As many of you know, I spend my days working for one of the world’s largest software companies as the content manager on our Internet marketing team.

It’s a job that I enjoy because I can do it from most anywhere, at most any time of day or night. That offers some level of flexibility which is great when one has a side career in food and wine writing. But, that flexibility hasn’t existed for several weeks (if not longer) because we have a big project, that we’ve been working on for well over a year, that will come to fruition this Friday evening as we launch a new version of our website.

That is why you haven’t heard much from me over the last week or so, and likely won’t hear much until post-launch.

Bloggers, don’t you hate it when your day job gets in the way?

But, a few terrific wines have made working pretty much around the clock a little more bearable of late:

• Roanoke Vineyards 2006 Chardonnay ($18). Really enjoying this as a casual sipper but it has a layer of complexity that the 05 didn’t have. It really brings the best of barrel and steel fermentation together.
• Corey Creek 2006 Rose ($14). Simply put, I’ve had no better rose from the 2006 vintage. Fresh, crisp and flavorful.
• Paumanok Vineyards 2006 Semi-Dry Riesling ($22). One of the best Long Island…no, New York…rieslings that I’ve had recently.Has the right balance between residual sugar, acidity, fruit and minerality. Even some of that tension and electricity I love about German bottles.