Browsing CategoryWhat We Drank

Once again, no New York wines in this lot. This week we have Italy, France, California, Portugal and Australia represented. Never let it be said that we don't drink a wide array of wines from around the world. Bryan Calandelli: Vallarom Vallagarina Merlot 'Vigneto Belvedere' 2007 Northern Italian wines are always tempting and this Vallarom Vallagarina Merlot looked interesting especially after I noticed the importer is local to western New York. Portovino Buffalo, NY specializes in small batch unique offerings from all over Italy. Many of these include red blends that throw indigenous grapes into the mix. This is actually a…

Only three contributions to What We Drank this week, but three diverse ones nonetheless. Evan Dawson: Jean Michel-Stephan 2004 Cote-Rotie Let's hear it for restaurants that offer creative wine lists. I was floored when I picked up the wine menu at Good Luck in Rochester. By the glass I could order a Savoie, a White Rioja, a Carmenere, and a handful of other interesting options. The Finger Lakes was nicely represented. But it was a bottle from the Rhone that impressed me most. My favorite producer of syrah in the world is Jean-Michel Stephan, an idiosyncratic Frenchman who makes gorgeous,…

"What We Drank" is back after a one-week hiatus (caused purely by my hectic travel schedule). As always, we have a diverse grouping of submissions this week. Shockingly, no New York wines made the cut this week! Lenn Thompson: Bois de Boursan 1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Last weekend, we tasted a lot of wine in the Finger Lakes. And I mean a lot. Enough that by Saturday evening, Nena and our friends C and A were a little worn out I think. But, with Evan and Morgan coming to the house we rented for dinner (and more wine) everyone bucked…

From beer to old Bordeaux, ice wine to disappointing wine, here's what we've been drinking. Lenn Thompson: Shock Top Belgian White beer I'm in Orlando right now with Nena and Jackson for a week (yes, a week) visiting all of the usual kid-friendly haunts — Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Sea World, etc. The wine selection in the nearest grocery store isn't much better than the "lists" at the restaurants we've been checking out. I know you don't want to hear about Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay or Blackstone Merlot anymore than I want to drink them, so instead I'll mention a beer that…

I think this might be the most interesting edition of What We Drank so far. We've got big names, big wines and then wines of elegance and restraint. And for the first time, not a single New York wine. From Bryan Calandrelli: Chateau Montelena 2004 Chardonnay In today’s market place there’s a growing number of so-called celebrity wines. In this case the wine itself has become a celebrity thanks to “Bottle Shock” the movie. A friend of mine opened this 2004 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from the Napa Valley recently and I was lucky enough to get a taste of a…

This week's What We Drank is pretty diverse, with a couple New York wines, a classic chardonnay from Burgundy and one of least-flavorful beers in the world. Sadly that beer is my contribution. From Bryan Calandrelli: Louis Jadot 1999 Le Montrachet Having Old World wine geek friends has its benefits too these days. This is a bottle I would never have swooned over and it's a wine that my New World attention span wouldn't have recognized over any of the other of those Jadot selections on the shelf. It takes an educated eye to pick out this vineyard, Montrachet, and…

This week,we have four contributions to What We Drank, including the first from Sasha Smith. I wanted to mention something this week, badly, but there wasn't anything that I drank over the weekend that inspired me enough, sadly. More on that later this week I think.  From Bryan Calandrelli: Freedom Run Winery Celebration Series Rosé This weekend called for a simple, easy to drink wine that I could open up for my family at the picnic table. I didn't need to look any further than my fridge thanks to this Freedom Run Celebration Series Rosé. Now I know you may…

The usual suspects contributed to What We Drank this week. I have to say, I'm really enjoying this new feature on LENNDEVOURS, it gives me a great opportunity to write about the non-NY wines that I'm tasting and it gives me a little insight into what the other contributors are drinking. I hope you're enjoying it too. From Bryan Callandrelli: Tolosa Edna Ranch 2005 Estate Pinot Noir Ever since my cool climate obsession started, I’ve had very few California wines. My view was that life’s too short and the world’s too large for bothering with them. So it was interesting…

For this week's edition of What We Drank, 5 of those who contribute to LENNDEVOURS chimed in with entries, some local, some not. From Bryan Callandrelli: Channing Daughters Winery 2007 Tocai Friulano Still bitter from missing the TasteCamp visit to Channing Daughters, I opened a gifted bottle of Channing Daughters Winery 2007 Tocai Friulano to ease the pain. I've been known to buy any Friulian red I can find at a wine store, but not so much the whites. They are too easy to find, and for this treasure hunter, I need to feel like I bought the most interesting…

It seems like we're always trying new things here on LENNDEVOURS, and here is yet another (I hope) weekly feature that should be a lot of fun — What I Drank. In a nutshell, I've asked each of the site's contributors to send me a quick note on Sunday night/Monday morning telling me about a wine (or other beverage) that they tasted over the weekend that stood out. It won't necessarily be the best wine they tasted though. It could be the most interesting, the most unique, a new wine that either impressed or disappointed. Oh, and the wine needn't…