Posts Tagged“forge cellars”

Should More Finger Lakes Winemakers Travel to Europe? Q&A with Hector Wine Company’s Justin Boyette

An artist can only do so much without an understanding of art history. A filmmaker is limited if he or she hasn’t seen the great films of all time. And winemakers, we can assume, are holding themselves back if they’re not familiar with the great wines of the world — particularly the great wines made with the same varieties they’re using. With that in mind, I’m always surprised at how few Finger Lakes winemakers travel to Europe, or to other parts of the world. I’m even more surprised at how many Finger Lakes winemakers reply, when asked what they like…

What Do People Think of New York State Wines? (Los Angeles and Santa Barbara Edition)

I am always curious to know what people in wine country think of New York State wines. Not Finger Lakes wine country, mind you, or Long Island wine country. I mean just about any other state or country. My visit to Santa Barbara County, and then Los Angeles, has to be encouraging on the anecdotal, entirely unscientific level. “The Finger Lakes is doing some special things,” said Sashi Moorman, one of the finest winemakers on the west coast and a huge force in the Santa Barbara wine industry. “I’m not fully up to date with what they’re doing, but riesling,…

Forge Riesling: The Most Debated Wine in the Finger Lakes, and Why Riesling Can Succeed in Oak

Before the final presidential debate, several members of the news media were accidentally emailed a debate recap by one of the campaigns. It described what an outstanding performance their candidate had just displayed. Of course, the review was written hours before anything, you know, actually happened. Spirited discussion is healthy, but prejudgment should be unacceptable, and that has affected the conversation about Forge Cellars‘ first vintage of riesling, the recently released 2011. So what’s the big deal? Well, this is the first Finger Lakes riesling (to our knowledge) aged entirely in oak, not stainless steel or some other container. Granted,…

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”…

Watch “The Secrets of the Finger Lakes” in its Entirety

“Secrets of the Finger Lakes” aired original on September 12 at 8:30 p.m. on WHAM-TV and on 13wham.com For those of you who missed it — or want to watch it again — here it is broken into four clips. My television news superiors approached me about putting together a special report after the success of my book. At first I hesitated, because I didn’t want to simply air a rehashed set of stories that already appear in print. But then I saw an opportunity to tell new stories; these are some of the stories that do not appear in the…

Hail Storm Hits the Finger Lakes — Has There Been Any Damage?

This morning, Rick Rainey from Forge Cellars published some photos and a piece on the winery blog about some hail that he encountered at his home in Trumansburg, NY. Luckily, none of the vineyards Forge purchases fruit from was affected by the sizable hail that feel at the Rainey home. We have some emails out to local growers — but has anyone heard of any vineyard damage from this hail storm?

Top 6 Tastes From My Finger Lakes Trip

…or the best 6 things that I put into my mouth on vacation. After spending seven wonderful days on the shores of Cayuga Lake, I returned to work this week with a calmer mind, a happy (though probably still exhausted) family and — not surprisingly — pants that fit just a bit more tightly around my waist. It was a family vacation, so winery visits were  (extremely) limited but it’s nearly impossible to not find deliciousness in the Finger Lakes. We drank and ate well — both at the house we rented and a local farmers’ markets and restaurants — but these…

Oak-Aged Riesling? In the Finger Lakes, it’s Starting to Happen. Here’s Why

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Two producers do not make a trend, but in any region there are trend-setters and trailblazers. In the Finger Lakes, Ravines Wine Cellars has been producing some of the strongest rieslings for the past decade. And newcomer Forge Cellars comes with the high expectations attached to the wines of Louis Barruol, a renowned winemaker from Gigondas in France. Both Ravines and Forge are now experimenting with old oak barrels when it comes to making riesling. Ravines winemaker Morten Hallgren took the first step, selecting a portion of his 2010 Argetsinger Vineyard Riesling to be…