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Posts Tagged“2010”

Leonard Oakes Winery 2010 Chardonnay

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It’s nice to see more and more New York wineries making better and better stainless steel chardonnays, including this Leonard Oakes Winery 2010 Chardonnay ($15). Sometimes steel chardonnay can be lacking on the nose, but with aromas of fresh-cut Golden Delicious and Gala apples and light floral overtones and subtle nutty lees character, the nose is interesting enough and leads into a medium-full bodied palate that is fruity — more apples and pears — with fresh, nicely incorporated acidity and a clean, lingering finish that shows just a bit of lemon and spicy lees. Though not particularly complex or interesting, this is…

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Martha Clara Vineyards 2010 Reserve Chardonnay

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Martha Clara Vineyards 2010 Reserve Chardonnay ($22) shows honey-baked apples, pineapple, and lemon peel fruit aromas on the nose with a healthy dose of toasty oak, eggnog and vanilla. Nice, ripe fruit — apple and pineapple — greets the palate, but it’s a bit overwhelmed by woody-vanilla spice notes. Full bodied, it offers a rich, creamy mid-palate and well-balanced acidity. If you like the style, it’s fairly well done, but the finish is just a bit boozy. Producer: Martha Clara Vineyards AVA: North Fork of Long Island ABV: 13.5% Price: $22*   (2.5 out of 5, Average-to-Very Good)

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Hunt Country Vineyards 2010 Cayuga White

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Aromas of sweet candied lemons and and dried apricots lead into an extremely fruity palate oozing with lemon and peach candy and just a hint of foxiness. Though off-dry (2.5% RS), crunchy acidity (9 g/L) brings solid balance. Simple and somewhat short, but refreshing and well-priced at $10. Producer: Hunt Country Vineyards AVA: Finger Lakes ABV: 12% Price: $10*   (2.5 out of 5, Average-to-Very Good)

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Ravines Wine Cellars 2010 Keuka Village Red

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I’m not even going to ask, because I know that most of you have never heard of the Noiret grape. Developed by Cornell University, it’s one of the newer hybrids out there (it’s a cross between NY65.0467.08 and Steuben), having been released in 2006. According to Cornell’s Bruce Reisch, wines made from Noiret “are free of the hybrid aromas typical of many other red hybrid grapes. The distinctive red wine is richly colored and has notes of green and black pepper, with raspberry and mint aromas, and a fine tannin structure.” It ripens mid-season too, which has mad it an increasingly popular…

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Surprised by “Little Burgundy” at TasteCamp: Ankida Ridge

When I visit a new wine region for the first time, I’m most interested in trying the signature wines of that region –– the grapes that grow best and are considered most suited to the terroir. I don’t make a habit of seeking out the stuff I drink back home. But if I see it, I simply can’t resist trying it. Especially if it’s pinot. Nothing gets winemakers and wine lovers waxing poetic like pinot noir. Sweeping generalizations, clichéd metaphors about women and sex, and cool-climate superiority complexes abound, and it’s easy to forget that as haunting and beautiful and…

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Arrowhead Spring Vineyards 2010 Syrah

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With all due respect to Long Island and the Finger Lakes, the most exciting wines on my tasting table over the past month or so have been from the Niagara region of New York. Generally speaking, they are well-made wines that are well priced and show the kind of distinctiveness I look for. This Arrowhead Spring Vineyards 2010 Syrah ($35) is on the higher end of the pricing scale, but it delivers today and has the stuffing to improve in the bottle over the next five to ten years. The intense, layered nose shows dark, brooding fruit — blueberry, blackberry…

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Bedell Cellars 2010 Syrah

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Winemaker Rich Olsen-Harbich did some things differently during his first crush at Bedell Cellars in 2010. He brought his ambient yeast fermentations, of course, but he also made a couple blends by co-fermenting the grapes together — making his blending decisions from the outset. Bedell Cellars 2010 Syrah ($50) is one of those wines, made with 90% syrah and 10% viognier in the model of the Northern Rhone. That squirt of viognier is most apparently on a pretty, effusive nose that shows melon and honeysuckle aromas layered over fresh red berries, plums and a combination of earthy cumin and coriander. The…

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Tousey Winery 2010 Cabernet Franc

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor When Ben and Kimberly Peacock took over the wine portion of Tousey Winery's business in 2009 — Kimberly is founder Ray Tousey's daughter — the portfolio was focused on hybrid grapes. "To be frank, that didn't suit our tastes," Ben told me, adding "So, we switched our focus to vinifera." To help make that switch, they've been working with Fox Run Vineyards winemaker Peter Bell in the winery and long-time Long Island grape grower Steve Mudd in their vineyards. I've already written about the pinot noir, and after tasting the Tousey Winery 2010 Cabernet Franc…

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Anthony Nappa Wines 2010 “Spezia” Gewurztraminer

We get back to regular programming post-holidays with one of the wines I enjoyed most during our brief hiatus — Anthony Nappa Wines 2010 Spezia ($18) a gewurztraminer for gewurztraminer lovers. Spezia is Italian for “spice” — and this is a wine that delivers a heaping pile of varietal character. Bursting with complex aromas of tropical fruit, peach, gingery spice, and rose petal the nose also features a grapefruit-spice-herb note that is reminiscent of some heavily-hopped India Pale Ales I’ve enjoyed. Though hefty at 14.6% abv, the dry, mouth-filling palate wears that alcohol well, offering a melange of tropical fruits…

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Robibero Family Vineyards 2010 Dry Riesling

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Robibero Family Vineyards, which took over the old Rivendell Winery building in New Paltz, NY in 2007, is a Hudson Valley winery to keep an eye on. The Robibero family has planted an estate vineyard and is working hard to breathe new life into the winery and tasting room and has hired Kristop Brown, formerly of Benmarl Winery, to help make the wines. For now the wines are made with fruit and juice purchased in other areas of the state — a common scenario in the Hudson River Valley. This Robibero Family Vineyards 2010 Dry…

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