Posts Written OnNovember 2007

What are We Drinking for Thanksgiving? What About You?

A couple years ago, I did a story about what Long Island winemakers were planning to eat and drink on Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun and certainly interesting. But this year I want to do something a little bit differently. Instead, I’ve asked each of the people who contribute to LENNDEVOURS to share their plans. We’ve got a diverse group, including a vegetarian. And I also want to know what you are planning for the holiday. Send me an email and let me know. I’ll post as many of them as I get.

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WBW #39: La Mere Boitier Macon-Villages 2004

Finding a Silver Burgundy, as this month’s WBW host asked of us, proved much harder than I ever imagined. True, I didn’t have time to go to my go-to shop for WBW. It’s an hour from our house with traffic. But still, I stopped at two shops on my way home Tuesday evening expecting that I could find something. Strangely, if we were doing Chablis or "gold" Burgundy, I would have several options. Not so for this month’s theme, however. But, it was the lovely and talented Mrs. LENNDEVOURS, who found this bottle of La Mere Boitier Macon-Villages at a…

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I Guess Alice Feiring Doesn’t Like Long Island Wine…Or Hasn’t Tasted Much of It

Alice Feiring (you might know her as the writer behind Veritas in Vino) has written an opinion piece about the World’s Most Overrated Wines for Men.Style.com. So I’m clicking through the piece, expecting to see Beaujolais Nouveau, maybe Aussie shiraz mentioned. I really didn’t know what else would be included. Imagine my surprise when I saw "Long Island Wine" listed with Ms. Feiring saying: "The strawberries, potatoes, and corn grown out on Long Island are world-class. But grapes? Not so much (though you’ve got to give local winemakers credit for their perseverance). The fact is, soils are just too shallow…

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Thanksgiving Wines: Stop Stressing. Drink Local.

I haven’t written about it much lately, but I’m still the wine pairing guru over at the Culinary Media Network (formerly Gilded Fork). Jen and Mark are terrific and supremely passionate about what they are doing. Between the website and the podcasts, there is plenty of food and drink information coming out of the network. Why do I bring this up as part of my LENNDEVOURS Thanksgiving wine column? Well, when Chef Mark sent me his Thanksgiving menu so that I could start working on the pairings, it really hit me: Why do we worry so much about Thanksgiving wine…

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2007 Harvest the Best Ever for Long Island Wine?

Was the 2007 harvest the best ever for Long Island wine? Mark Harrington of Newsday seems to draw that conclusion in his piece today after speaking to a large group of local grape growers and winemakers. I’m working on my own harvest-end report for my East End Oenophile column for Edible East End’s winter issue, but this is a great overview. Harrington should be applauded for asking a variety of industry members rather than just the same old people. He also admits that winemakers and vineyard managers almost always laud the latest vintage, but it does feel different this year.…

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Don’t Forget: Tomorrow is Wine Blogging Wednesday #39

Tomorrow marks the 39th edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the world’s favorite virtual wine tasting event. Neil over at Brooklynguy’s Wine and Food blog is playing host and he’s chosen "Silver Burgundy" as the theme. As has happened the last couple of times out, WBW has snuck up on me again. So, I’ll be heading to a few shops tonight after work in search of an appropriate wine.

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Edible Brooklyn’s Fall Issue is Out

You guys know that I’m a fan of the Edible family of magazines. They always featured good, passionate writing and focus on topics that you just won’t see in the glossy, national pubs. I also write for both the Edible East End and Edible Brooklyn editions, and no matter where my writing career may take me, I’ll never stop contributing to these magazines. They are that important. However, both magazines can be painfully slow when it comes to getting the issues online, but Brooklyn’s latest issue is now up on their site, including my Empire Oenophile column where I focus…

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Wanna See My Rack?

Actually no, you probably don’t. But you might want to see my wine racks. There are actually three places in our house where wine may find itself. Four if you count in our bellies. Head on over to the Flickr group I created to see the three, non-belly places where we store wine.

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WTN: Macari Vineyards 2007 Early Wine (North Fork of Long Island)

Just about every Long Island winemaker and vineyard manager I’ve spoken to in recent weeks has told me that 2007 is going to be a tremendous, classic vintage for Long Island wines. Sure, sometimes winemakers are prone to hyperbole – they do need to sell wine after all – but I trust them this time. We’ve had months of sunny, warm-but-not-hot days with very little rain. Of course, we won’t know for at least several months just how good the white wines of 2007 will be. For the reds, it could be several years. But if you don’t want to…

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