Posts Tagged“long island merlot alliance”

Corks of the Forks: The Last Thanksgiving Wine Story You’ll Ever Need to Read

When considering your Thanksgiving wine choices, here’s the only advice you need: Drink good wine. Don’t complicate it any more than that. OK. You probably want to know why it’s that simple, and I’m happy to explain it. I’ve written Thanksgiving-related stories for at least a decade, just like every other wine writer — from local guys like me to national columnists in the big, glossy magazines. Some feel compelled to do so, but often we’re told to write these stories because they’re apparently popular, though I don’t actually understand why. None of my friends or family members stress about…

Continue Reading

EVENT ADVERTISEMENT: Merlot Rewind — The Long Island Wine Remix

Please join the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA) on Friday, November 6, 2015 at Back Label Wine Merchants for the first annual MERLOT REWIND! Why rewind? Because it’s come to our attention that maybe some of you don’t know Long Island merlot the way you should. Which is just crazy. Sure, we grow more merlot here (to the tune of nearly 700 acres) than any other grape in the region, but there’s good reason for that: Our maritime climate produces consistently lovely versions of this noble red grape — concentrated yet bright, mouth filling and layered yet versatile at the table. And that’s…

Continue Reading

Lieb Cellars Joins Merliance

Merliance, formerly known as the Long Island Merlot Alliance, announced today that Lieb Cellars has joined its ranks. and that two barrels of Lieb Cellars’ merlot will be included in the 2012 vintage of Merliance, the group’s cooperative merlot blend. This move isn’t surprising. Acquired along with Premium Wine Group by private equity firm Southport Lane earlier this year, Lieb Cellars is now under the business leadership of Peter Pace and technical direction of Merliance co-founder winemaker Russell Hearn. “Lieb seeks to expand the visibility of Long Island wine at high-profile venues across the Northeast,” said Pace in a press release,…

Continue Reading

News Brief: Merliance Elects Roth, Nappa and Ginsburg as New Officers

Merliance (formerly known as the Long Island Merlot Alliance) has named offers for a new two-year term — ending in June 2015 — based on a vote of members. Roman Roth, partner, winemaker and technical director at Wolffer Estate is the group’s new president. Roth is also one of the founders of the organization. He said in a press release “The Merliance has come a long way since we started in 2005. With collective reviews of our merlots and merlot-based blends in national publications, annual consultations with international oenologists and elegant wine-focused events like HARVEST EAST END to our credit,…

Continue Reading

Stéphane Toutoundji, Famed French Oenologist Visits Long Island

For the second year in a row the six members of the Long Island Merlot Alliance hired a noted Bordeaux oenologist, this time Stéphane Toutoundji,  to visit each member vineyard, winery and lab. He arrived on Monday, June 3. The Alliance is comprised of six local producers — Clovis Point in Jamesport, McCall Wines in Cutchogue, Raphael in Peconic, Sherwood House Vineyards in Jamesport, T’Jara Vineyards in Mattituck and Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack. Toutoundji has been making wine since 1988 and once was a student of the famous oenoligist, Michel Rolland. In 2002 Stéphane purchased half of the wine lab, Filles Pauquet…

Continue Reading

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.’…

Continue Reading

Long Island Merlot Alliance 2006 Merliance

By Lenn Thompson, Editor in Chief Regional Wine Week continues today with a review of the Long Island Merlot Alliance's latest release, Merliance 2006 ($35).  Formed in 2005, the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA) strives to develop quality standards in the production of classically-styled Long Island merlot and to establish Long Island as the leading region for merlot in the New World.  After an initial press splash, the group has been somewhat understated, choosing to focus on vineyard research and conducting tastings to identify the qualities that help define "typical" Long Island merlot. In March, founding members Raphael, Pellegrini Vineyards, Sherwood…

Continue Reading

Long Island Merlot Better Than Bordeaux?

By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief (Note: A version of this column will appear in the 7/23 issue of Dan's Papers) I don’t typically pay much attention to the awards, scores and medals bestowed upon Long Island wines by a seemingly un-ending list of publications, festivals and fairs. Most of these competitions are flawed and I just don't think that the results can be seen as authoritative. Over the past 5 years that I've been writing about New York wines, I’ve seen too many great wines “win” bronze medals while obviously inferior wines get gold. I still think, and I…

Continue Reading

Clovis Point to Join the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA)

The official announcement is coming later this week, but I've just learned that Clovis Point has decided to become the newest member of the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA). LIMA was formed in 2005 to develop quality standards in the production of classically-styled Long Island merlot and to establish Long Island as the leading region for merlot in the New World. To date, LIMA has been rather quite on the public scene, focusing on vineyard research and conducting tastings to identify the qualities that help define "typical" Long Island merlot. The group, which includes Raphael, Pellegrini Vineyards, Sherwood House Vineyards,…

Continue Reading

Donnell Brown is the New Director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance

The Long Island Merlot Alliance(LIMA) has announced that Donnell Brown will be taking over as the group's Executive Director, taking over for Len Dest whose other commitments led him to step down. Brown has worked in marketing and public relations for more than 15 years, and has been a serious student of wine for a decade. She holds Intermediate and Advanced (pending) Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and is an active member of the James Beard Foundation, the Slow Food East End Convivium, and a member of the Board-led Outreach Committee for the Peconic Land Trust, a…

Continue Reading