Posts Written OnMay 2006

This week in Corks of the Forks, I travel to Sherwood house Vineyards’ tiny lil tasting room (pictured at right) in Mattituck. It might be a small room, but the wines certainly aren’t small on flavor. They make some of the best Burgundian-style chardonnay on the North Fork and I like their Old World-style merlot as well.

Because a man (or woman) can’t live on local wine alone, join me in welcoming Donavan Hall to the LENNDEVOURS team. A Rocky Point, NY resident, Donavan is going to be covering the under-appreciated local beers of Long Island and New York State. He already covers the beer scene for several online publications including The Spirit World, A Good Beer Blog, and his own blog Catch & Release. If you are thirsty for Long Island brewed beer, check out his Long Island Beer Guide. He’s also an avid home brewer, Long Island wine lover and, yes, LENNDEVOURS reader. Welcome, Donavan…and…

Friday night (more on that in a moment) I smoked my first pork shoulder. I bought a 9 lb. picnic shoulder not knowing that most pit master prefer the "butt" portion of the shoulder to the picnic. But (pun intended) I had what I had…and it turned out delicious. I started by trimming off quite a bit of fat (not all of it mind you) and the skin on the lower portion of the roast. I don’t have a scale that goes high enough to weigh this size roast, but I’m guessing I took at least a pound or two…

…what is going on in the kitchen. And when the beagle wants to know something, you best tell him. Seriously, he’s a tough dog. He’ll mess you up. (Okay, so maybe he won’t. Maybe we’ve never even heard him growl, let alone seen him bite anyone. Maybe he’s a big softy who likes nothing more than to cuddle with Nena on the couch every night. He still wants to knw what is going on in the kitchen — so just tell him, okay?)

Merlot is clearly the king of Long Island wine. Sometimes it’s the only grape we hear about. It’s the most planted variety and, in the hands of the best winemakers, consistently leads to many of the region’s best wines. But what else is out here on the East End? Sure, there’s a bay full of chardonnay, made in any number of different styles, and there’s cabernet franc, the often-dismissed variety of Bordeaux. But the wines that too often get lost in the tasting shuffle are the delectable dessert wines. Think you don’t like dessert wines because they are too sweet/heavy/syrupy/high…

This week on Wine Sediments my virtual tasting tour of America takes me to Altus, Arkansas to taste the wines of Chateau Aux Arc. The name comes from the original French name for the Ozarks and I tasted four of winemaker Audrey House’s white wine offerings. Read more about them.

I’m happy to announce that Grand Cru Classes, founded by LENNDEVOURS reader Jared Skolnick and his wife Tracy Kamens will be teaching their first wine classes starting June 10. Because their own facility, formerly the Catapano Goat Farm (which is in the process of relocating), isn’t quite ready, they will be teaching their classes at various North Fork wineries, including Bedell Cellars, Castello di Borghese and Martha Clara Vineyards. In June, the are starting with their Wine Discovery Series, which will provides students with a solid foundation in the basics of grape growing, wine making and tasting technique and can…

For the first course of our Old Home + Fresh Wine Stormhoek wine dinner, my mother in law, known as MIL, cooked up a delicious, flavorful goat cheese tart to pair with Stormhoek’s equally delicous 2005 Sauvignon Blanc. First, the recipe for the tart: MIL’s Goat Cheese Tart 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board Kosher salt 13 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water 3/4 cup chopped shallots (3 to 4 shallots) 10 1/2 ounces garlic-and-herb soft goat cheese (recommended: Montrachet} 1 cup heavy cream 3 extra-large eggs 1/4 cup chopped…