Browsing CategoryFinger Lakes

Uncork the Forks: 6 reasons for North Forkers to visit the Finger Lakes

I’m working on several stories after my recent trip to the Finger Lakes — but in the meantime, I wanted to share my latest column for the Suffolk Times, which can be found online on northforker.com Over the past several years, my family has fallen head-over-heels in love with the Finger Lakes region of central New York. It’s a stunningly beautiful part of the country that offers spectacular sunrises and sunsets, fishing, boating, wine tasting, great food and farmer’s markets, a relaxed pace and plenty of relaxation. In some ways, it’s a lot like the North Fork — except it’s…

Continue Reading

New York #Tastemaker: August Deimel | Keuka Spring 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 #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. Where should I start with August Deimel, winemaker at Keuka Spring Vineyards? He’s a fellow Pittsburgh native and we’ve had more than a few exchanges about our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers over the years — but we should keep this to…

Continue Reading

Weekly New York Wine News — March 21, 2016

NEWS Drinks Business - 3/4/2016 Bibendum adds Finger Lakes producer Forge Cellars to it’s U.S. portfolio, as British interest in American wine and dining increases. ABC News - 3/16/2016 In a new development to the story of last year’s Long Island wine country crash that resulted in four fatalities, the truck driver met with DUI charges, limousine driver has been indicted on counts of criminally negligent homicide and other charges. Suffolk Times - 3/17/2016 Southold Farm and Cellars is denied the zoning variance they would need to bring them into compliance and keep them in operation. Westchester Magazine - 3/18/2016…

Continue Reading

Eve’s Cidery 2014 Northern Spy

It’s been a long journey to get here, but this is my first-ever cider review. In a few ways, it’s only fitting that it’s Eve’s Cidery 2014 Northern Spy ($17/750ml). First, it was a bottle of Eve’s Cidery Perry Pear — a gift from a friend — that really opened my eyes to the possibilities that lay beyond the commercial-style ciders and perrys that I’d had in the past. Second, Eve Cidery’s Autumn Stoscheck then nudged me along toward this moment by suggesting that the New York cider community needed someone like me to start paying attention to it. She then sent me…

Continue Reading

New York #Tastemaker: Christopher Bates | Element Winery (Among Many Other Places)

“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 my 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. There was one person I didn’t take into account when I set out to ‘take back’ the term tastemaker from writers and sommeliers with this weekly series: Christopher Bates. He’s also a sommelier — and well-regarded one at that. But…

Continue Reading

Boundary Breaks Vineyard 2014 No. 239 Dry Riesling

I’ve become a bit jaded about Finger Lakes riesling — but I don’t mean that to sound as bad as I know it does. But after so many years tasting so many good-to-great rieslings, I’ve come to expect it in a sense. I don’t want to say that I take it for granted because I don’t. There is still a lot of mediocre (or worse) riesling in the Finger Lakes. But, for a wine to really stand out during a tasting, it has to be something special. When such a wine retails for less than $20, even better — if increasingly rare…

Continue Reading

New York Cork Club: March 2016 Selections

  “Does he pick these wines because we like them?” One of our friends — who also happens to be a member of this club — asked my wife that recently, and while the short answer is probably “no” it’s a bit more complicated than that, I think. I want each and every one of you to love each and every wine that I pick each and every month, the reality is that I have to like it first. As much as I want to keep you happy, I’d never put a wine into a shipment that I didn’t like,…

Continue Reading

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…

Continue Reading

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…

Continue Reading

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…

Continue Reading