Browsing CategoryFinger Lakes

Empire State Cellars Wine Club: November 2012 Selections

The November shipment of the Empire State Cellars Wine Club will ship in a couple weeks, but — as always — I’m excited to share the selections with you. If you’re not familiar with the club, you can learn more here. “Hello New York” Wines Lamoreaux Landing 2011 Gruner Veltliner: It’s exciting to include this relatively new grape to New York, and Lamoreaux Landing’s first commercial release of it. Dry and refreshing, it shows aloe, white pepper, lemon-lime citrus, and green herbs — with just a hint of salinity. Roanoke Vineyards 2010 BOND: Some complain about the lack of quality “table wines”…

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New York Wine, Beer, and Spirits Summit: Focus on Marketing, Not Fracking or WIGS

When two dozen invited wine industry professionals take their seats at the head table at the New York Wine, Beer and Spirits Summit later this month, they’ll have specific goals in mind. So will Governor Andrew Cuomo, and that includes his desire to make sure the summit is not bogged down by two recurring debates: wine in grocery stores, and hydrofracking. Several sources confirm that the summit will be geared toward other issues, leaving the volatile hot buttons for another day. Indeed, Governor Cuomo has repeatedly stated his opposition to wine in grocery stores, and his administration continues to review…

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Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars 2011 Gruner Veltliner

Gruner veltliner, a variety typically associated with Austria, is still new to New York, with only a handful of folks growing it and making it into wine.  But, the early returns have been interesting. Much like riesling, gruner seems to tell the tale of the growing season in a very direct, concise way. Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars 2011 Gruner Veltliner ($20) — the winery’s first commercial gruner release — is more lithe than the 2010 bottling that I was lucky enough to taste, but still has me excited for the grape’s potential in the Finger Lakes. Showing aromas of aloe,…

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Sheldrake Point Vineyards 2011 Gewurztraminer

It can be difficult to escape riesling  maelstrom in the Finger Lakes. Riesling flies at you from every direction. It’s wonderful, but can be overwhelming too.  And, sometimes other varieties are unfairly under-promoted. That’s the second edge of the double-edged sword of ‘signature varieties.’ Chief among these sometimes-ignored grapes is gewurztraminer, which thrives in the region. Sheldrake Point Vineyards makes some terrific rieslings, but deserves perhaps more attention for consistent excellence with gewurztraminer. It seems that, no matter the growing conditions, winemaker Dave Breeden crafts deliciousness, even if the style changes year to year. Sheldrake Point Vineyards 2011 Gewurztraminer ($18) is a…

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Let Us Eat Local: ‘Just Food’ Celebrates All Things Locally Grown

For those who spend their disposal income on the edible artistry of Manhattan’s best chefs, Just Food’s Fifth Annual Let Us Eat Local was like being inside Willy Wonka’s Fancy Fall Food Factory. The event benefited non-profit, Just Food, which keeps civilians in five boroughs of New York City connected with farms and local products. They engage the community by teaching how to grow and identity healthy food through CSAs, classes, outreach and Farm School, a program giving students a framework to grow produce in the concrete jungle. Forty restaurants rolled out dishes for a walk-around tasting using seasonal ingredients…

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Red Cat Cellars Celebrates Opening of New Tasting Room

  Hazlitt’s Red Cat Cellars in Naples is celebrating the opening of its new tasting room, a large building on the grounds of what used to be Widmer Wine Cellars. Hazlitt bought the property in 2010 from Constellation Brands. Since then, Hazlitt reports investing more than $1 million to upgrade vineyards and equipment, as well as refurbish existing buildings and launch the new tasting room. Winemaker Tim Benedict said during a recent chat that he was “thrilled” with the progress at the site, and the wonderful 2012 weather has certainly only helped. The old Widmer vines were often gnarled and…

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A Real Winery’s Tasting Room is Not a Bar… And Other Advice to Get the Most From a Visit to Wine Country

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about this topic. 99% of you know everything I’m about to write. And agree. And act this way. But I still feel compelled to write about it. Why? Maybe it’s because pumpkin-picking season is upon us on Long Island and wine country roads are clogged with local agritourists. Maybe it’s all of the bar-masquerading-as-a-tasting-room stuff I’ve been reading. Or maybe it’s that I’m becoming more and more like my father every day in that I simply expect people to act the right way in every situation — including visiting wine country. Most of the time,…

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Why Don’t Finger Lakes Wineries Offer Riesling in Magnum?

The other day I picked up a magnum of Hermann J. Wiemer 2008 Dry Riesling in magnum. It had me thinking: Magnums are so sexy. How come almost no one in the Finger Lakes offers riesling in magnum? I was going to say that no one in the Finger Lakes bottles their wine in larger formats, but of course that’s wrong. You can find Red Cat in magnum. Fox Run’s Ruby Vixen, , Arctic Fox, Chardonnay perhaps. Some of Bully Hill’s offerings, I’m sure. But why not riesling? After all, the world’s finest riesling ages gracefully for many years, and…

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Evan Dawson’s “Summer in a Glass” Wins International Wine Book of the Year

Yesterday afternoon, our very own Evan Dawson was in London to accept the award for “International Wine Book of the Year” at the Louis Roederer Wine Writing Awards 2012. No one around here is surprised at the success Evan’s beautifully written book has enjoyed, but it’s amazing to see the book reach so many people around the globe — all about our little wine region in upstate New York. Congratulations, my friend. We’re proud of all that you’ve accomplished. We’re honored to have you as a driving force behind this website. So, when is the next book coming out?  …

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Harvest 2012: Pinot Noir at Bellwether Wine Cellars

Kris Matthewson, winemaker at Bellwether Wine Cellars, sends this report from their September 7 pinot noir harvest: [quote]We harvested pinot on Friday, September 7 from Sawmill Creek Vineyard on the East side of Seneca Lake. The brix were right around 23 when we picked. The grapes were in really good condition. We ended up picking most of the acre ourselves, and did some pretty heavy field sorting while we picked, and then table sorted again when we brought the grapes in from the vineyard. After all the sorting was said and done, they were some of the best grapes I…

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