Posts Written OnSeptember 2008

This is sad news, but Vintage NY (a wine shop that sells only NY wines) has closed the doors of its SoHo location, and the neighboring NY wine-only wine bar. Emails to one of the owners has gone unreturned, but as I can get more information, I’ll share it. For now, the other location remains open, as does their Rivendell Winery location upstate. UPDATE: I received an email from co-owner Robert Ransom today. In it he told me: "Sadly it is true that we have been forced to close our Soho operations.  Our closing one of our locations, however, is…

Last week, our resident photographer, Ellen Watson, visited Channing Daughters Winery to document the pinot grigio harvest. She got some great pictures:

Morgen McLaughlin, president of the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association, sent me a note last night telling me that Dave Whiting, winemaker at Red Newt Cellars, is doing a harvest blog for the Wine Specator this harvest season. Unfortunately, you need to be a paid subscriber to see the blog (beyond a free trial anyway) but for those of you with memberships, you should check out the blog. If only we could get more winemakers from New York blogging, on WS or otherwise!

Last Thursday, I took part in the the third edition of Twitter Taste Live event, hosted by Bin Ends, and it was just as fun as the previous edition. For those who don’t know, TTL is a virtual wine tasting even conducted via Twitter. Basically, bloggers and other wine lovers get their hands on the same set of wines and taste them together online. This time around, the wines came from Michel-Schlumberger in Sonoma County, California.  The co-host was wine blogger Megan of Wannabe Wino. We tasted four wines from M-S’s portfolio: 2006 Chardonnay "La Brume" ($29.60): This one really…

Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards is a North Fork producer that just doesn’t get enough credit… and I’m not sure why. Actually, that’s not true. I know exactly why, I just don’t necessarily agree with the reasons. Winemaker Adam Suprenant makes a great value sauvignon blanc, one of my favorite Long Island pinots in recent memory, and consistently good (and often better than that) Bordeaux variety reds. Those are the wines that I think of when someone asks me about the winery. They deserve the attention and the focus. But to many, wines like ODW’s Strawberry Wine, Spice Wine, Peach Wine and…

Writer David Schildknecht has reviewed some New York wines for the August issue of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, with several wines scoring well once again. You may remember that Schildknecht rated many Long Island wines highly a couple years ago, so this isn’t the first time he’s come away impressed with New York wines. I really enjoy Schildknecht’s writing and of all the critics out there, his is more like my own that anyone else I think.This time around, three wines received 89-point scores: Channing Daughters Winery 2007 Sauvignon Blanc The Grapes of Roth 2007 Riesling (read my review) Lamoreaux…

Just a few notes this morning, though I think you’ll be seeing more about the first two items here on LENNDEVOURS this week. The kudos for Finger Lakes Region riesling just keep coming, this time in a report by James Molesworth of the Wine Spectator. Several wines did well, even if personally, I’ve found the 07 rieslings inconsistent. It was a super hot year in the region and some of the trademark acidity seems to be missing from some wines. I’d point you to the WS piece online, but I don’t expect you to pay to read it. Instead, you…

By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent Last week I had the pleasure to attend the grand opening of the Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel which has been in operations since July. The hotel is located on the waterfront in the Village of Watkins Glen with a commanding view of the deep blue waters of Seneca Lake as it stretches north from its southernmost point. The hotel staff was kind enough to give me a tour of the facility and some of the rooms. The decor is striking throughout, with strong elements of wood and stone. The rooms invoke what I would…

By Melissa Dobson, Finger Lakes News Correspondent The warm afternoon sun shone brightly on the crowd of media gathering in the tasting room of Fox Run Vineyards along the northwest side of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes on Wednesday, September 17, 2008. Behind the tasting bar, a large sign announced the news garnering all of this attention: Fox Run is a Wine & Spirits Magazine 2008 Winery of the Year. Owner and Finger Lakes wine advocate Scott Osborn circulated and invited guests to indulge in a spread of hors d’oeuvres prepared by resident chef Frank Caravita.  As the press…