Welcome to the new year at the New York Cork Report. 2014 is going to be a big year around here. Staffers with young kids have adjusted to life a bit. A few of us have new jobs that have reinvigorated our souls. And hey, we need to celebrate our 10-year anniversary the best way we know how — great content.
Features like “What We Drank” and “5 Questions With…” will continue, but there are some changes coming too — some of them pretty big. Some are still knocking around in my head, but I can share a handful of them with you today:
Expanded “Tasting Report” Program
In addition to the on-going tastings and reviews that are already part of our editorial, we’ll be conducting six larger, category tastings (similar to our 2012 Rose Report from last year.) Evan and I are finalizing the schedule and categories we’re going to tackle, but we should announce that calendar soon — perhaps even this week. There will be a rotating group of four tasters including NYCR staff and other writers, sommeliers and industry folks.
“From the Cellar”
Too often, we find ourselves writing about current releases or wines that aren’t quite released yet. Our newest feature, “From the Cellar,” is a way for the NYCR team to write about New York wines with a little age on them. Maybe it’ll be about a 2001 Long Island merlot this week and then a 2008 Finger Lakes riesling next. I know I have some 2002 chardonnays that I should probably try soon. It should be fun. It will be fun.
Daily Reviews
We’ve tried this before, but we’re going to rededicate ourselves to publishing at least one wine review every weekday all year. I hope you’ll forgive me if I miss one here and there.
“Not From Here”
A far less-regular feature will be “Not From Here” where we’ll write about beverages not made in New York. You probably won’t see many wines from California, Oregon or Washington here, but many of us enjoy exploring the dark, interesting corners of American wine. Missouri Norton? Virginia viognier? Syrah from Maryland? All are fair game. And I have them all in my cellar right now.
The New York Winery Directory
This is the big one. Though a huge project, it’s one that I think will be valuable for readers and the wineries we write about. We’ll offer basic information about every winery, but also offer comments on the tasting room experience, the most recent vintage quality, etc. I won’t even pretend to offer an ETA on this thing, but we’re already working on it.