By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

LilsteelersThings have been a bit quiet here on the site over the past week, mostly because of the arrival of our newest team member, my daughter Anna Helene (that's here right there on the right), born just over a week ago. As I adjust to my new and not-at-all-set writing schedule, our merry band of editors and contributors will be helping fill the void. 

And, as we move into the holiday season and near the end of 2011 I wanted to offer a preview of some of the posts we'll be publishing over the next two weeks:

  • Gruner Veltliner in the Finger Lakes: Who is growing it and making it? And what might the future hold?
  • 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: I've asked the team to suggest some of the local food, beer, wine and cheese gifts that THEY want. We'll compile them into our first-ever gift guide.
  • 2011 Wines of the Year Finalists: We're a bit behind schedule with this, but the WoTY program continues. We'll announce our picks later this month and will hold our blind tasting sometime in early 2012.

I've also decided that, rather than including a dozen wines in a single "Tasting Table" post, we will start publishing short individual posts for wines that historically would have gone into those group posts.

We're looking forward to the rest of 2011 and have even bigger plans (a new site platform and design) for 2012!