By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief We'll end our Regional Wine Week reviews this week with a recently released "Super New York" (think Super Tuscan) blend from Hudson-Chatham Winery in Ghent, NY. Hudson-Chatham Winery 2007 Empire Reserve ($22) is the brainchild of owners Carlo and Dominique DeVito, and is made with grapes from three vineyards in New York's three biggest wine regions blended in equal proportions — Long Island merlot, Finger Lakes cabernet franc and Hudson Valley Baco Noir. According to Carlo, "The idea of Empire was to create a wine that was uniquely New York, and attempt to blend vinifera and…
Posts Written OnOctober 16, 2009
Blue Point Brewing Company Oktoberfest
By Kevin Burns, Beer Columnist Last week's review featured a Marzen-style beer and this week is no different. We're being seasonal here, after all. This week I decided to try Blue Point Brewing Company's take on the Octoberfest style. Blue Point's Oktoberfest pours a clear amber color with a thumb's width of off-white head. The nose is pleasant, with a light sweetness and malt underneath strong aromas of bready yeast. The body has pale malt and a light sweetness up front before thinning out a little in the middle. There are faint hops underneath before a mild, dry, yeasty finish.…
The Unique Tasting Room Experience That is Schloss Doepken
By Julia Burke, Niagara Correspondent This week I decided to take a break from my usual Niagara Escarpment stomping grounds and take a trip down to the Chautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Trail. Following the lake forty miles from southern New York into northwestern Pennsylvania, the Chautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Trail includes twenty-one wineries and nearly 30,000 acres of vineyards. A visit seemed long overdue. During my visit I tasted at Quincy Cellars, Sparkling Ponds, Mazza, Schloess Doepken, Johnson Estates and Noble Winery. All were interesting, and I hope to devote a future post to a discussion of their individual merits. However, my…
Indian Summer Finally On the Way: Just In Time or Too Late?
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photo, taken this morning from Heron Hill's riesling vineyard, is courtesy of Heron Hill Winery There is a vital question that will soon be answered in the Finger Lakes: Is it too late for an Indian summer? Next week, meteorologists expect temperatures to soar back into the mid-60s. But we've been mired in the mid-40s for nearly a week. Grapes still on the vine have been hanging tough, though they haven't been adding much sugar. To my surprise, I found a wide range of ideas and opinions about what the vines are capable of…