Posts Written OnJune 2011

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor A porter brewed with 100% brettanomyces, this is a collaboration beer brewed at Ithaca Beer Company with brewer Bobby Barrar of Iron Hill Brewing Company in Media, PA. It takes on the delicious combination of dark and sour. A sexy brownish-black in a pint glass with a half-finger camoflage-brown head, Dark Humor is aptly named. On the nose, chocolate milk (think Nestle Quick) and roasty malts are yummy and almost,  just almost, hide the whiff of sour cherry. That cherry's not shy on the palate though. Delicious sour fruit cuts right through the milky texture,…

By Aaron Estes, Cheese Editor One of the things I love most about the cheese made in New York state is the diversity. We have cheesemakers all over this great state, from Long Island to the shores of the Finger Lakes,  to the Hudson Valley that strive to bring unique and high-quality products to your cheese board and table.   Even though we have historically been a large producer of industrial cheese (think Polly-O), it is the smaller and artisanal production that is slowly but surely finding its way to the forefront.  Whenever I talk or write about New York cheeses,…

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Responding to increased demand for their beer thanks to a growing local following and massive critical acclaim, Captain Lawrence Brewing Company has announced a move and an expansion. The Pleasantville, NY brewery is moving five miles away to a bigger and better home at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford. After over five years in business, Captain Lawrence has built a booming base of tasting room visitors and achieved cult status across New York State and beyond for its innovative and delicious brews, which include a popular IPA and the Smoked From the Oak…

A cross-section of North Fork soil composition, part of a new display at Bedell Cellars By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor In late 2007, wine writer Alice Feiring said about Long Island wine in a story about the "World's Most Overrated Wines" for Men.Style.com (now a part of GQ.com): "The strawberries, potatoes, and corn grown out on Long Island are world-class. But grapes? Not so much (though you've got to give local winemakers credit for their perseverance). The fact is, soils are just too shallow on Long Island and the weather's just too humid to make world-class wine, especially from Merlot…

Anthony Nappa behind the bar at The Winemaker Studio in Peconic. By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Last night I stopped in at Anthony Nappa and Sarah Evans' soon-to-open The Winemaker Studio — housed in the space formerly occupied by The Tasting Room a co-op tasting room run by Theresa Dilworth of Comtesse Therese. The Winemaker Studio is where Nappa, who is also the winemaker at Shinn Estate Vineyards, will pour and sell wines he makes under his own label while also offering wines from three other private labels: Suhru Wines from Russell Hearn of Pellegrini Vineyards and Premium Wine Group,…

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Like every TasteCamp attendee, I

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor When is the ideal time to open a well-made Finger Lakes riesling? It seems like a silly question, doesn't it? The answer is often, and appropriately, "Whenever you feel like it." And start with this: There's no Finger Lakes riesling that will be so closed as to be unready if you open it young. Even the 2010 rieslings coming off the bottling lines this spring will be fine in short order. But the best wine tells an extended story, one that unfolds in multiple acts. A great riesling in its youth is all nervy, adolescent…