By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Photos courtesy of Jamesport Vineyards Getting in touch with winery owners and grape growers is always a challenge this time a year. They've got more pressing (pun intended) things to do than respond to the enthusiastic (okay, incessant) requests from me for harvest data. But, little by little, the the reports are coming in, including a few emails from Jake Perdie, tasting room manager at Jamesport Vineyards, owned by veteran grower Ron Goerler. They picked all of their chardonnay last week, at 22.5 brix, and 5 tons were sold to Red Hook Winery in Brooklyn. Before…
Posts Tagged“pinot noir”
Out of Sorts… Comes a Wine More Special
Photos courtesy of Heart & Hands Wine Company By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor This whole hand sorting business seemed like a good idea — until I nearly threw up on the sorting table. And it wasn't the fact that this was a vibrating table that turned my stomach. Let me back up. Most wine producers in the Finger Lakes do not hand sort the fruit after it's picked. They rely on vineyard crews to make careful passes when the fruit is still hanging, cutting off the rotting, green or — worse — sour fruit. Once the fruit is picked,…
Day Dreaming About Pinot Noir in the Niagara Region
By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Regional Correspondent When I venture out to other wine regions in New York State and introduce myself as being from the Niagara region, the most common response is…”Oh pinot noir, huh…how’s Warm Lake doing?” I usually give a generic answer and then talk about the other wineries that have just opened and more importantly, the other grapes that have been planted. The reality is that Warm Lake Estate and the creation of the Niagara Escarpment AVA has intentionally branded the region for pinot noir. Given the climate, length of growing season and abundance of clay over…
Heart & Hands Wine Company: Unique Focus (Pinot!) and a Unique Tasting Experience
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent Editor's Note: Jason and I both visited this wine company in recent days and we both left with the impression that, at $10, the cellar tasting at Heart & Hands is the most unique tasting experience in the Finger Lakes, just made for wine enthusiasts. Jason details it below. Higgins is the winemaker who organized last week's industry tasting of Finger Lakes Pinot, which was detailed here. -Evan I recently paid a visit to Heart & Hands Wine Company, a new winery on the northeastern shore of Cayuga Lake, to scoop a story for…
Blind Tasting of Finger Lakes Pinot Noir Reveals Progress, Challenges
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photos by Morgan Dawson Photography On Wednesday night, on a rain-soaked evening on the southeast side of Seneca Lake, a group of grape growers and winemakers met to taste through a line of 2007 pinot noirs. Many of the wines were made in the Finger Lakes; a few came from the American West Coast, and some from Burgundy. Tom Higgins, winemaker and owner of Heart & Hands Wine Company, organized the event because he wanted to know: Where does pinot noir stand in the Finger Lakes? Is it truly a recalcitrant mystery, yielding near-constant…
Anthony Nappa Wines 2008 Anomaly
By Lenn Thompson, Publisher and Editor When Anthony Nappa, winemaker at Shinn Estate Vineyards, interviewed for the job, he had two questions of his own for the owners, could he bring his dog to work, and could he make his own wine? I've seen his dog at the winery myself and with the release of Anthony Nappa Wines 2008 Anomaly ($18), the second question is answered as well. His second wine, the Anthony Nappa Wines 2008 Nemesis, will be released this weeked. Both are available at Shinn's tasting room and both wines are 100% pinot noir sourced on the North…
Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir
By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher Of the 40 or so producers on Long Island, only a handful make pinot noir, and of that handful and even smaller group does it well. Osprey's Dominion Vineyards made one of the best in the 2005 vintage, one of the better vintages in the relatively brief history of Long Island wine. Winemaker Adam Suprenant didn't bother making it 2006 and with good reason, it wasn't a great year for reds. But Osprey's varietal pinot noir made a return with the warm, dry 2007 growing season. That ripeness certainly isn't hidden at all. This…
Wolffer Estate 2006 Pinot Noir
Roman Roth, winemaker at Wolffer Estate is perhaps best known for the wines he crafts from merlot, including the $125 Wolffer Estate Premier Cru and the wines he makes under his own label, Grapes of Roth. I've also lauded Roman fort he great things he does with the chardonnay grape. But, as much as I enjoy those wines, I think some of the other wines he makes are under-appreciated, including this Wolffer Estate 2006 Pinot Noir ($35). As we all know, pinot noir can be difficult both in the vineyard and in the cellar. They don't call it the ‘heartbreak…
Video: PALATE 2009 Comparative Tasting — 2007 Pinot Noir
In this video from my PALATE 2009 Comparative Tasting at Atwater Estate Vineyards, winemaker Vinny Aliperti talks about his 2007 pinot noirs (from Atwater and Billsboro Winery) and how the 'heartbreak grape' just didn't break that many hearts in 2007, a great vintage for reds in the Finger Lakes region.
McGregor Vineyard 2006 Pinot Noir
Wine never stops to be fascinating for me. In recent weeks I've been doing my wine tastings a bit differently. Instead of tasting them on the day I opened them, reviewing them and rating them, I'm holding off on giving final scores until I've re-tasted them again the following day. I like to taste and review wines the same way that people actually drink them, and the fact is, a bottle of wine may last a few day or longer in many people's homes. It's been an interesting exercise and I've discovered that more wines improve by day two (and…