By Julia Burke, Niagara Escarpment Contributor What happens when winemakers and winery employees get together to hang out during harvest? They drink beer, of course. And since wine people love to talk about “new world” versus “old world,” and since I’m fascinated by the intersections of the wine and beer scenes, I thought I’d throw a little beer tasting party to test the waters. After a long day of picking cabernet franc I collapsed on the couch with some of my favorite Niagara Escarpment winemakers and winery employees and enjoyed a lineup of five beer styles in their European and…
Posts Written OnOctober 30, 2009
Rooster Hill Vineyards 2007 Estate Cabernet Franc
By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Why do I taste wines over the course of at least two days before giving final ratings? Wines like this. That why. When I first opened and poured this 2007 Estate Cabernet Franc from Rooster Hill Vineyards on the east side of Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region, it was dominated by campfire and mesquite aromas and flavors. I didn't like it very much and I was cursing American oak yet again. I wrote my notes out anyway, and searched for fruit and non-oak attributes, finding some buried behind the bacon. The next day, this…
Giving Hybrids Some TLC Could Lead to Better Breeding
Artists' rendering of the methyl anthranilate molecule, responsible for "foxy" aroma in grapes and wine By Tom Mansell, Science Editor Interspecific grape hybrids (hereafter: hybrids) were initially bred in the late 19th century in response to phylloxera, an American grape pest that migrated across the ocean to Europe and began to decimate the less-resistant vinifera vines, almost wiping out wine production. Since an American pest was the problem, breeding vinifera with American vines was a potential solution (rather the American way, eh? Screw something up halfway around the world, then try to fix it?), and the result was original French…