Okay, I've finally done it — my first video tasting note. The video quality, admittedly, isn't great for much of the clip, but now that I know my Flip Mino doesn't handle closeups very well, we'll work on that. Maybe I'll even appear on camera one day. For now, I'm just learning the best way to use the camera. The name New York Wine TV is obviously a working one as well — pretty boring. But, I want to get more video on LENNDEVOURS and this is one way to do it. I also know that Evan is at a…
Posts Written OnMay 2009
The LENNDEVOURS Tasting Table (May 30, 2009)
Here are the quick-hit reviews for wines that I tasted this week that didn't make it into full reviews: Channing Daughters Winery 2007 Clones ($29): Blend of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, Aligote, Gewurztraminer and Semillon. Honey-roasted apple, vanilla and brown spice on the nose. Medium-full on palate. Tastes like apple pie with spicy lees character. Juicy and mouth-filling, more about the spice flavors than fruit, but nuanced and well balanced by acidity. Rating: (3 out of 5 | Recommended) Fulkerson Winery 2007 Traminette ($12): VERY floral on the nose. Huge rose petal aromas with sweet grapefruit and underripe peach. Medium body…
Brooklyn Oenology 2007 Viognier
By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher Alie Shaper, proprietor and winemaker for Brooklyn Oenology, doesn't own a vineyard. She buys her fruit from growers all over the North Fork. She doesn't own a winery either. She makes her wines at Premium Wine Group, Long Island's original custom-crush facility (a new one has opened since). What she does have is an "urban winery" story, some great (removable) labels designed by Brooklyn artists, and a desire to make quality wines at fair prices. The fruit for this Brooklyn Oenology 2007 Viognier ($18) was purchased from Martha Clara Vineyards, one of only a…
Hermann J. Wiemer 2007 Dry Riesling
By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher One should never assume that the wineries with the best reputations make the best wines. In fact, I'm often skeptical of these "best" wineries. Sometimes wineries that worked hard to earn their reputations rest on their laurels a bit, feeling as though they've arrived at the pinnacle of the industry. Others never truly earned their place at all, instead relying on superior marketing and public relations. Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard, on the western side of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York is one winery that not only earned its reputation…
Announcing TasteNY: A Virtual Exploration of New York Wine, Beer and Spirits
By Lenn Thompson, Publisher and Editor Hot on the heels of the hugely successful TasteCamp project, I'm happy to announce yet another way for me to share the wines I write about with the greater blogging community — TasteNY. The concept, again, is simple. Quarterly (that's the plan anyway) I'll hand-pick a set of New York-made wines, beers or spirits and get them into the hands of a small group (10-12) bloggers. Participating bloggers needn't promise to write about them, and there certainly isn't a ticking clock — the bloggers can taste the wines whenever they'd like. The only thing…
Atwater Estate White and Greene Grape Wine on WPIX
My friend, and partner in the New York Cork Club, Amy Bennett from Greene Grape Wine appeared on WPIX-11 yesterday morning to discuss budget-friendly wines. I was GOING to embed the video here, but the WPIX site won't let me do it without including advertisements that they have sold and are making money on. You can check it out here if you'd like though. I'm proud to say that one of the wines she took with her, Atwater Estate's NV Estate White was a New York Cork Club selection long ago and has been in the shop ever since. Amy…
Heron Hill Winery 2007 Semi-Dry Riesling
By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher Heron Hill Winery is one of many Finger Lakes wineries that try to appeal to a wide audience. On one hand, winemaker Thomas Laszlo makes a couple of my favorite Finger Lakes rieslings. He also makes some delicious dessert wines. Anything designated "Ingle Vineyard" can be counted on for deliciousness as well. On the other hand, not every tasting room visitor is going to drop $30 for the reserve riesling, so he also makes a pile of mediocre wines, some under the "Game Bird" label. Those wines are all under $15 and appeal to…
New Weekly Feature: What We Drank
It seems like we're always trying new things here on LENNDEVOURS, and here is yet another (I hope) weekly feature that should be a lot of fun — What I Drank. In a nutshell, I've asked each of the site's contributors to send me a quick note on Sunday night/Monday morning telling me about a wine (or other beverage) that they tasted over the weekend that stood out. It won't necessarily be the best wine they tasted though. It could be the most interesting, the most unique, a new wine that either impressed or disappointed. Oh, and the wine needn't…
The LENNDEVOURS Tasting Table (May 22, 2009)
By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher One of the things that I always struggle with is how to get more wines, more reviews, onto LENNDEVOURS. To make the time to write full reviews of everything I taste, I'd have to quit my day job, move out of my house and leave my family. I'd be living on the street and miserable, but hey, I'd be publishing more reviews. To address this challenge, I'm going to try a something I'm calling the LENNDEVOURS Tasting Table, where I'll give quick-hit reviews of the wines I tasted in the past week that didn't…
Wines of Chile Online Tasting: Because Man Can’t Live on Only New York Wines
The lineup for the Wines of Chile Online Blogger Tasting (minus the sauvignon blanc) On Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of joining a group of bloggers for an online tasting of eight Chilean wines, organized by Wines of Chile. It was the first online tasting that I've taken part in that included live streaming video of winemakers (who were down in Chile). I've been on a lot of video conferences and similar things in my day job, and I have to admit that the technical portion of the tasting wasn't great (there are better video conferencing services available). Of…