By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Photos courtesy of Jamesport Vineyards Getting in touch with winery owners and grape growers is always a challenge this time a year. They've got more pressing (pun intended) things to do than respond to the enthusiastic (okay, incessant) requests from me for harvest data. But, little by little, the the reports are coming in, including a few emails from Jake Perdie, tasting room manager at Jamesport Vineyards, owned by veteran grower Ron Goerler. They picked all of their chardonnay last week, at 22.5 brix, and 5 tons were sold to Red Hook Winery in Brooklyn. Before…
Posts Written OnOctober 23, 2009
Chautauqua Lake Erie Wine Trail: Not What You Think. Not Too Sweet.
By Julia Burke, Niagara Escarpment Correspondent Though I had to get the Schloss Doepken experience off my chest, it’s only fair that I take some time to report on the other wineries I visited during my trip to the Chautauqua Lake Erie Wine Trail last week. Following the recommendations of winery employees, I visited Sparkling Ponds Winery, Mazza Vineyards, Noble Winery and Johnson Estate Winery. I was pleasantly surprised with several of the wines I tried. It seems many Lake Erie wineries are making drier, more crisp and composed versions of what are traditionally mass-appeal sweet wines such as Catawba…
Brewery Ommegang Hennepin
By Kevin Burns, Beer Columnist After this week's very beer heavy edition of "What We Drank", I decided to review Brewery Ommegang's Hennepin. Hennepin is a Saison-style beer, which is a Belgian style that is also referred to as a farmhouse ale. This is a complex style that is meant to be drank primarily in the summer, but can really be enjoyed year round. I have found that wine lovers take a particular liking to the Saison style, as the nose and body have wine-like earthy tones. Hennepin poured a hazy, golden yellow color with a huge, frothy, white head. The aroma has ripe green apples,…