Posts Tagged“pinot noir”

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…

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…

C. Donatiello Winery: When New Yorkers Invade Healdsburg

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…

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…

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…