Posts Written OnJanuary 2012

Admitting What We Don’t Know: Aging Potential for New York Wines

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor The other day I read a truly outstanding piece of wine writing by one of the most underrated writers in the field today. He's underrated probably because he's not actually in the wine writing field; Keith Levenberg is an enthusiast who makes his living elsewhere, but every six weeks or so, he rewards readers with his insights. His blog is not unlike your favorite greasy spoon tucked into high-end restaurant row: You always see the same dozen people there, and they realize that the place is going to be packed if anyone ever finds out how…

Sixpoint Craft Ales Diesel

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor A good winter stout in a can. I dig it — great packaging and I have to admit I like the visual and tactile experience of popping a can of stout. Diesel looks scrumptious in the glass: an eponymous black and pours a nice one-finger head with beautiful lacing. Like many stouts, this beer needs to warm up to cellar temperature to before any of its wonderful flavors wake up. After a few minutes, rich malty aromas of toffee, coffee, and licorice emerge, making for a welcoming, sumptuous nose suggesting a winter ale; the palate,…

Direct Flight from NYC to Finger Lakes Designed to Attract New Visitors

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor In the days leading up to the recent announcement that Delta Air Lines will soon offer daily flights between New York City and Big Flats, Finger Lakes Wine Country President Morgen McLaughlin hinted at a "game changer." Marketing agents are hoping she's right: They believe this new connection will attract new visitors to the Finger Lakes.  Daily service between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Elmira Corning Regional Airport will launch in June. One flight will run each day, utilizing a 50-seat regional jet operated by Pinnacle Airlines. Tickets for future flights went on…

The New York Cork Report Tasting Table — January 4, 2012

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor This is the last "Tasting Table" that we'll publish here on the NYCR. Going forward, wines like these will each be reviewed as standalone posts. This is a long edition, but I wanted to get caught up a bit in the tasting notebook and start anew before we get too far into 2012. Atwater Vineyards 2008 Vidal Blanc ($14*): Crisp Granny Smith apple and green melon aromas. Juicy, fresh palate with loads of green apple and pear flavors. Acidity provides good cut and balances the RS well. Simple but snappy and delicious. Bloomer Creek Vineyards…

Roanoke Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Merlot dominates the Long Island wine landscape. It is the most-planted grape and the one that many wineries have built their red wine programs around — and with good reason. It ripens dependably and leads to some of the North Fork's best wines. Roanoke Vineyards makes merlot too of course — often very good merlot — but over time they've built a reputation for the consistent dependability and quality of their cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, as well as blends based on those two grapes. There aren't many local cabernet sauvignon bottlings that I can…

What We Drank (January 4, 2012)

Here is a smattering of what our contributors were drinking over the holidays… Lenn Thompson: Troeg's Brewery Perpetual IPASometimes, a brewery's top-flight reputation can almost be a hindrance. Troeg's Brewery is one of my favorite east coast breweries. Of course they brew one of my all-time faovrites — Nugget Netcar — but all of their stuff is good, even the stuff made in styles that I don't typically reach for. So when I saw this for the first time on my local beer shop's shelf on New Year's Eve, I grabbed it without thinking. My instincts told me that Troeg's…

Tasting The Season’s Harvest: Peconic Bay Scallops & the Southold Fish Market`

By Dave Seel, Long Island Food Correspondent It was a mild grey New Year’s Eve when our car pulled into the dirt parking lot of the Southold Fish Market. Out past the fish market’s docks, the water of Southold Bay was calm and glassy as several gulls and a snowy egret flapped across the pristine surface. We had come to sample a local seafood favorite harvested from those very waters: Peconic Bay Scallops. There are few places to get them as fresh as The Southold Fish Market. Stepping into the small market, there were locals lined up to grab all…

Tap and Barrel Micropub (Smithtown, NY)

By Donavan Hall, Long Island Beer Correspondent I had arrived at Tap & Barrel just a few minutes before Rich Thatcher, long enough to have studied the menu of 52 tap offerings — well, it was 51 that night. Nothing was on tap #42. I had asked the bartender if the absence of a beer on tap number 42 had any special significance. 42 is just one of those special numbers. Just saying “forty-two” can conjure up whole worlds, universes even, in the imagination. Locked inside that number are the deep mysteries of life, the universe, and everything. To contemplate…

Anthony Nappa Wines 2010 “Spezia” Gewurztraminer

We get back to regular programming post-holidays with one of the wines I enjoyed most during our brief hiatus — Anthony Nappa Wines 2010 Spezia ($18) a gewurztraminer for gewurztraminer lovers. Spezia is Italian for “spice” — and this is a wine that delivers a heaping pile of varietal character. Bursting with complex aromas of tropical fruit, peach, gingery spice, and rose petal the nose also features a grapefruit-spice-herb note that is reminiscent of some heavily-hopped India Pale Ales I’ve enjoyed. Though hefty at 14.6% abv, the dry, mouth-filling palate wears that alcohol well, offering a melange of tropical fruits…