TasteCamp 2016: Vermont kicks off on Friday with a visit to la garagista in Barnard, Vermont. We’ll have nearly 40 writers and wine trade members who will be descending upon Vermont for the long weekend and I personally can’t remember being more excited for an edition of the immersive experience that I created back in 2009. This isn’t a junket. Our attendees pay their own way, but local sponsorships do enable us to keep costs down and cover transportation costs. I know I can speak for the rest of the planning committee when I say that TasteCamp 2016: Vermont wouldn’t b…
Posts Written OnMay 2016
Coming in June: The Cork Report’s 2015 Eastern Rosé Tasting
New York wine remains the core of this website, but — as you’ve probably noticed — I’ve started to stretch my legs a bit. I’ve been learning about and tasting wines from other eastern states, which I’m arbitrarily defining as any state that isn’t California, Oregon or Washington, more. My time organizing TasteCamp up and down the east coast, as well as my time on the Drink Local Wine board, taught me something: there are some seriously delicious wines made in places even a local wine advocate might not expect — places like New Jersey, Connecticut, Colorado, Michigan, Virginia, Vermont,…
From the Archives: Finger Lakes Flooding Leaves Devastation but Minimal Impact on Wine Industry
Photo Courtesy of Miles Wine Cellars Facebook Page Editor’s Note: On most Thursdays — call them Throwback Thursday if you’d like — we’ll pull a story from the more than a decade of NYCR and republish it. This week’s “From the Archives” was written by Evan Dawson and Paul Zorovich, and covers flooding in the Finger Lakes two years ago. On Tuesday night, May 13, northern Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes was hit with the most severe storms it’s had since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Reports say that between 4 and 9 inches of rain fell, coming largely in two waves…
Pearmund Cellars 2015 Petit Manseng
Petit Manseng isn’t a grape that I know a whole lot about. I know it’s mostly grown in southern France and that it can get very ripe while retaining a lot of acidity — and thus is often made in a sweeter, even dessert, style to balance that acidity. I also know that it’s gaining some traction in the Virginia wine industry. Retaining acidity is always a plus in a region where summers can get very warm. But its thick skins and loose clusters also help in a region that deals with humidity, heavy rain and hurricanes. With high brix levels (and…
Virginia #Tastemaker: Jim Law | Linden Vineyards
“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 #Tastemaker 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’m always wary of labeling any single person or thing the “best” or “most” anything — but Jim Law, winegrower and owner of Linden Vineyards, is at least among the most influential figures in Virginia wine. Winemakers and grape…
Weekly New York Wine News — May 16, 2016
Whitecliff Vineyards’ new gamay planting in their new Olana Vineyard NEWS Thrillist - 4/29/2016 The Finger Lakes top this wine pros list of “Best US Wine Regions” to visit. TimeOut - 4/29/2016 Hudson Valley wineries are suggested as great out-of-town destinations for NY City dwellers. Your Niskayuna - 5/4/2016 Copoccia Winery has already outgrown its first home and seeks new space in the Capital District. Wine Enthusiast - 5/5/2016 Profiles of wine makers who dream big, on the east end of Long Island. New York Upstate - 5/12/2016 Two new wines on the market: a Billsboro sparkling Riesling appears and…
Corks of the Forks: Long Island Wineries Should Act, Not Talk
The internet is a place of quick judgments and irrational over-reaction. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that when the Long Island Wine Council, led by executive director Steve Bate and marketing director Ali Tuthill, met with the Southold Town Board to discuss some recommended changes to how local wineries operate, people lost their minds. Lost. Their. Minds. Many supposed-longtime wine club members vowed in Facebook posts to never buy another drop of local wine. Others called the plans — which include things like eliminating live music on weekends, one-ounce tasting pours and requiring reservations for groups larger than six —…
Keuka Spring Vineyards 2014 Cabernet Franc
On my last visit to the Finger Lakes, I got to spend some time with the Keuka Spring Vineyards winemaking team. As I tasted with head winemaker August Deimel and assistant winemaker Rachel Hadley, I realized something pretty unique: though they are using oak barrels of various age and in varying percentages in their rose and Gewurztraminer programs, oak barrels have been completely eliminated from the red wine program for the 2015 vintage — and for the foreseeable future. Now, this is primarily a white wine house anyway, but it’s a bold shift to remove oak from the reds program…
New York Cork Club: May 2016 Selections
With summer just around the corner — despite the cool, grey weather blanketing most of the northeast right now — I wanted to pick some wines this month that are well suited to warmer weather occasions and foods. I think I’ve done that with these wines even if they don’t offer the same sense of discovery as some other picks have. These aren’t obscure producers or grapes or wines that you haven’t seen before. Instead, I’ve chosen two delicious wines from two of my favorite producers — one in the Finger Lakes and one on Long Island. My first pick is…
New York #Tastemaker: Ian Barry | Barry Family Cellars
“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 first met Ian Barry, winemaker and general manager of Barry Family Cellars several years ago when he was working at a far-larger winery on Cayuga Lake. He was making at least two dozen different wines every year…