Casa Larga's Gallery 155 tre Blanc ($15) is one of the more unique blends I've tasted in a while. And I mean unique in a good way and not just for the sake of being unique. The result of blending 57% Muscat Ottonel, 33% traminette and 10% Gewurztraminer from multiple vintages and vineyards throughout New York State, it offers clean, zesty citrus aromas with intense ginger spice and a faint-but-interesting minty-herbal note. Medium weight, the palate shows more lemon and grapefruit zest with candied ginger and a crisp pear flavors at the end of a long, dry finish. .5% residual…
Posts Written OnFebruary 2009
Judging the Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association’s 5th Annual Hudson Valley Wine Competition
Tonight I have another fun announcement to make. On April 25, I'll be judging the Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association's 5th Annual Hudson Valley Wine Competition. The judging will take place that day at Terrapin in Rhinebeck, NY from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with lunch in there somewhere. Then, on June 12 there is a wine dinner featuring the winning wines. Those are really the only details I have right now, but I'm sure I'll learn more between now and then.
How to Convince Consumers and Restaurants to Buy Local Wine
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Correspondent So how DO you convince consumers and restaurants to buy local wine? I realize the first solution is to offer quality wine. Let's start with the premise that New York wine is of higher quality than many people probably assume. There's a new "Buy Local" campaign afoot in the Finger Lakes, and unlike many well-intentioned but ultimately misguided efforts, this one strikes me as simple and effective. Joanna Purdy created two posters for Fox Run Vineyards, and the posters will be made available to other wineries and organizations that would like to use them…
Sheldrake Point Vineyard Late Harvest Riesling
Sometimes I think that dessert and ice wines are the unsung heroes of Finger Lakes wine country. True, riesling table wines are the shining stars, but there are some terrific sweet wines being made in the region too — many from riesling. Sheldrake Point Vineyard’s Late Harvest Riesling ($20) is beautiful in the glass — a brilliant lemon-yellow and slightly viscous. The nose brings big fruit aromas of peach and pineapple with hints of honey and baking spice. It’s sweet on the palate (8% RS) and there isn’t quite enough acidity for my tastes. Still, it’s far from cloying and…
CellarTracker.com Adds New LENNDEVOURS Channel
Tonight I'm excited to announce that CellarTracker.com has added a new channel to it's list of integrated channels — a LENNDEVOURS channel. That's right, my New York wine reviews will now appear on CellarTracker.com As you can see, the list of channel owners is impressive with publications like Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Lyle Fass of Rockss and Fruit, John Gillman's View From the Cellar, and of course everyone's favorite wine vlogger, Gary Vaynerchuk from Wine Library TV. Best of all, the fine folks at CellarTracker didn't even ask me to join the 100-point scoring wave. My 5-star system remains…
Quick Q&A with Staci Nugent, Winemaker, Keuka Lake Vineyards
This week's Q&A victim is Staci Nugent, the winemaker for Keuka Lake Vineyards in Hammondsport, NY. She's a Finger Lakes native and a studied genetics in grad school, before discovering wine as her true calling. What (and where) was the first bottle of wine you remember drinking? Back in my college days at Cornell, I was a huge fan of the Bartles & James wine coolers. Do they count? I don't remember my first one, but I'm sure something like wild berry was my favorite varietal. My senior year I took the "Introduction to Wines" class and remember being blown…
Martha Clara Vineyards 2007 “Five-O” White
Continuing with the white blend theme from yesterday, today's review is for Martha Clara Vineyards' 2007 Five-O White ($18), yet another wine that displays the potential of these wines for Long island. Winemaker Juan Micieli-Martinez used a bit of every white grape MCV grows for this blend, which is 32% sauvignon blanc, 25% viognier, 15% chardonnay, 10% semillon, 8% riesling, 7% pinot grigio and 3% Gewurztraminer. It might sound like a 'kitchen sink' wine, but don't be fooled. Each grape brings something unique to the table and the result is delicous. The nose is aromatic and somewhat riesling-like with scents…
Bedell Cellars 2007 Taste White
Chardonnay is the most-planted white grape on Long Island, covering around 30% of local vineyard land. That's a lot of chardonnay, relative to the white grape that I think holds the most potential for the region, sauvignon blanc, which covers far less than 5%. That's also a lot of mediocre chardonnay. A lot of chardonnay that (usually) isn't going to do much more than fill the white wine columns on tasting room sheets. Don't get wrong, there are some outstanding, well-made Long Island chardonnays — made both with and without barrels — but Long Island is never going to be…
PALATE Update: Comparative Tasting Co-Hosted by LENNDEVOURS and Atwater Estate
Jason introduced the PALATE festival a couple weeks ago, but I have some exciting news about the upcoming food, wine and art festival in Corning, NY. As part of PALATE's programming, I'll be co-hosting a tasting with winemaker Vinny Aliperti on Wednesday, February 18 at 11 a.m at Atwater Estate Vineyards in Hector, NY. Vinny is Atwater's winemaker and also owns Billsboro Winery in Geneva. We'll be doing a comparative tasting of wines made from the same varieties, from the same years, by the same winemaker — but from different vineyards. It will be interesting to see how the wines…
Upcoming Events in Long Island Wine Country (February 2009)
Some interesting events coming up in wine Long Island wine country this month that are worth noting: Lieb Family Cellars will be doing wine and chocolate pairings at its Mattituck tasting room every Saturday and Sunday in February from noon – 5 p.m. The pairings will include 5 handmade chocolates by Bon Bon Chocolatier in Huntington, NY with five of Lieb's wines. Roanoke Vineyards is releasing its 2005 Merlot over Valentine's Day weekend. On Saturday, they'll welcome Nunu Chocolates to the tasting room to help celebrate and Waterside Caterers will be there on Sunday. I guess this event isn't in…