Posts Written OnFebruary 2011

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Theresa Dilworth, owner of Comtesse Therese winery and bistro will close The Tasting Room, Long Island's lone co-op tasting room for wineries, at the end of business today. Dilworth purchased and re-opened The Tasting Room in 2006 after the previous owners sold their interests in the local wine industry and shut it down. She hopes to re-open again sometime in 2011 at a different location. "I am planning to spend a lot of time at my bistro this spring, summer and fall season," she said in a recent email "My vineyard is also in Aquebogue.…

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor This weekend hundreds of beer drinkers gathered on Grand Island to celebrate a single passion: homebrewing. The "Amber Waves of Grain Homebrewing Competition," hosted by the Niagara Association of Homebrewers, celebrates the ultimate in "drinking local" over two days of tasting and judging over 420 entries, from double IPAs to meads to barleywines. The quality of the homebrews I tasted was unequivocally impressive. Of the beers I tasted in the American Stout/Imperial Stout/Foreign Export Stout category, almost all were pleasures to drink, and one was so good I would have chosen it over many classic…

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Red Tail Ridge Winery on Seneca Lake has achieved LEED Green Building Certification after a long and rigorous process. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. In a news release, Red Tail Ridge laid out the many steps that have been made in this process: All heating and cooling requirements for wine processing is provided by geothermal energy Alternative energy use creates 50% energy savings Building is constructed from recycled materials All winery processing waste (including water, lees, pomace) is recycled Natural lighting inside the winery eliminates need for day-time aritifical lighting…

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor These are a selection of New York wines that have crossed the NYCR tasting table recently but will not be reviewed as part of a standalone post. As always, these are transcribed almost directly from my notebook with little editing: Kings Garden Vineyard NV King's Cab ($20): Cigar box, red cherry and backing chocolate on the nose. Juicy and fruity on the palate with smoky oak and some vanilla. Maybe a little RS? Lacks structure, but brings nice approachable flavors. Rating: 82 Kings Garden Vineyard NV Syrah ($20): Light nose with cranberry, pomegranate and a…

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Marti Macinski is thinking back to the early 1990s, when she first planted Saperavi. We're sitting in her lab, and it's freezing, and she's laughing, which she is almost always doing. "We had such different expectations for Saperavi," she says. "And look at it now!" Saperavi is a grape native to the Republic of Georgia, where the word means "ink." It's an appropriate description for the wines that Saperavi makes. In fact, Macinski planted Saperavi in 1994, just a few years after launching Standing Stone Vineyards, because it seemed to have a future as…

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor The wine that is quite possibly the single most interesting wine in the Finger Lakes is turning 20, sort of, in 2011, and the McGregor family is throwing a party. (This is a family that really knows how to throw a bash.) Details on the event to follow, but first, let's lift the veil on a little history. The McGregor Black Russian Red is, technically, older than 20 years. Bob McGregor spent the 1980s searching for the right blends and combination to unlock the potential in these unusual grapes — Saperavi and Sereksiya Charni. Today,…

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Peconic Bay Winery has namd Zander Hargrave assistant winemaker, adding him to long-time head winemaker Greg Gove's team. The Hargrave name isn't new to Long Island wine lovers. Zander's parents, Louisa and Alex Hargrave, founded Hargrave Vineyard, Long Island's first commercial winery, in 1973, and Zander's uncle, Charlie Hargrave, has served as vineyard manager at Peconic Bay for over a decade. Born "shortly before the excellent harvest of 1977," Zander told me that "As a child, growing up on a vineyard was much less about the wine than the people who were around. There was…

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor The Wild Vine is not, at its core, a wine book in the most common sense. It is a story of outsiders, connected over the generations by a common sense of purpose and discovery. And like The Billionaire's Vinegar, it is such a compelling work of narrative nonfiction that I have reccomended it to friends who don't care much for wine. But if you do care for wine, Todd Kliman's book takes on an added weight. And if you care for American wine, it becomes essential reading; the fact that it's gripping and well paced…

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor There's no shortage of appreciation for craft beer sources in Buffalo, it seems: last week Village Beer Merchant (VBM), the city's best source for hard-to-find imported and domestic brews, celebrated its third birthday with a packed house and tastings by four New York breweries. With no advertising other than word-of-mouth, VBM's anniversary party was a smash hit with local craft beer lovers. Samples and growler fills from Flying Bison, Southern Tier, Saranac and Ommegang provided a chance to taste seasonals from the state's most popular breweries.  "It's a great turnout," says Vincent Somogyi of VBM.…