The New York Cork Report Editors at work during the NYCR 2009 ‘Wines of the Year’ tasting.
Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Lenn Thompson, a proud Pittsburgh, PA native, moved to Long Island
a decade ago and promptly fell in love with the region’s dynamic and
emerging wine industry. An Internet marketing guru by profession, he founded NewYorkCorkReport.com
in early 2004 to share his passion for the wines of New York and give
the region the coverage it deserves. In six short years, the site has
become
the premier source for independent New York wine commentary, reviews
and
news.
Formerly the editor of the Long Island Wine Gazette. a contributor to Edible Brooklyn, and regional editor for Appellation America covering the Long Island and Hudson River Valley regions, Lenn contributes regularly to Edible East End, and is the wine columnist for Hamptons.com and Dan’s Papers in the Hamptons.
An admitted riesling and cabernet franc fanatic, he’s intensely
passionate about drinking local and the many local wine regions of
America.
Lenn lives in Sound Beach, NY with his wife Nena, three-year old son Jackson and trusty beagle, Ben Roethlisbeagle.
>> Read Lenn’s posts | Follow Lenn on Twitter
Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor
Evan, who is writing a book about the winemakers of the
Finger Lakes, first became interested in Finger Lakes wine on his first
trip to the region with his wife-to-be Morgan, whom he met as a student
at Ohio University. Morgan is a Penn Yan native; Evan was born in
Cleveland but has family
in Jamestown, Chautauqua and Buffalo, so the region has always felt
like home.
He’ll be writing about a variety of things on the New York Cork Report, including insights from and stories about the people
behind the wines. He’ll also cover news items on occasion, which is
what he does when he’s not writing about wine. Evan is a morning news
anchor at WHAM-TV and CW-16 in Rochester, where he also serves as a
political correspondent with a focus on state and federal issues.
>> Read Evan’s posts | Follow Evan on Twitter
Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Editor
Bryan
moved to the Niagara Escarpment a couple years ago from New York City,
where he and his then-fiancee spent an almost unreasonable amount of time
driving back and forth from the East End of Long Island on wine-tasting
jaunts.
When he doesn’t have his nose deep in a wine glass, Bryan is a
camera operator/director of photography for network and cable
television shows. He is the author of two wine blogs: Water Into Wino
and Niagrara Escarpment.net, where he writes about the food and wine of New York’s newest AVA.
>> Read Bryan’s posts | Follow Bryan on Twitter | Visit Bryan’s blog
Tom Mansell, Science Editor
Tom is a PhD candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering at Cornell University, studying protein folding in E. coli.
In Spring of 2008, he took a wine chemistry course and has never looked
at wine the same way since. He has taken several courses in the
Viticulture and Enology program at Cornell and is currently enrolled in
a course in Viticulture and Vineyard Management. His blog, Ithacork,
focuses on Finger Lakes wines with an emphasis on the science and
technology of wine production, and gets technical enough for any wine
geek.
His role at the New York Cork Report is to bring a scientist’s
skepticism and insight into the complicated and convoluted world of
winegrowing and winemaking in New York state.
He lives in Ithaca, NY, with his girlfriend Sarah and two degus, Machu and Picchu.
>> Read Tom’s posts | Follow Tom on Twitter | Visit Tom’s blog
Julia Burke, Beer Editor
Julia has lived in the Buffalo, NY area for over ten years. She
discovered her passion for craft beer while in college in Portland,
Oregon, but honed her pint skills as a bartender at the Pizza Plant
microbrew pub in Buffalo, where she educates customers on the many beer
styles of the world. She is also deeply involved in the Niagara
Escarpment wine scene, which means she has something in a glass most of
the time.
Julia enjoys cooking, hiking, traveling and writing, ideally with a beer
or glass of wine in hand. She has spent time in Oregon, Nova Scotia,
Denmark, Ireland, France, China, and South Africa; her areas of special
beer interest include Belgium, Germany, Colorado, eastern South Africa,
and Oregon. Though she loves beers of nearly any style, her favorites
are the homebrews her bar regulars bring her.
A fan of mixing genres, Julia enjoys an occasional pint in the vineyard.
>> Read
Julia’s posts | Follow Julia on Twitter
Ralph DiGennaro, Long Island Restaurant Critic
The former Men’s Style Editor
at the New York Times Magazine and Fashion News Editor at Gentlemen’s
Quarterly, Ralph (Ron) DiGennaro is one of the preeminent voices in
luxury journalism.
Currently a contributing editor to The Affluent
Page, Sommelier Journal, The Tasting Panel and Caviar Affair, his
writing
has also appeared in Esquire, The New Yorker, Departures, Cigar
Aficionado
and a host of other national magazines. He is also a co-author of the
book, Brioni: Fifty Years of Style
(Octavo 1995).
When he is not writing he spends his time picking his
Martin guitar — a glass of Long Island merlot or Oregon Pinot noir never far from reach.
Ron will be writing about Long Island restaurants both in wine country and those outside the AVAs who support the industry.
Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent
Jason
grew up in the Finger Lakes region of
New York and is well acquainted with the area’s geography and history.
His growing passion for wine has led him to explore the emerging Finger
Lakes wine scene. A contributor to the site since April of 2007, Jason is also a writer for Life in the Finger Lakes, a regional interest magazine.
An avid outdoorsman, Jason spends
much of his free time hiking in the Adirondacks, swimming in the Finger
Lakes, and cycling throughout the rolling Central New York
countryside. He is a director at Le Moyne College where he coordinates
community outreach and economic development activities.
Jason lives in Syracuse with his wife Kathleen and their baby daughter Elizabeth.
>> Read Jason’s posts | Email Jason
Kevin Burns, Beer Columnist
Kevin owns The Foaming Head, a great resource for anyone interested in New York beers, and has worked hard to become an emerging voice on the craft beer scene. Kevin is also currently the bar manager at Aroma Thyme Bistro in the Hudson Valley. In 2009, Kevin was a judge on The Matthew Vassar Cup panel at TAP-NY where he helped to select the three best beers in the Hudson Valley.
He graduated SUNY Cortland in 2007 with a B.S. in Sports Management and a B.S. in Business Economics. He is currently working on his M.S. in Business Education at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY.