NYCR-transparent1

Browsing CategoryHudson Valley

Corks of the Forks: The Last Thanksgiving Wine Story You’ll Ever Need to Read

Davidbenthalphotography-32-of-35

When considering your Thanksgiving wine choices, here’s the only advice you need: Drink good wine. Don’t complicate it any more than that. OK. You probably want to know why it’s that simple, and I’m happy to explain it. I’ve written Thanksgiving-related stories for at least a decade, just like every other wine writer — from local guys like me to national columnists in the big, glossy magazines. Some feel compelled to do so, but often we’re told to write these stories because they’re apparently popular, though I don’t actually understand why. None of my friends or family members stress about…

Continue Reading

Get the Best New York Wine Delivered to Your Door — The New York Cork Club

nycorkclub2

If you read this blog, you’re obviously interested in New York wine. But, depending on where you live, you may not have ready access to very much of it. If that’s you, we’ve got the solution. We’ve partnered with The Cellar d’Or — a great wine and cider shop in Ithaca, NY — for the New York Cork Club. Every month, I pick two great New York wines and they are delivered to your door. The wine itself never exceeds $50 for those two bottles (shipping costs vary) and by joining, you’ll get everything from classic wines from the top wineries in…

Continue Reading

Bad Seed Cider: Great Friends, Great Family Means Great Hard Cider

Arthur and Devin in the house

Albert Wilklow and Devin Britton, founders of Bad Seed Cider Company, love their work. They also love family and friends, and seeing familiar faces at the NY Greenmarkets where they sell their well-crafted hard ciders and in the newly opened Bad Seed Tap Room. This take on life drives their passion for creating excellent dry hard cider and enjoyable experiences for their many fans.

Continue Reading

Tousey Winery 2013 Rebellion Rose

tousey-2013-rose

You don’t see very much Blaufränkisch rosé in New York. You see even less rosé that is barrel fermented. But, with Tousey Winery 2013 Rebellion Rosé ($16) co-owner and winemaker Ben Peacock has produced both. Fruity red cherry and strawberry flavors are gently accented by notes of spice and blanched almond — hinting at this wine’s time in oak, but not coming out and announcing it. The barrel reveals itself more on the palate — where there texture is creamy and simple red fruit flavors have a buttery edge to them. Mouth-filling and round, it shows enough acidity and a long finish. Producer: Tousey…

Continue Reading

Michael and Yancey Migliore Break Ground Again

Micheal and Yancey at Work NYCR 2

“In constant motion” is the best phrase I can use to describe the dynamic team of Michael Migliore and Yancey Stanforth-Migliore, founders and owners of Whitecliff Vineyard and Winery. I was lucky enough to catch them in the same room long enough to snap this picture. It has been more than three decades since they broke ground on their vineyard in Gardiner, NY and now they have something new and exciting on the horizon.

Continue Reading

Inside Copake Wine Works, aka “Frankly Wines North”

copake_tasting

The first Saturday tasting at Copake Wine Works felt slightly subversive: Standing behind a table in the front window, co-owner Christy Frank splashed Greek white and Moroccan syrah into the glasses of customers who were possibly more used to tried-and-true Chardonnay and G&Ts on lazy August afternoons. The wines were quenching, though, and well-priced, so many left with bottles of Semeli “Mountain Sun” Moschofilero and Ouled Thaleb Syrah cradled in their arms. On Instagram, Frank has called Copake Wine Works, the three-month old wine shop she and her husband, Yanai, run in this sleepy upstate village, “Frankly Wines North,” and its shelves offer a mashup…

Continue Reading

Upper Hudson Wines Smell Like Victory

v3-winery-Gerry

In 1777, the Battle of Saratoga was declared a decisive turning point in the struggle for American independence. Just a few miles from that pivotal ground, Victory View Vineyard slopes in three directions spinning from Southeast to Southwest situated along the local highway, NY State Route 40, and there they are firing warning shots that herald a new revolution in upstate New York agriculture. The site was selected because of its visibility from the road but it turned out to be a lucky choice because it turns out to be excellent for both air and water drainage. Mary and Gerry Barnhart have a…

Continue Reading

New Kid on the Block, Bruno and Rafael Winery

Bruno and Rafael Tasting Room

For many people wine is just another item on their supermarket shopping list, a gallon of milk, a liter of soda, Coke or Sprite, some wine red or white. True, not so in New York which is one of the 15 states that still doesn’t allow supermarket wine sales, which by the way account for about 42% of all wines sales in the U.S. And certainly not so for wine geeks like me. Or Bob from Sonoma and Bruno Alterescu who I met today at Bruno’s new winery in Marlboro, NY. For us the wine experience is something to be…

Continue Reading

How Awestruck Is Wooing Drinkers To Cider

awe_bottles

About 5,000 people live in Walton, New York, an unassuming town on the edge of the Catskills whose main drag is lined with quaint brick buildings and come fall, so many scarecrows that it’s sometimes called ‘Scarecrow Capital of the World.’ Walton might also earn a prominent spot in the story New York’s modern cider boom as the home of Awestruck Ciders. I took the hilly, two-and-a-half hour drive to Walton recently after sampling some fizzy Eastern Dry, a vaguely tropical cider that was so poised — and at $9 for a 750-milliliter bottle, so well-priced — that I thought the…

Continue Reading