Posts Tagged“featured”

T’Jara Vineyards Joins Long Island Merlot Alliance

\Yesterday, the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA) announced that T’Jara Vineyards label has joined the merlot promotion group. That means that two barrels of 2010 T’Jara merlot will be included in the 2010 Merliance, LIMA’s cooperative merlot blend. T’Jara is a brand created by winemaker Russell Hearn and business partner Jed Beitler, who together own T’Jara Vineyards — an established vineyard in in Mattituck, NY. T’Jara  released two 2007 vintage wines, a Merlot and Merlot-based blend, in late 2011. According to the press release, “T’Jara is the phonetic spelling of an aboriginal word that, roughly translated, means ‘where I’m from.’…

Sheldrake Point at Seneca: What’s New for a Classic Finger Lakes Winery

By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent Photos courtesy of Sheldrake Point winery Mention Sheldrake Point Winery on Seneca Lake and, chances are, you’ll be corrected. “It’s on Cayuga Lake,” I heard a half-dozen times over the course of the last month from friends and Finger Lakes wine fans. They aren’t wrong, but neither am I. On September 26, 2011, Sheldrake Point opened a second tasting room on Route 414 along the southeast side of Seneca. The tasting room has opened quietly, not for lack of marketing and outreach on their part, but because they were just getting started as…

Winery Websites: Not So Good, it Seems

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor When you visit a winery’s website, you’re probably there for one simple reason. Either you want tasting room hours or the wine list or the winemaker’s story. But whatever it is, you want it quickly and easily. And too often, it’s not easy enough to find what you’re seeking. On top of that, the websites look clunky and amateurish. This is a generalization, of course. Some websites are excellent. Too many are not. But don’t take it from me. Here’s an email I received this week from a reader of my book, Summer in a…

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

  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…