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Uncork the Forks: Local Wines Should Be on Local Menus

(Credit: David Benthal for northforker)

(Photo Credit: David Benthal for northforker) Local wine people — both inside and out of the industry proper — have long lamented how few local restaurants support and offer local wine. Short of visiting every restaurant and asking to see their wine lists, it is hard to know precisely who is listing local wine and how much of it. Visiting restaurant websites — many of which aren’t updated very often, rendering them largely useless — does offer some insight, though. The results are still ugly, though there are some exceptions — restaurants doing good things with local wine. Some restaurants,…

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New York Cork Club: The Best New York Wine Delivered to Your Door

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…

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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…

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North Fork Wines Take A Field Trip To Racines NY BYO Mondays

lamb

If you’ve suffered through my cooking, you know there’s certainly no meal coming from my kitchen that’s worthy of a special bottle of wine. In fact, drinking something quickly is your best method of defense. I tend to hoard long-held vintages or the Brunello procured on a magical vacation for an event where corkage is appropriate or find that rare BYOB restaurant of a certain caliber. Occasionally, I miss a drinkability window and I curse my principals and wish I’d just opened that bottle with a takeout turkey burger. Having the luxury of endless access to Long Island wine, they…

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Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Blast American Imperial/Double IPA

brooklyn-blast

I first tried “Brooklyn Blast” ale at the Brooklyn Brewery tasting room in Williamsburg some years ago. I immediately fell in love. At the time, the beer was only available on draft and was not something often found outside of Brooklyn. It stuck in my mind as one of those powerful beers that just feels good to drink. It also happened to be the night of the “Pig and Pickle” event, where pulled pork slathered with hot sauce was served alongside the sourest pickles I’ve ever had. The ale, touted as a “rambunctious IPA” by the producer, seemed to cut…

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Kelso Beer Co. Industrial IPA

kelso-ipa

I bought this beer not knowing if I would really like it. Imperial IPAs are often overblown, out of balance and hard to drink. There are always a few solid go-to selections and Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyn Blast is the first that comes to mind. When done well, the style can be excellent and mouth-filling. They’re best alongside hearty meat dishes like pork shoulder or short ribs. I equate them to the California Cabs of the beer world. That being said, I’m rarely eating short ribs while I drink these beers so I appreciate a balance and quaffability in them as…

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Long Island Welcomes SingleCut Beersmiths

singlecut

Last week SingleCut Beersmiths of Astoria, Queens started selling its beer on Long Island. Although there was no bridge separating Long Islanders from the in-house brewed beers of SingleCut, it took them a couple of years to establish themselves in the borough that has become a hotspot for small, start-up breweries. In 2012, Singlecut was one of the first breweries to open in Queens since prohibition and has since been joined by names like Rockaway Brewing Company, Finback Brewery and nano-breweries Big Alice Brewing and Bridge and Tunnel Brewery. Last Wednesday, Hoptron Brewtique celebrated SingleCut’s arrival by bringing in seven…

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Just Food’s ‘Let Us Eat Local': Familiar, But Fantastic

Last year, I compared Just Food’s Let Us Eat Local event to Willy Wonka’s Fancy Food Factory. I’m clearly a creature of habit (or entirely uncreative and in need of a thesaurus) as I found that exact note scribbled in the margins of my notebook as I considered my arrival to the 2013 fête that took place on October 2nd. As I took in the now common place hand carved pumpkin sporting their logo (this year in white!) and the 39 food stuff stations each appointed with plates each more beautifully autumn than the last and marveled at gorgeous use…

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Brooklyn Oenology: A Sense of Place — and Community

boe-entry

Brooklyn Oenology (BOE) isn’t what you think of when you think of a winery. There you won’t find vineyards, a barrel room, tanks or even a cellar. But don’t be mistaken — it’s a serious winery, albeit in an urban setting. It’s a hybrid wine bar/retail store/art gallery with a hyper-focus on not just New York, but specifically Brooklyn. The environment is well-thought, masterfully curated and, above all, comfortable. Owner and winemaker Alie Shaper sources grapes from Long Island and the Finger Lakes and makes white, rose, orange and red wines at Premium Wine Group, a custom-crush facility on the…

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Op-Ed: “Expectations for New York Wine Are Higher Than Ever – Are We Ready?” Jim Silver, GM, Peconic Bay Winery

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In a 2004 speech on his educational programs, President Bush decried the “soft bigotry of low expectations” by the opposition party. The worthy phrase resonated with many. I wondered about such expectations in regard to New York wines, and how our wine industry would react if a mirror were held up to its wines and the reflection said “it’s great…for what it is…” That stinging phrase, “for what it is…” is the comment that sinks and supplants the “world class” argument every time, and I’ve tried to count how often I’ve heard it over the years. As if further…

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