By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor Between my love for the grape and of our recent trip to the Finger Lakes (and yes, I know I owe you guys more than a few posts about it), a lot of riesling has found its way into my glass in recent weeks. A lot of riesling. So what did I do when we got back from our trip and pulled wines to taste and review as a part of my weekly lineup? I included yet another riesling: Jamesport Vineyards 2008 Riesling ($30). Long Island riesling tends to be quite different from those…
Posts Written OnJuly 2009
News Brief: Shaw Vineyard Selects Elmira Distributing: Shared Focus on Buy Local, Sell Local
By Melissa Dobson, Finger Lakes News Correspondent A shared passion and commitment to the "buy local, sell local" mindset brought Shaw Vineyard to select Elmira Distributing as its new distribution partner. Shaw Vineyard has a reputation for high-quality wines across their entire line and owner Steve Shaw is happy to be in the company of other wineries in Elmira Distributing's portfolio. Elmira Distributing represents a handful of Finger Lakes wineries, including Atwater Vineyards, Castel Grisch, Sheldrake Point Vineyards and now Shaw Vineyard. Both Shaw and his son, Steve Shaw Jr., respect the roots and good record that Elmira Distributing has…
Cabernet Franc: What We Learned From 656 Glasses of Wine
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photos by Morgan Dawson When the demonstration room at the New York Wine & Culinary Center filled up at 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning, 328 glasses of cabernet franc lit up the amphitheater like strands of single-color Christmas lights. It was a bit daunting for the 42 winemakers, winegrowers, industry professionals, newspaper writers, retailers and bloggers. And that was just the first flight. When the event (get some back story) finally ended three hours later we had tasted through 13 Finger Lakes 2007 cabernet francs, 3 Loire Valley cabernet francs, one Long Island cabernet franc,…
Hunt Country Vineyards 2008 Valvin Muscat
By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Back in mid-June when Evan visited Hunt Country Vineyards, new winemaker Jonathan Hunt singled out Valvin Muscat as the grape he is most excited about working with. At the time, I thought it an interesting, even surprising choice. The Finger Lakes region shows limitless potential with classic aromatic white varieties like riesling and gewurztraminer. Why would a winemaker with long-time family roots in the region choose a hybrid developed by Bruce Reisch at Cornell University that was only released in 2006? Apparently, he truly believes in the grapes potential. And, after tasting this wine…
When it Rains it’s Poor: Challenging Weather, But a Silver Lining
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photography by Morgan Dawson Photography Harvest is coming, and if any winemaker or grape grower tells you that things are right where they need to be in the vineyard, they're spinning like crazy. In basic terms, most growers in the Finger Lakes are anywhere from 10 to 14 days behind ripening schedule. It's not just a lack of heat that has been a problem. The heavy and near-constant June rains put growers in a difficult spot, and July simply failed to dry it out and heat things up. In other words: No pressure, August,…
Bedell Cellars 2008 First Crush Red
By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Too often we get caught up in the idea that every wine has to be mind-blowingly complex, nuanced and age worthy. Sometimes it's good to take a step back and drink a wine that is just plain delicious to drink with your dinner — now, not with any aging the cellar. Bedell Cellars 2008 First Crush Red ($18) is one such wine. You won't find too many 2008 reds released already, but this one doesn't see a splinter of oak in its creation, and it's probably at its best right now. Is this a…
Preparing to Examine 2007 Cabernet Franc From the Finger Lakes
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Tomorrow is an exciting and important day for cabernet franc and the Finger Lakes. I've helped to organize a cabernet franc tasting at the New York Wine & Culinary Center (NYWCC). 16 wines will be tasted — some from the Finger Lakes and some from other cabernet franc-producing regions. The wines will be divided into two flights of 40 minutes each. We will then reveal the wines and their scores from the participants. Following the tasting, the NYWCC will serve a sure-to-be excellent lunch, where we'll pour a non-blind flight of reserve cab francs…
A Return to Regular Programming
By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief After almost two weeks of traveling and another almost-week digging out at work and at home, we'll get back to daily posts here on the blog including a return of the daily New York wine review, a few notes about some of the great meals we enjoyed and posts from our visits to: Ravines Wine Cellars Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars (where the picture above was taken) Red Newt Wine Cellars Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard Heart & Hands Wine Company We had a great duo of vacations, and now that we've recovered for them, it's…
Saranac Imperial IPA
By Kevin Burns, Beer Columnist Saranac Imperial IPA is produced by the F.X. Matt Brewing Company and Saranac brand stirs up mixed feelings amongst the many self-proclaimed "beer geeks." While all knowledgeable beer fans recognize the contributions that the Matt family have made, there are some who love this line of beer and others who think the line is nothing more than average. This particular beer pours a dark amber color with a finger width, off-white head. The aroma is sort of cloudy, with nothing more than muddled hops and malt showing through. The body has some malt up front with…
What We Drank (7/22/09)
"What We Drank" is back after a one-week hiatus (caused purely by my hectic travel schedule). As always, we have a diverse grouping of submissions this week. Shockingly, no New York wines made the cut this week! Lenn Thompson: Bois de Boursan 1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Last weekend, we tasted a lot of wine in the Finger Lakes. And I mean a lot. Enough that by Saturday evening, Nena and our friends C and A were a little worn out I think. But, with Evan and Morgan coming to the house we rented for dinner (and more wine) everyone bucked…