By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Three Heads Brewing is on a roll lately with new releases, and Bromigo, their very first fall seasonal offering, is an interesting foray into flavorings: it's a smoked maple amber brewed with maple syrup. The nose is wonderfully complex for a fall seasonal — sweet and smokey, with full and thick maple notes backed up by toffee and vanilla and a firm roast. There's no aggressive alcohol to speak of, just the rich scents of a woodsy fall flannel-wearing, maple-syrup-tapping party. Bready malts and roast dominate the palate. It's not a thick beer, for the lushness of…
Posts Tagged“Review”
Naked Dove Oktoberfest is Shoe-Slappin’ good
By Mark Tichenor, Rochester Beer Correspondent It’s still a bit confusing to everybody, even the Germans. Oktoberfest is named for October, but takes place in mid-September. And craft breweries usually have their Oktoberfest-style beers ready by the beginning of August. Canandaigua New York’s Naked Dove Brewing Company is blithely tardy, waiting until the end of beer-tent season to release their Oktoberfest. It’s a crafty move for a beer that deserves to be enjoyed apart from the pack. Oktoberfest beers are as subtle as a kick in the Lederhosen: heavy, strong lagers with negligible hop character and a sweet punch that…
Saranac Wet Hop IPA
By Mark Tichenor, Rochester Beer Correspondent It might not yet be a gold mine, but farmer Rick Pedersen of Seneca Castle, New York is definitely sitting on something. Pedersen Farms is one of the few in Western New York to fully embrace the craft beer revolution by cultivating hops. In doing so, they spur the resurgence of this once-ubiquitous New York State crop. This makes it possible for breweries like Saranac to brag that their new Wet Hop IPA is made with all-New York hops, a claim that, until recently, would have been untenable. Wet-hopping is basically adding fresh hop…
Heron Hill Winery 2008 Ingle Vineyard Cabernet Franc
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor The image of Finger Lakes red wines as typically underwhelming — especially compared to the regions often outstanding white wines — has begun to evolve in recent years — mostly thanks to two warm vintages (2005 and 2007) and a handful of producers really pushing the quality envelope. The region is getting its due for its red wines too now — at least here and there. Here's a wine from the more "normal" 2008 vintage that further proves how silly it is to generalize when it comes to wine. Heron Hill Winery 2008 Cabernet Franc…
Bedell Cellars 2010 Chardonnay
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor I appreciate the direction that winemaker Rich Olsen-Harbich is taking the white wine program at Bedell Cellars. I’ve now tasted a handful of his 2010 wines — his first vintage at Bedell — and a few things are clear. First, there is a distinct focus on expressing the vintage over a house style. Second, there is a much more judicious use of new oak. This Bedell Cellars 2010 Chardonnay ($20) illustrates both points well. In some previous vintages, there’s been a sameness to the regular chardonnay bottling and the reserve. That sameness was oak —…
Brewery Ommegang BPA (Belgian Pale Ale)
By Julia Burke, Beer Editor In honor of the beloved upcoming beer festival Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, I decided to ease the pain of missing the event (not that I
Hermann J. Wiemer 2009 Magdalena Vineyard Riesling
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor As much affection as I feel for the wines of New York State, there are only a handful of wineries with “any wine” status — status that means I will happily drink any wine from their portfolio. Hermann J. Wiemer is a winery with such status in my life. From their $12 Frost Cuvee — a clean, fresh blend of riesling, gewurztraminer, pinot noir, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc — to their $95 TBA-style riesling, the portfolio is a winner. Several of these wines will be reviewed on the NYCR over the next few weeks, starting…
Lieb Family Cellars 2008 Right Coast Red
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor As a general rule, I don’t like double entendre on wine labels. It gimmicky and usually only clever in a too-obvious or not-all-that-funny sort of way. With the city skyline on the label, we are led to believe that the primary meaning of Lieb Family Cellars 2008 Right Coast Red ($30) relates to being made on the East Coast — right when looking at a map — versus on the West Coast, which would be Left Coast. Given my drive to drink locally, I tend to prefer the other meaning — the meaning that seems…
Channing Daughters Winery 2009 Scuttlehole Chardonnay
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Channing Daughters Winery‘s winemaker, Christopher Tracy, makes several chardonnay-based wines in a wide range of styles. For my money, his all-steel Scuttlehole Chardonnay is consistently the best and is the wine against which I judge other New York wines of its type. Channing Daughters 2009 Scuttlehole Chardonnay ($17) is proof that stainless steel chardonnay needn’t be one-dimensional and somewhat neutral. The fruit for this wine was all hand harvested and whole-cluster pressed — the norm at Channing Daughters, but not as common with most other steel-feremented chardonnays. Maybe that’s the key difference, particularly the whole-cluster…
Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2008 “Perle” Chardonnay
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor It is my personal opinion that there is way too much chardonnay planted on Long Island. I know all the reasons why its there — easy to grow, customer demand, etc. — but chardonnay is never going to be why people visit the region or demand Long Island wines on a restaurant list. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it. I will also highlight Long Island chardonnay wines that are delicious, which they can be. Especially when the right clones are grown in the right place and the wine is made by the…