Posts Written OnOctober 19, 2009

Visit a winery during the harvest season and you're bound to find beer — often a keg. Well, after putting together this week's What We Drank, it is clear to me that it must be harvest season — even the wine writers are drinking beer. From Bryan Calandrelli: Ithaca Brewing Company Cascazilla Red Ale They say it takes a lot of beer to make good wine. Well I'm following their advice this week with all the crushing, punching down and pressing going on. My fellow Niagara NYCR contributor enthusiastically recommended Ithaca Brewing Co.'s Cascazilla Red Ale. With a sweet Irish…

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor If you get the sense that most Finger Lakes growers and winemakers would prefer never to see a vintage similar to this one again, you might also get the idea that Fox Run Vineyards winemaker Peter Bell enjoys the challenge. An answer man who is one of the most respected in the region, Bell is not trying to spin 2009 into 2007 or 2008. "This is a challenge," he said this weekend as the winery continued its typical frantic harvest pace. "Sugars are a bit low and acids are a bit high. But if…