What do you get when you take an experienced wine executive from New York City and drop him into the Russian River Valley with two winemakers who also hail from New York? Apparently you get some delicious and surprisingly elegant chardonnays and pinot noirs that are undoubtedly California, but not what you might expect. Chris Donatiello was that marketing and sales executive for the Charmer Sunbelt group before teaming up with venture capitalist Bill Hambrecht. Together they purchased Belvedere Winery in Healdsburg, CA — a winery that had been making 125,000 cases a year and converted it into C. Donatiello…
Posts Tagged“pinot noir”
WTN: Osprey’s Dominion 2005 Pinot Noir (North Fork)
I know several pinot noir lovers, who are almost always disappointed by the local renditions they taste. Many are thin, water, terribly simple, and just not elegantly textured. This is a wine that I think will give them what they are looking for. While sipping (and spitting) my way through my weekly tasting lineup the other night, this wine stopped me in my tracks. It stood out among the other wines because of its texture, its complexity and it’s overall deliciousness. It’s the one wine that I swallowed during the tasting and it’s the only wine I reached for once…
Vineyard Visuals: Pinot Noir Grapes at Castello di Borghese
The title says it all…I just really liked this one.
A LENNDEVOURS Pork and Pinot Tasting
When it comes to food-friendly versatility, it’s hard to do any better than pinot noir. But, as you may have noticed, there aren’t many pinots made on Long Island and those that are out there tend to be extremely inconsistent year to year or extremely expensive for the quality. Of course, there is a reason for both the up-and-down quality and the sometimes-hefty price tags—pinot noir is extremely difficult to grow even under the best conditions. It is quite tolerant of cool and cold growing conditions, but because it is an early-leafing variety, it is extremely susceptible to spring frosts.…
The Thanksgiving Column
Every wine writer or blogger has to write a wine-pairing column for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s a must. It’s one of the un-written rules — along with the mandatory New Year’s Eve sparkling wine column, which you can expect to see in just a few weeks. Of course, no two Thanksgiving wine-pairing columns are alike. As it should be, everybody has his or her favorites for the holiday. Sparkling wine, chardonnay, riesling, pinot noir, Beaujolais, syrah, Rioja, sangiovese, zinfandel…the list goes on and on and on. There are as many suggestions as their are wine raconteurs. Me, I tend to like…
Why I Hate Synthetic Corks (aka Bad Choices)
So I sat down last night to review a few different wines from Standing Stone Vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of New York. It’s a well-known producer and I’ve enjoyed both their dry vidal and vidal ice wine in the past. Then I opened my only bottle of their 2003 Pinot Noir ($26). As I slipped the capsule off, I was surprised to see a synthetic cork. In my experience, few wineries use them on a wine over $15 dollars — particularly not one that should have some cellar worthiness. So I extract the cork and pour… Something is…
Winners From the New York Wine and Food Classic
This week, Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard’s 2005 Dry Riesling ($16) defeated 702 other New York wines to win the Governor’s Cup, awarded to the events best wine. Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellars was named New York’s "Winery of the Year" based on the number, and level, of medals its wines won. Sponsored and run by the New York Wine and Grape Foundation (NYWGF), a nonprofit statewide trade organization based in the in newly opened New York Wine and Culinary Center. Howard Goldberg reported in the New York Times, "The wine industry and influential wine periodicals treat the contest as…
WTN: Jamesport Vineyards 2004 Sarah’s Hill Pinot Noir (North Fork of Long Island)
There aren’t a ton of local producers making pinot noir here on Long Island. The "heartbreak" grape is difficult to grow anywhere, but with Long Island’s humidity, I think it’s even harder. I know of at least one winemaker that has stopped making pinot noir completely — using his pinot grapes strictly for bubbly now. That said, Jamesport Vineyards can usually be counted on for a solid bottling. Owner and vineyard manager Ron Goerler is one of the North Fork’s most respected growers and has long been known for growing quality fruit. This wine was fermented using indigenous yeast, and…