By New York City Correspondent Sasha Smith I’d been waiting for last Tuesday’s class for a long, long time. Finally, I was going to learn to love Bordeaux. Of course I’ve always appreciated it and held it in high regard, and its primacy is self-evident; it’s tough to argue against the greatness of Bordeaux, the same way you can’t refute the fact that Citizen Kane is a cinematic masterpiece or Crime and Punishment is a darn good book. But just as Orson Welles and Dostoyevsky leave me cold, Bordeaux has never been a personal favorite. I was sure I was…
Posts Written OnJanuary 2008
canvas Magazine’s February Issue is Out
As many of you know, I run the website for canvas Magazine, a Huntington, N.Y.-based magazine that focuses on sustainable, "green" life on Long Island an beyond. One of my best friends, Matt O’Grady is one of the publishers, so I’ve been helping them out for a little over a year now. But this February issue, which just hit the streets, is one that I’m particularly proud of because the new editor, Diana Murphy, and have been working great together and this issue shows it. If you look at the cover of the magazine this month, you might recognize that…
Three Quick Sips
I have a few things to catch up on here on the blog today. There always seems to be more going on than we have time to write about, doesn’t there? First, on a personal note, I’d like to wish our little guy, Jackson, a happy first birthday. A year ago today, at 5:17 p.m., he joined our budding family and life will never ever be the same again. All the sleepless nights, diaper changes, food spit up on clothes, etc. has been more than worth it. Seriously. He’s what keeps me going when I don’t feel like staying up…
Wine Chick Wednesday: Come On. Get Happy!
Happiness is a tricky thing. It’s quite the elusive noun because it’s not tangible, like a xylophone. It’s not visible, like a shadow. You can’t even hear it, like a Carpenter’s song. (And I’ve only just begun.) Although we certainly know when we’re unhappy, happiness can sometimes just ease in and ease back out. Sure, a big ol’ dose of it can be caused by your recent Anthropology spree/Himalayan trek/supafly booty call, but often we just coast along, somewhat dis/content and try to grasp at that greased pig we call happiness. Thankfully, there’s Happy Hour. I don’t know what genius…
Farm to Chef, Field to Table at the Astor Center This Thursday (1/31)
I get invited to a lot of wine and wine-related events. Many of them are in New York City, so I can rarely attend them, and frankly, few of them are interesting enough that I’m going to take off of work and hop on a train. Then there are events like the one the Astor Center is hosting the evening of Thursday, January 31: Farm to Chef, Field to Table: An Intimate Dinner with Chef Michael Anthony and Peter Kaminsky. I’m excited about this event because it was designed to celebrate the great bounty of our particular corner of the…
Sunday Baby Blogging: Jackson’s 1st Birthday Party
LENNDEVOURS’ junior editor, Jackson, turns one on Thursday. But, because the weekend after his birthday is Super Bowl weekend, we had his party this past Saturday. A good time was had by all…especially the guest of honor.
Announcing: Wine Blogging Wednesday Logo Contest
The trusty Wine Blogging Wednesday logo that you see here has served us well. It’s been plastered all over the blogosphere, appearing on participant sites, host blogs and over on WineBloggingWednesday.org. But, as everyone’s favorite virtual wine tasting event enters its 42nd edition, I think it’s time for a change. With that in mind, I’m excited to announce the new Wine Blogging Wednesday Logo Contest, which starts today and will run until March 31, 2008. At any point during that time, you can submit your logo idea via email to winebloggingwednesday@gmail.com. Once we’ve collected all of the submissions, we’ll post…
Wine Blogging Wednesday #42 Announced: Just 7 Words
Can you write a 7-word wine tasting note? I’m not sure that I can, but I’ll have to try for Wine Blogging Wednesday #42, hosted by Andy of Spittoon. For this edition, he wants us to taste an Italian red wine (no further restrictions) and write a tasting note using only 7 words. This should be a fun one and it will no doubt be interesting to read through all the submissions. The wine blogger from England has a few caveats for this 7-word note, however: "The finished tasting note must make sense, be grammatically correct(ish), punctuation will help of…
WTN: Raphael 2002 First Label Merlot (North Fork of Long Island)
Editor’s Note: Yes, I do still write for my blog. When Richard Olsen-Harbich, winemaker at Peconic’s Raphael, started his winemaking career, it was in the Finger Lakes region of central New York. As you all know, the Finger Lakes region is best suited — and best known — for its aromatic white wines, particularly riesling. Much of the time, the classic red varieties of Bordeaux struggle to ripen in central New York. Some wineries make wines like merlot and cabernet sauvignon anyway, but many of the better ones are made using fruit (or bulk wine) grown here on Long Island.…
Diploma Dispatches: My first WSET Diploma Unit 3 Class
By New York City Correspondent Sasha Smith And so it begins. I had my first Diploma Unit 3 wine class last week, and I’m already feeling overwhelmed. The Good News: I’m not the only person who isn’t in the wine business. I was a little worried that the class would be wall-to-wall sommeliers and importers, but there’s a small contingent of civilians like me. From a purely selfish perspective that’s good news as it makes me feel less self-conscious, but I think it will be goodfor the class, too. In my experience from previous courses, WSET students tend to overlook…