This is what our editors and contributors were drinking last week… Evan Dawson: Gai'a 2009 Wild Ferment Assyrtiko There is a slowly growing buzz about Greek wines, and I'd love to have more access to them. They're hard to find in Rochester and the Finger Lakes, and this bottle was a gift from a friend. What a fascinating and bewitching wine. Many wines shake hands and say, "I'll offer you citrus and honey, with a bit of flowers," or "Here is some lime and peach." This wine plays hard-to-get, forcing you to think. What a nice change. It's a crisp,…
Posts Written OnOctober 2010
2010 Harvest Update: First Organic/Biodynamic Season Winds Down at Shinn Estate Vineyards
The last grapes coming in at Shinn Estate Vineyards On Sunday, Barbara Shinn and the harvest crew at Shinn Estaste Vineyards harvested their cabernet sauvignon yesterday, wrapping up the harvest of 2010. According to co-owner David Page the photo at right is Barbara and team as they "give thanks to the astral forces that have provided us with a healthy and dynamic harvest. The star shape formed by the hands that stewarded our vineyard to fruition is a symbol that represents our planet Earth's star, our Sun." This was the first organic and biodynamic harvest ever on the East Coast,…
The Obsessions of a Home Winemaker
By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Regional Editor The combination of my three previous years’ experience making wine at home and this year’s epic growing season has created incredibly high expectations for my personal 2010 wines. No longer am I content to just make a wine that is “not bad.” Once again I'm getting pristine fruit from some of the Niagara region's best vineyards and I have no excuse not to make wine just as good if not better than the pros. This season I’m sticking to grapes that I know and love: pinot noir and cabernet franc. Leading off this year’s…
The Red Hook Winery 2008 “The Electric”
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Most don't think of New York City as one of New York's up-and-coming wine regions, but with a handful of urban wineries are making a wide variety of wines within the city limits. And while not all of these outposts source fruit locally, many do, including Red Hook Winery. Long before Red Hook's first bottles hit store shelves, wine lovers in the tri-state area were keenly aware of the project. Led by Mark Snyder founder of Angels' Share Wines, a boutique wine distributor, Red Hook is already well known for it's star West Coast winemakers…
Brewery Ommegang Tripel Perfection
By Julia Burke, Beer Editor In the past I’ve found some of Brewery Ommegang’s Belgian-style offerings a tad hit-or-miss, but lately the Cooperstown brewery has been blowing me away. I enjoyed a bottle of this Tripel Perfection at my resident beer geek watering hole and was immediately seduced by its buttery mouthfeel and head-to-toe class. Tripel Perfection pours a gently hazy golden blonde into a goblet with a three-finger head that maintains throughout the drinking session with elegance. The nose is apricot, pineapple and tangerine, and hints of clove and coriander, with a seductive leesy richness, giving way to a…
Video: In Search of Great Tasting Room Experiences
By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor We're always searching for the best tasting room experiences, from the obvious and grand to the subtle and special. One place that tends to get rave reviews is Billsboro Winery on Seneca Lake. In the video you'll see why. In particular, I enjoyed meeting the customer featured in the video who complained about visiting tasting rooms on Seneca Lake and finding "people in uniforms all over the place." What do you look for to create a good tasting room experience? What are your favorite wine tour stops?
2010 Harvest Update: Riesling, Cabernet Franc and “Wonderful Botrytis” at Heron Hill Winery
Today's report comes from Heron Hill Winery's owner John Ingle, via marketing director Kitty Oliver: "He (John) has finished harvesting the cab franc and riesling from Ingle Vineyard. He netted off seven rows of riesling to save for icewine. He brought the last of the cab franc today, 5 tons. Half from Ingle Vineyard and half from the vineyards at the Bristol tasting room — 2 acres at each location. John's very excited because the vineyard adjacent to his Ingle Vineyard — Jim Hicks' vineyards — has about four tons of riesling that we're going to harvest. The grapes went…
2010 Harvest Update: Traminette at Palaia Vineyards
Jan Palaggi of Palaia Vineyards in the Hudson Valley sent us a harvest update earlier this week: "We picked out Traminette on October 2. It was fantastic this year with 23 brix, PH 3.57 and TA 7.7 The grapes were beautiful — especially in the block where we pulled leaves before we netted them which allowed air in as well as sunshine. The brix were higher in this block as well which means we will be doing this to all the vines next season. What a great year we’ve had in the vineyard with plenty of sunshine and low humidity.…
Croteaux Vineyards to Release 2010 Croteaux Nouveaux on October 30
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor One has to hand it to Michael and Paula Croteau, proprietors of Croteaux Vineyards. They have taken seemingly simple concept — producing only rose — and yet continually find ways to keep it fresh, new and creative. They started out with only three wines, each named for the merlot clones they used to make them: 3, 181 and 314. From there, they've added a Charmat method sparkler "Cuvee Sparkle", a wild yeast fermented merlot rose "Sauvage" and an intensely colored cabernet franc rose "Ruby." Each wine is unique, distinct and — as of August 22…
2010 Harvest Update: Cabernet Sauvignon at Martha Clara Vineyards
Video courtesy of Martha Clara Vineyards