New York Cork Club February 2016 Selections

Without writing a long essay about what it actually costs to grow grapes and eventually make a bottle of wine that can be sold – many of the things that go into wine are very expensive, and in New York, they are even more expensive on Long Island. Land and labor are the big ones. Why do I bring this up? Well, this month’s selections are both from Long Island, a rarity given the constraints (<$50 plus shipping for two bottles) of this club. It may never happen again, but considering that I live just a short drive from Long…

Continue Reading

New York #Tastemaker: Autumn Stoscheck | Eve’s Cidery

“Tastemaker” is a term typically used to describe a person — either a sommelier or writer in the wine world — who decides what is good, cool or otherwise interesting. With our new regional #Tastemaker profiles, I’ve decided to usurp the term to mean someone who actually makes the wines, ciders, spirits, etc. that we love. A “tastemaker” should make something, after all. I have yet to meet Autumn Stoscheck from Eve’s Cidery in Van Etten, NY, which is roughly 20 miles south of some of the primary wine districts of the Finger Lake region. But through her ciders and a handful of…

Continue Reading

Weekly New York Wine News — February 1, 2016

Snow-covered vines at Macari Vineyards (via Macari Vineyards’ Facebook page) NEWS Finger Lakes Times – 1/25/2016 Interview with Jim Trezise on history and his extended transition out of his position as President of the New York Wine and Grape Council. Napa Valley Register – 1/28/2016 Even in heart of California wine country, the Finger Lakes wines are catching attention, with mention of H.J. Wiemer, Red Tail Ridge and Heart & Hands. NorthForker – 1/26/2016 Waters Crest Winery just a couple of weeks away from opening a new tasting room in Cutchogue. My Vine Spot – 1/27/2016 Dezel Quillen reflects on the…

Continue Reading

From the Archives: Waters Crest Winery — Inspired Winemaking

Editor’s Note: Every Thursday — call it Throwback Thursday if you’d like — we’ll pull a story from the more than a decade of NYCR stories and republish it. This week, I’ve chosen a story I published exactly 11 years ago, on January 28, 2005, about Waters Crest Winery. It seemed appropriate given the fact that Jim Waters will open his new tasting room on Main Road in Cutchogue (picture above) sometime in the next couple of weeks. Jim Waters of Waters Crest Winery in Cutchogue has a great story to tell, one that will touch your heart as well as…

Continue Reading

Long Island Wine Press: At Macari Vineyards, fermentation in an egg

Step into most any Long Island winery — where the wine is actually made, not the tasting room — and you’re mostly going to see two types of vessels: stainless steel tanks and oak barrels. These containers are used for fermenting and aging wine. You’ll find some open-top bins that are used for fermentation too, but barrels and tanks are the cornerstone of any winery’s production facility. Macari Vineyards has a lot of these tanks and oak barrels of different sizes and ages, but they also have something unique to Long Island wine — concrete eggs. Yes. Really. The use…

Continue Reading

New York #Tastemaker: Kareem Massoud | Paumanok Vineyards

“Tastemaker” is a term typically used to describe a person — either a sommelier or writer in the wine world — who decides what is good, cool or otherwise interesting. With our new #NYTastemaker profiles, I’ve decided to usurp the term to mean someone who actually makes the wines, ciders, spirits, etc. that we love. A “tastemaker” should make something, after all. I’ve long respected and appreciated Kareem Massoud, winemaker at Paumanok Vineyards — and not just because his wines are consistently some of the best on the North Fork. It goes well beyond that, actually, no matter how true that statement…

Continue Reading

Weekly New York Wine News — January 25, 2016

The sun sets over Jamesport Vineyards (photo via Ron Goerler’s Facebook page) NEWS VitisGen – 1/12/2016 VIDEO: Dr. Anna Katharine Mansfield, Associate Professor of Enology at Cornell, discusses where color comes from in European and hybrid grapes. Ithaca.com – 1/21/2016 Things may be fairly quiet in wine country during winter, but it’s actually a great time to talk with the producers. NorthForker – 1/21/2016 A peek behind the curtain and a look at what’s cooking inside of Wölffer Kitchen. Finger Lakes Times – 1/25/2016 New hard cider maker fermenting away and prepares to set up a New York beverage shop in Geneva.…

Continue Reading

Long Island Wine Press: Paumanok’s chenin blanc was an ‘interesting accident’

Paumanok Vineyards’ chenin blanc is one of the great mysteries of the North Fork wine world. Why? Because despite all the success the Massoud family — which owns the Aquebogue vineyard —  has had with it, they remain the only Long Island winery to grow or make it. By all accounts, it’s not tricky to work with — at least no more so than any other grape in our sometimes challenging maritime climate. It ripens and performs consistently in the vineyard and doesn’t require unique or special treatment or protocols. Paumanok’s winemakers — first Charles Massoud and now his son Kareem…

Continue Reading

Harbes Vineyard 2013 Chardonnay Ice Wine

At the end of 2015, I promised myself that I’d make an effort to taste as much Long Island chardonnay as possible this year. A string of mediocre wines a few years ago convinced me to more-or-less ignore the category for a while, but that’s not fair. It’s time to take another look, and I’m working on a 2013/2014 chardonnay tasting report for an upcoming issue of Long Island Wine Press. Those reviews will trickle out here on the site over time, but today let’s talk about Harbes Family Vineyard 2013 Chardonnay Ice Wine ($35). It’s not real ice wine —…

Continue Reading

From the Archives: Finger Lakes Riesling: The ABCs of Riesling ABV, or, All About Alcohol

Editor’s Note: Every Thursday — call it Throwback Thursday if you’d like — we’ll pull a story from the more than a decade of NYCR stories and republish it. This week, we look back to a post from November 2009 by Evan Dawson that takes a look at alcohol levels in Finger Lakes riesling — and what consumers want or expect. Are Finger Lakes wine producers insecure about alcohol? It’s a strange question, I realize. But it’s one that came to mind when my wife and I were out to dinner recently. We ordered a bottle of Joh. Jos. Prum 2007…

Continue Reading