Posts Written OnAugust 26, 2010

The Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA) was formed in 2005 with the goal of developing quality standards in the production of Long Island merlot and to establish Long Island as the leading region for merlot in the New World. To date, the going has been slow with that mission. Though I know the group has done extensive research and analysis, little of it has been published or shared publicly. Still, the group has released several vintages of Merliance, a cooperative, 100%-merlot wine made using two barrels from each member winery. It's an interesting — and challenging — concept for a…

It's still summer and this month's New York Cork Club selections reflect my still-strong preference for white wines this time year. They are Lieb Family Cellars 2008 Pinot Blanc and Red Tail Ridge Winery 2008 Dry Riesling. If you haven't herad of the New York Cork Club (NYCC), it's pretty simple. We've partnered with BacchusWineOnline.com to create a wine club that features only wines made in New York — making them more accessible to people around the country. We can't ship to every state, shipping laws being what they are today, but we can ship to a lot of them.…

It was almost a year ago that I wrote about Empire Red, a new wine from Hudson-Chatham Winery that combines the key three red grapes — baco noir, merlot and cabernet franc — from each of New York's  largest wine regions, the Hudson Valley, Long Island and Finger Lakes respectively. Co-owner Carlo DeVito and winemaker Steve Cascles haven't stopped there though, recently releasing Hudson-Chatham Winery 2009 Empire White ($15), the white wine sister to Empire Red. Made with 33% seyval blanc from the Hudson Valley, 33% riesling from White Spring Winery on Seneca Lake and 33% sauvignon blanc from Long…