Posts Written OnMarch 24, 2009

Windham Vineyards 2008 Estate Select Frontenac Gris

Earlier this week, I introduced you to Windham Vineyards and the unique hybrid grape St. Pepin. Today, I've got another new-to-me grape to talk about: Frontenac Gris. Wikipedia doesn't have a specific listing for Frontenac Gris (just Frontenac), but I was able to dig up a little information about it on the University of Minnesota site (where it was developed): Frontenac gris, the white wine version of Frontenac, started as a single bud mutation yielding gray (thus named gris) fruit and amber-colored juice. The vine exhibits the same optimum growth characteristics as Frontenac, and requires the same cultural practices. Arching…

Book Review: The Billionaire’s Vinegar

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Correspondent The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace is, quite simply, the fastest and most enjoyable wine-themed book I've ever read. It is not, to use a rather nebulous term, the "best" book about wine I've read — that distinction rests with Neal Rosenthal's Reflections of a Wine Merchant — but it reads like fabulous and fabulist fiction, and that's a real credit to the author, considering it's not fiction at all. The Billionaire's Vinegar tells the story of the most infamous bottle of wine ever sold, but it tells much more than that. In fact,…

Bedell Cellars: A Trip to the (Wine) Library

Four library reds at Bedell Cellars Bedell Cellars is one of the true jewels of the North Fork wine industry. You have history — it was founded in 1980 by Kip Bedell who still serves as founding winemaker. You have an influx of new capital — the result of Michael Lynne purchasing the winery in 2000. And you have terrific wines coming out of a state-of-the-art winery and modern tasting room. One thing seems to be a constant through the many changes Bedell Winery has gone through in recent years — quality wines that are among the region’s best. On…

Red Tail Ridge Winery: A Different Kind of Investment

By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent While the basic strategy for opening a functional winery differs from region to region, in the Finger Lakes the trend seems to follow a path that calls for the opening of the tasting room first with production facility and vineyard coming later. While this might be a generalization of sorts, it makes sense in many respects. Nearly 75% of wine sales in the Finger Lakes occur on site; many larger wineries lease production space; and a vineyard takes quite a few years to produce grapes. A winemaker or entrepreneur can purchase grapes, make wine at a different…