Posts Written OnDecember 2015

Weekly New York Wine News — December 21, 2015

Before we get to the regular news roundup, the NYCR team would like to extend its deepest condolences to the Pisacano family on the passing of Gasper “Gabby” Pisacano (pictured above). Anyone who has ever visited Roanoke Vineyards knew Gabby and loved him. He will be sorely missed by not only his family and the Roanoke Vineyards family, but also the Long Island wine community. Rest in peace, Gabby. NEWS Bloomberg - 12/9/2015 Channing Daughter’s Rosato Pet Nat makes the grade in this selection of best wines for 2015. Paste Magazine - 12/15/2015 The Finger Lakes of New York top this…

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Corks of the Forks: A holiday gift guide for the wine lover

The following are some of the wine-related gifts I’d love to receive this year, but this list isn’t going to do me much good. My wife is done with her shopping. She has been for weeks, maybe months. She’s done buying for my family, her family, our kids and me. I, on the other hand, have barely started shopping for her, but that’s not relevant for a wine column. Besides, that’s what Amazon Prime is for. Wine. Every year I’m surprised at just how few people buy me wine. I’m a wine lover! Wine lovers, by definition, love wine. And…

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Weekly New York Wine News — December 14, 2015

Barrel samples of Red Tail Ridge Vineyards’ 2015 skin-fermented white wine, Miscreant. (Photo via Nancy Irelan) NEWS Wall Street Journal - 12/7/2015 New York laws are deemed favorable for the state’s farm-to-ferment movement. WCAX - 12/8/2015 Specifically, the Farm Brewery License encourages entrepreneurs such as the new operation in Plattsburgh. Auburn Citizen - 12/11/2015 An update on how the 2015 season wrapped up and the quality of the harvest. New York Business Journal - 12/11/2015 Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America lobby NY Governor Cuomo to veto legislation limiting reach of the State Liquor Authority. New York Daily News -…

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Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard 2013 Josef Vineyard Riesling

It’s easy to get complacent when you taste a lot of Finger Lakes riesling — overall quality has risen to the point that even producers that historically fell below the median are now making wines I’m happy to drink. It’s almost to the point that one can take for granted that Finger Lakes riesling is going to deliver. Then you taste a wine like Hermann J. Wiemer 2013 Josef Vineyard Riesling ($39) and you’re reminded just how high the ceiling is for Finger Lakes riesling. The Josef Vineyard, located 10 miles north of the winery, is just south of the better-known Magdalena Vineyard.…

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Lieb Cellars 2014 Reserve Pinot Blanc

You won’t find a lot of pinot blanc here on Long Island but the best-known producer is Lieb Cellars where, legend has it, it was once thought to be chardonnay. Thankfully it’s not treated like most chardonnay in the cellar. It doesn’t see a splinter of oak during or after fermentation and the result is bright and citrusy with aromas of lemon zest and pulp, red grapefruit, lemon verbena and sea breeze. Juicy and even more saline and minerally on the palate, it’s crisp, dry and needs food to sing. Focused citrus flavors turn a bit more floral as the wine…

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From the Archives: What We Learned From 656 Glasses of Cabernet Franc

Photo by Morgan Dawson Editor’s Note: Every Thursday — call it Throwback Thursday if you’d like — we’ll pull a story from the more than a decade of NYCR stories and republish it. This week, I pulled a 2009 story by managing editor Evan Dawson from about a cabernet franc tasting at the New York Wine & Culinary Center. When the demonstration room at the New York Wine & Culinary Center filled up at 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning, 328 glasses of cabernet franc lit up the amphitheater like strands of single-color Christmas lights. It was a bit daunting for the 42 winemakers, winegrowers,…

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Orange Wines in the Finger Lakes: What Was Old is New Again

Across the Finger Lakes, creative winemakers like August Deimel, Katey Larwood, Steve Shaw, Peter Becraft, Vinny Aliperti and others are employing traditional techniques with well-known grape varieties to produce innovative, new wines. Frequently referred to as “orange” or “amber,” these new wines are challenging establish perceptions of mainstay wines made from varieties such as chardonnay, gewurztraminer, vignoles and even riesling — the iconic grape of the region. What the wines have in common is that they are white wines that utilize extended skin contact during maceration and subsequent fermentation. This approach represents a major deviation from winemaking practices commonly employed…

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Weekly New York Wine News — December 7, 2015

NEWS Suffolk Times - 11/30/2015 Recent legislation aims to reduce the paperwork and reporting overhead for small New York wineries. Watertown Daily Times - 12/1/2015 Three sisters start a tiny tour company to show guests around the St. Lawrence and Thousand Islands wine trails. Suffolk Times - 12/3/2015 Southold Farm and Cellars continues the process of navigating their local zoning process in an effort to stay in operation. Rochester Democrat & Chronicle - 12/3/2015 If you live in New York, the odds keep increasing that you might have a brewery in your backyard. Examiner.com - 12/5/2015 New York Wine & Grape…

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New York Cork Club: December 2015 Picks

The December 2015 wines for the New York Cork Club are shipping out to our members this week — so it’s time for me to tell you a bit about the picks. Because this will be the last shipment of the year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for being a member. It’s been a fun year of picking and shipping great and interesting wines to you. I hope you enjoy drinking them as much as I’ve enjoying selecting them every month. This month, we’re doing something we’ve done before: pairing one of New York’s best-known producers with an up-and-comer…

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Keuka Lake Vineyards 2015 Leon Millot Nouveau

And now for something completely different. Keuka Lake Vineyards 2015 Leon Millot Nouveau ($18) is the first 2015 red to cross the NYCR tasting table and perhaps not surprisingly, it counts Beaujolais Nouveau as its main inspiration, though it’s not made strictly in the same way. Leon Millot fruit grown in Dundee, NY at Tabora Vineyard was picked on September 9. It was de-stemmed, crushed and after four days fermenting on the skins was pressed and finished fermenting without the skins. Once fermentation finished, the wine spent a month in neutral oak barrels before being bottled on October 27. If you’re counting,…

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