has been chosen as one of the top Internet sources for information on regional wine. It’s pretty cool to be included…and I’m glad to see some of my blogging friends on the list mentioned on the list…and in part one (wine reviews) and part two (wine news & commentary) of the series.

I’ve long been a fan of Finger Lakes riesling (no shock there) gewurtztraminer, and to a lesser extent, chardonnay — but few reds from the region have ever done much for me. They tend to be "green" with simple flavors and less-than-ripe tannins.2005 could change all that. The 2005 growing season was almost universally outstanding throughout New York, and according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo, the Finger Lakes region had its fourth warmest summer in 100 years, making it great for ripening reds in this usually much cooler area. While rain leading up to and during harvest made…

Much has been written in various New York media outlets about the heavy rains Long Island has endured over the past few weeks. At one point, certain locations on the East End received 17 inches of rain in an eight-day period. That is definitely a lot of rain — especially after a summer where we endured near drought conditions (less than two inches over three months). Now, senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton are seeking federal funding assistance for Long Island’s "devastated" wine region. I use quotes around devastated because from what I’ve heard (and seen with my own eyes)…