Veraison 2012: Pinot Noir at Macari Vineyards
Posts Tagged“pinot noir”
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…
New Winery is a Regional Bellwether: Third Finger Lakes Producer Plans to Make Only Riesling and Pinot
If two times is a coincidence, then perhaps three times is a trend, and in the Finger Lakes, a trend seems to be emerging: A third wine producer has decided to focus on riesling, pinot noir, and nothing else. There is no denying riesling’s regional strength, but the search for a regional stalwart red wine has led winemakers down many paths, not all of them successful. Pinot noir would be the most challenging of paths, a cliffside stroll as opposed to the more leisurely journey to quaffable reds such as cabernet franc or blaufrankisch. That’s not to say that any…
Across the Border: The Quest For the Holy Grail — Ontario Pinot Noir
Perhaps it’s fitting that the first all-pinot-noir flight at this year’s Expert’s Tasting at Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) was named after Monty Python’s classic film. If transcendent pinot noir is indeed the life-giving juice that flows from a cup then there are many out there spending their lives and fortunes looking for it, even though most everyone else already thinks it lies in Burgundy. Luckily my own quest to attend this year’s tasting was fulfilled, and I sat down with winemakers, wine writers, sommeliers and industry supporters to take a journey through several flights of…
The Finger Lakes 2011 Red Wines of the Year Finalists: Explaining the Diverse Selections
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photos from our WoTY 2009 Tasting by Morgan Dawson I’m happy to see that the NYCR selections for Finger Lakes red wines of the year have generated a fair amount of feedback and debate. There have been many questions: Why no cabernet franc? How come every wine is made from a different grape? Keep in mind that for a wine to be eligible, it has to have been released in 2011. Many of the red wines released in 2011 came from the uneven 2009 vintage. The glorious 2009 September produced strong conditions for Finger…
Heart & Hands Wine Company 2009 Pinot Noir
Over a relatively short period of time, Heart & Hands Wine Company has almost become synonymous with New York pinot noir. There are other wineries making good versions of course, but on a consistent basis, there isn’t a producer I can recommend more for pinot. Co-owner and winemaker Tom Higgins carefully sources fruit from dependable growers and his passion for the grape manifests itself in meticulous cellar work. Heart & Hands Wine Company 2009 Pinot Noir ($20) — which is closed under Vino-Seal by the way — offers aromas of red cherries and cranberries sprinkled with brown spice, star anise…
Tousey Winery 2010 Pinot Noir
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Why do I explore every corner of New York wine country? Wines like this one. Yes, I taste a lot of mediocre (or worse) wine, but discovering a hidden gem of a wine like this one is what energizes and inspires me. Tousey Winery, located in Clermont, NY in the Hudson River valley, is owned by Ben and Kimberly Peacock. Ben makes the wines but he's quick to point out that he is "merely a student." "I find the term 'winemaker' hard to wear because that would put me in the same category l as…
Pinot Noir in New York: It Takes Location, Expression and Passion
3 Pinot Noirs and 1 Merlot: The New York Cork Report 2009 Red Wines of the Year By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Photos by Morgan Dawson Photography Is pinot noir the next great red for upstate New York? Given how difficult pinot noir is to work with in the vineyard — especially in cool-climate regions like New York — as well as in the cellar, it may seem a silly, easy-to-answer question. But the New York Cork Report Wines of the Year tasting back in January resulted in pinot noir winning three out of four regional flights. Merlot taking the Long…
Billsboro Winery 2007 Pinot Noir
By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Don't let Vinny Aliperti, co-owner and winemaker at Billsboro Winery, fool you with his humble, laid back personality. He makes serious wines, both at Billsboro and at his 'day job' as winemaker at Atwater Estate Vineyards. Maybe its that laid-back personality that somehow keeps him and his wines just under the radar, but his are wines worth drinking and keeping an eye on. Of the half dozen 2007 Finger Lakes pinot noirs that I tasted recently, none showed a balance of fruit, oak, tannin and acid the that his Billsboro Winery 2007 Pinot Noir ($22) did.…
Heron Hill Winery 2007 Pinot Noir Reserve
By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief There is little doubt that riesling rules the Finger Lakes roost, but what grape will be the one on which the region's red grape reputation will be built? The jury is still out I think. Some say cabernet franc. Other content that Blaufrankisch is the grape. Many blend the two in what might be a signature red blend. Maybe it'll even be a hybrid, though the potential is probably limited there. Then you have a small, dedicated group of growers and winemakers who think that pinot noir shows the most potential — but only in the…