Posts Written OnFebruary 2010

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief As I mentioned last week when reviewing their 2008 riesling, Damiani Wine Cellars is one of a handful of seemingly maniacal Finger Lakes wineries focusing mostly on red wines. With relatively cool, sometimes-short growing seasons and frigid winters, there's good reason to eschew the classic Bordeaux varieties but there are some very good wines being made with these grapes in the Finger Lakes. This Damiani Wine Cellars 2007 Meritage ($27) is one of them. Made by blending 5 barrels of cabernet sauvignon with 4 barrels of merlot and 3 of cabernet franc — a mix of…

  By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Here are some of the wines to cross the NYCR tasting table over the past week that — for one reason or another — won't get standalone review posts. As always, these are more-or-less taken right from my notebook. Lucas Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Franc Reserve ($20*): Deep color. Smoky on the nose with grilled peppers, muted dark fruit and black pepper. More smoke and grilled green peppers on the palate with ripe, rich black cherry. Full body and plush mid-palate. Could use a bit more structure in the form of tannin or acid. Long smoky,…

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Due to less-than-fun weather, the Farnum Hill Cider tasting scheduled for tonight at Roanoke Vineyards has been postponed. I don't have any further details yet — the tasting might still happen this weekend, or it might be pushed off into the spring. Regardless, I'll make sure that you are the first to know when you'll be able to get your hands on these craft ciders. In the meantime, stay tuned, stay warm and stay safe on those slick roads out there — especially our Hudson Valley readers who are in the midst of a state of…

By Tom Mansell, Science Editor On Saturday night in Watkins Glen, the corks were popping and the bubbly was flowing. Bubbly, a unique event organized by Finger Lakes Wine Country, featured 16 sparkling wine producers from around the Finger Lakes pouring about 28 different sparklers. It also included the up-and-coming Finger Lakes Distilling, which brought cassis and raspberry liqueurs for tasting and mixing with sparkling to create Finger Lakes Kirs Royales. The event took place in the ballroom of the plush Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel along the shore of Seneca Lake. Food offerings included lots of rich creamy goodies (e.g.,…

By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Region Editor This past Friday, I hosted the second Barrel Tasting Friday event at Freedom Run Winery in Cambria, NY with cellarmaster Kurt Guba. The focus was pinot noir and the turnout was amazing. More than 50 guests reserved seats and showed up in the dead of winter from as far away as Rochester to taste the barrels they’ve seen in the tasting room during previous visits. I have to admit I pitched the idea to the owners after having taken part in similar, though less formal, events last spring. At TasteCamp on Long Island, we…

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Via critical and customer acclaim, Ravines Wine Cellars, nestled into the eastern shore of Keuka Lake, has built a reputation for itself as one of the top producers in the Finger Lakes, if not the entire state. True, that reputation is built most famously on winemaker and co-owner Morten Hallgren's dry rieslings, but he is doing some impressive things with reds too — especially pinot noir and cabernet franc.  This Ravines Wine Cellars 2007 Cabernet Franc ($19) greets the nose with ripe red raspberry and red cherry aromas accented by briar, lightly grilled herbs and earthy tobacco leaf…

The tasting menu at Macari Vineyards By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Visiting Long Island wine country has really changed for me. There was a time — before my son Jackson was born — that my wife Nena and I would spend at least one day every weekend tasting on the North Fork or in the Hamptons. Back in those days, touring the local wine trails was pure fun, and relaxing. We could taste and talk without me having to ask about yields or spray schedules or brix at harvest or how many months a wine was aged in what type and…