Posts Written OnApril 26, 2010

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Photo courtesy of Dezel Quinlan Despite the New Jersey Turnpike's best efforts, I made it home last night from a great weekend in northern Virginia where I attended (and spoke at) Drink Local Wine 2010. I'm still gathering my thoughts about all the goings on at the conference, but this much is clear: the people were the real star of the conference — just like every other blogger-heavy gathering I've attended. Meeting bloggers is always an extreme pleasure for me. The passion they have(and share) and the nuanced wine knowledge they exhibit about their niche of…

This photo actually comes from our own Bryan Calandrelli, who says: "This was April 23rd at Freedom Run Winery. This is a pinot noir vine planted in their Stonehaus Vineyard on Lower Mountain Road in Lockport, NY. This vineyard heats up faster due to its relatively flat topography compared to its higher elevation vineyards."

By Kevin Burns, Beer Columnist The bottle of Brooklyn Brewery Black Ops states: "Brooklyn Black Ops does not exist. However, if it did exist, it would be a robust stout concocted by the Brooklyn brewing team under cover of secrecy and hidden from everyone else at the brewery.  Supposedly Black Ops was aged for four months in bourbon barrels, bottled flat, and re-fermented with Champagne yeast, creating big chocolate and coffee flavors with a rich underpinning of vanilla-like oak notes.  They say there are only 1,000 cases.  We have no idea what they're talking about." In some ways, that says…