Posts Written OnFebruary 2016

From the Archives: Op-Ed: Towns, Don’t Crush the Grape Growers

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’s pick is a piece written by Steve Bate, executive director of the Long Island Wine Council and then-president of the council, Ron Goerler Jr. of Jamesport Vineyards back in the summer of 2010.  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” The famous opening line from Charles Dickens’ classic “A Tale of Two Cities,” set in 18th-century Europe, would appear to be an appropriate description of the opportunities…

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Weekly New York Wine News — February 23, 2016

Photo courtesy of Southold Farm + Cellar NEWS Fios 1 News – 2/12/2016 Local video profile of Long Island’s own wine and spirit cooperage, East Coast Wood Barrels. *Disclosure: News Editor is a very happy customer/owner of one of their 100 litre Romain Oak Ithaca Voice – 2/17/2016 Nineteen year-old graduate student files suit against New York Attorney General over constitutionality of state drinking age. Ithaca.com – 2/22/2016 New ownership and same winemaker at Six Mile Creek, Tompkins County’s only winery. It’s been a light news week, so here’s a recent piece that looks back at the founding distillers… New…

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Hermann J. Wiemer 2011 Blanc de Noir

Hermann J. Wiemer and winemaker Fred Merwarth get a lot of attention for their rieslings — and rightly so. Those wines can be incredible. Some of the best in America. I’ll tell you what though, the rest of the portfolio is pretty outstanding too. I recently reviewed Merwarth’s 2013 Cabernet Franc which has become a favorite, but will never challenge the rieslings for supremacy at the winery. The sparkling wines though? They rival the rieslings in terms of quality. They are that good. In fact, this Hermann J. Wiemer 2011 Blanc de Noir ($39) is among the best domestic sparkling wines…

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New York #Tastemaker: Peter Becraft | Anthony Road Wine Company

“Tastemaker” is a term typically used to describe a person — either a sommelier or writer in the wine world — who decides what is good, cool or otherwise interesting. With our new #NYTastemaker profiles, I’ve decided to usurp the term to mean someone who actually makes the wines, ciders, spirits, etc. that we love. A “tastemaker” should make something, after all. Over the course of my nearly 12 years writing about wine, I’ve only had a few hands-on grape harvest experiences. One of the most memorable (and immersive) was with Johannes Reindhardt and Peter Becraft at Anthony Road Wine Company several years…

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Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars 2014 “Eugenia” Dry Riesling

You can’t throw a lime-soaked river rock in the Finger Lakes nowadays without hitting a bottle of single-vineyard riesling. Most of the top producers bottle them these days. Some of the lesser ones do too, where it’s perhaps more marketing gimmick than actual exploration of site-by-site terroir. Back in December, Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars announced its own series of single-vineyard rieslings, each meant to honor one woman in the Frank family. The first wine of the series is named “Eugenia” for Dr. Konstantin Fran’s wife. Dr. Konstantin Frank 2014 “Eugenia” Dry Riesling ($30) is made with grapes grown in…

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Corks of the Forks: Good wines for under $25

Last week I read an interview on Food & Wine magazine’s website written by executive wine editor Ray Isle, with Doug Bell, who oversees all of the wine, beer and spirits buying for Whole Foods Market nationwide. Bell is responsible for selling 42 million bottles of adult beverages per year. Over the course of the interview, he makes some predictions for wine and beer in 2016.  Among the expected, often-discussed trends (dry rosé, prosecco and even more local craft beer), Bell feels that wines in the $15 to $25 price range are going to be big. “Look, when you spend…

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Weekly New York Wine News — February 16, 2016

Photo via Finger Lakes Wine Country Facebook Page NEWS Paste Magazine – 2/9/2016 Kudos for the facility and hospitality found at Glenora Wine Cellars on Seneca Lake. Rochester Business Journal – 2/10/2016 New York lawmakers entertain legislation to create signage for the Rochester Craft Beverage Trail. Cornell Sun – 2/11/2016 The Cornell Institute for Climate Change is developing new tools to help farmers cope with unusual weather patterns. Northern Grape Project – 2/11/2016 A comprehensive update on the fourth year of a program to study and promote cold-climate grape growing. Now and Zin – 2/12/2016 The Finger Lakes International Wine…

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Paumanok Vineyards 2013 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay

Warning: The chardonnay reviews are coming.  I recently tasted three-plus cases of Long Island chardonnay — all 2013 and 2014 vintages — for a story I’m working on for Long Island Wine Press. I survived and learned quite a bit, but you’ll have to wait for that story to come out to learn more. I won’t publish reviews for all of them, or even most, but some will be coming. Starting today. I won’t publish reviews for all of them, or even most, but some will be coming. Starting today. He’s perhaps known for other things, but Paumanok Vineyards winemaker…

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From the Archives: Local with Local: Raphael 2002 First Label Merlot and David Page’s Ducq au Vin

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’s pull from the archives is one of my favorite “Local with Local” posts we published — a series where local chefs and wine folks created a wine pairing. This pairing and recipe were offered by David Page, co-owner of Shinn Estate Vineyards and a former chef.  Reading through this post again, has me thinking about bringing this series back.    My wife Barbara and I first met Richard Olsen-Harbich, currently the…

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New York #Tastemaker: Ben Peacock | Tousey Winery

“Tastemaker” is a term typically used to describe a person — either a sommelier or writer in the wine world — who decides what is good, cool or otherwise interesting. With our new #NYTastemaker profiles, I’ve decided to usurp the term to mean someone who actually makes the wines, ciders, spirits, etc. that we love. A “tastemaker” should make something, after all. I’ve long found the Hudson River winemaking region a bit scattershot. The wineries are very spread out, which makes visiting more than a few per day difficult. Wine quality is up, but the wines are also extremely diverse — in…

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