New York Cork Report

Diploma Dispatches: Bordeaux

By New York City Correspondent Sasha Smith

I'd been waiting for last Tuesday’s class for a long, long time.

Finally, I was going to learn to love Bordeaux.

Of course I’ve always appreciated it and held it in high regard, and its primacy is self-evident; it’s tough to argue against the greatness of Bordeaux, the same way you can’t refute the fact that Citizen Kane is a cinematic masterpiece or Crime and Punishment is a darn good book. But just as Orson Welles and Dostoyevsky leave me cold, Bordeaux has never been a personal favorite. I was sure I was missing something — and I was hopeful that our first class on Bordeaux would show me what it was.

The class started off promisingly enough, with our instructor Mary Ewing Mulligan MW telling us how much she loved Bordeaux — drinking it, talking about it, reading about it, etc., etc.  She shared her frustration at the difficulty of preparing for the class, given the sheer size of the topic, and I truly felt for her. Prepping to give us a 90-minute talk on the red wines of Bordeaux must be like a history professor putting together lectures for a freshman survey class: The History of Ancient Greece in 75 minutes — and next week, the Rise and Fall of Rome.

Her talk meandered for a bit, but we finally hit upon the primary theme, namely that the finest chateaux are doing just fine, but the rest of Bordeaux is up shit’s creek. I knew the basics already — the top 5% sit atop a vast sea of basically anonymous wine that has, in the past, been consumed locally. But the diminished consumption of wine in France, plus changing tastes that favor fuller-bodied, fruitier wines, and vine-pulling programs that didn’t take all add up to a lot of supply, not so much demand. (For my instructor's thoughts on what might help turn the tide for Bordeaux, check out her review of these wines from Christian Moueix  http://www.winereviewonline.com/MEM_on_Moueix_Pomerlo.cfm/.)

As Mary ran through the specifics — the rigid classification system, the harebrained agricultural schemes, the pretensions of the chateaux proprietors (my interpretations, not her words) — I realized how closely I had been associating Bordeaux with my least favorite things about France: bureaucracy, elitism and the rigid adherence to rules in place of common sense.* 

canvas Magazine's February Issue is Out

As many of you know, I run the website for canvas Magazine, a Huntington, N.Y.-based magazine that focuses on sustainable, "green" life on Long Island an beyond. One of my best friends, Matt O'Grady is one of the publishers, so I've been helping them out for a little over a year now.

But this February issue, which just hit the streets, is one that I'm particularly proud of because the new editor, Diana Murphy, and have been working great together and this issue shows it.

If you look at the cover of the magazine this month, you might recognize that shot. Why? Well, it was taken by none other than LENNDEVOURS' photographer Ellen Watson. In fact, it's one of the shots she's taken for our Vineyard Visuals series.

But it doesn't stop there. Look inside and you'll see a story by LENNDEVOURS contributor Richard Olsen-Harbich on climate change and its impacts on the wine world. Some if it may look familiar to you, because it's an expanded, re-worked version of a post he did here on LENNDEVOURS.

And last, but certainly not least, I've started to do a little writing for canvas again with the debut of L.I. Tastemakers, a series of short profiles I'll be doing. This month's piece is on chef Doug Gulija.

There is also a great little piece on slow food by canvas' main food/drink columnist, Chris O'Hara.

Three Quick Sips

I have a few things to catch up on here on the blog today. There always seems to be more going on than we have time to write about, doesn't there?

First, on a personal note, I'd like to wish our little guy, Jackson, a happy first birthday. A year ago today, at 5:17 p.m., he joined our budding family and life will never ever be the same again. All the sleepless nights, diaper changes, food spit up on clothes, etc. has been more than worth it. Seriously. He's what keeps me going when I don't feel like staying up late to write.

Next, I'd like to congratulate Jim Waters of Waters Crest Winery. He sent me an email earlier this week letting me know that his 2004 Private Reserve Cabernet Franc was chosen to be on the wine list at Alain Ducasse's newest restaurant, Adour. You might remember that this was one of my 12 Wines of Xmas late last year.

Last, I also have an update on the Wine Blogging Wednesday Logo Contest that I announced almost a week ago. The prize pack for the winner is really starting to come together. So far, we have:

• A Catavino Pack of Portuguese wines from Domaine547 (thanks Jill)
• Two items from the Oenoline catalog (thanks Wilfried)
• Two bottles of wine from Twisted Oak Winery (thanks Jeff)
• One dozen Austrian-style cookies  (thanks Jif)

We have a handful of submissions for the logo contest already, but I expect that we'll see many many more roll in as time goes along.

Wine Chick Wednesday: Come On. Get Happy!

Happiness is a tricky thing. It’s quite the elusive noun because it’s not tangible, like a xylophone. It’s not visible, like a shadow.

You can’t even hear it, like a Carpenter’s song. (And I’ve only just begun.)

Although we certainly know when we’re unhappy, happiness can sometimes just ease in and ease back out. Sure, a big ol’ dose of it can be caused by your recent Anthropology spree/Himalayan trek/supafly booty call, but often we just coast along, somewhat dis/content and try to grasp at that greased pig we call happiness.

Thankfully, there’s Happy Hour.

I don’t know what genius first created cheap drinks immediately after work, but I for one would like to give him a big ol’ smooch. (And yes, I’m certain it was a man. A chick would’ve done… oh, I don’t know… cheap pedicures or something. I anxiously await the merging of the two. Someone, get on that.) What better way to cause a big jump in happiness than getting your tipsy on after leaving the bossman?

Shango Bistro & Wine Bar here in Buffalo is the closest thing I’ve found to nirvana. (Being an atheist, that’s a big leap of faith that I don’t have, but I digress.) Conveniently located across of the south campus of the University of Buffalo, Shango wisely serves no hard liquor, thereby sparing themselves of hiring a bouncer to cast off young’uns looking for Jell-o shots (another near-intangible noun if ever there was…) But beer and wine? Done and done.

Owners Jim Guarino and Marla Crouse are both fantastic at what they do. Jim mans the kitchen and dishes out some tasty New Orleans-inspired fare while Marla sips her way to the perfect wine list. Jim’s menu includes catfish po' boys, Creole bouillabaisse, homemade mac-n-cheese, and the infamous bananas foster. He’s also a beer enthusiast, which is confirmed by Shango’s impressive beer list. Marla has made it her modus operandi to seek out interesting wines from lesser-known areas, and I’m pleased to report that she has both Scheurebe AND a biodynamic Gamay by the glass. Swoon. That they are newly wedded to each other solidifies their status as the epicurial power couple of western New York.

Farm to Chef, Field to Table at the Astor Center This Thursday (1/31)

I get invited to a lot of wine and wine-related events. Many of them are in New York City, so I can rarely attend them, and frankly, few of them are interesting enough that I'm going to take off of work and hop on a train.

Then there are events like the one the Astor Center is hosting the evening of Thursday, January 31: Farm to Chef, Field to Table: An Intimate Dinner with Chef Michael Anthony and Peter Kaminsky.

I'm excited about this event because it was designed to celebrate the great bounty of our particular corner of the world, bringing together farmers, chefs, writers and activists.

It features a five-course dinner prepared by Chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern with additional canapés and hors d'oeuvres prepared by Mary Cleaver of The Green Table and The Cleaver Company at Chelsea market. Long Island's Channing Daughter Winery will be pouring their wines along side.

I've long been a fan of Kaminsky's writing, so I wish I could go if only to meet him in person.

It's not cheap, at $175 per person, but it promises to be a spectacular evening.

If you're interested you can learn more and buy tickets online.

Sunday Baby Blogging: Jackson's 1st Birthday Party

LENNDEVOURS' junior editor, Jackson, turns one on Thursday. But, because the weekend after his birthday is Super Bowl weekend, we had his party this past Saturday. A good time was had by all...especially the guest of honor.

Announcing: Wine Blogging Wednesday Logo Contest

The trusty Wine Blogging Wednesday logo that you see here has served us well. It's been plastered all over the blogosphere, appearing on participant sites, host blogs and over on WineBloggingWednesday.org.

But, as everyone's favorite virtual wine tasting event enters its 42nd edition, I think it's time for a change.

With that in mind, I'm excited to announce the new Wine Blogging Wednesday Logo Contest, which starts today and will run until March 31, 2008.

At any point during that time, you can submit your logo idea via email to winebloggingwednesday@gmail.com. Once we've collected all of the submissions, we'll post them to Flickr and everyone can vote for their favorite.

We don't have any official prizes lined up yet, but isn't the love and adoration of the wine blogging community prize enough? If you're a blogger and would like to contribute to a prize pack, let me know.

So, if you're a designer or play one on TV, make sure that you send in your submission by March 31. Spread the word, the more submissions we have, the better!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #42 Announced: Just 7 Words

Can you write a 7-word wine tasting note? I'm not sure that I can, but I'll have to try for Wine Blogging Wednesday #42, hosted by Andy of Spittoon.

For this edition, he wants us to taste an Italian red wine (no further restrictions) and write a tasting note using only 7 words. This should be a fun one and it will no doubt be interesting to read through all the submissions.

The wine blogger from England has a few caveats for this 7-word note, however:

"The finished tasting note must make sense, be grammatically correct(ish), punctuation will help of course. The wine name, type, producer, vintage do not have to be included in the 7. But a reference to aroma, flavour, length, food matching etc. should be considered. Inventiveness is the key."

Can't wait for this one. I already have the wine(s) picked out.

WTN: Raphael 2002 First Label Merlot (North Fork of Long Island)

Editor's Note: Yes, I do still write for my blog.

When Richard Olsen-Harbich, winemaker at Peconic's Raphael, started his winemaking career, it was in the Finger Lakes region of central New York.

As you all know, the Finger Lakes region is best suited —  and best known —  for its aromatic white wines, particularly riesling. Much of the time, the classic red varieties of Bordeaux struggle to ripen in central New York. Some wineries make wines like merlot and cabernet sauvignon anyway, but many of the better ones are made using fruit (or bulk wine) grown here on Long Island.

Anyway, Olsen-Harbich may have started his career dealing mostly with racy, minerally whites, but in his 27 years making wine on Long Island, he's more than adjusted to the climate and grapes here. In fact he doesn't even make riesling right now, though they have planted some riesling in the back of the vineyard for the future.

Still, Raphael's focus is set squarely on red wines, particularly merlot. They grow a lot of it, and make a lot of it too.

For some time now, they have been pouring and selling their 2000 and 2001 First Label merlot, a wine only made in the best years and one that is most definitely not meant for immediate consumption. While approachable, they continue to develop with time and the 2001 is tasting terrific right now.

The 2000, however, is no longer available and they've released the new 2002 vintage. Olsen-Harbich, who has seen more than 20 Long Island vintages, considers 2002 a tremendous vintage for merlot and it shows in this new release, which was blended with 3% malbec.

The wine itself is a dark, almost inky purple and extremely aromatic with blackberry and blueberry fruit aromas accented by leather and minty notes. Similar character carries over to the full, well-structured palate that has a lengthy, minerally-graphite finish. The tannins are ripe, but plenty apparent, bringing grip and pointing to terrific aging potential.

For $30, you'll be hard pressed to find a better local merlot.

Grape(s): 97% merlot, 3% malbec
Producer: Raphael
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $30
Rating:   (3.5 out of 5 | Very good-to-Delicious) 

(About LENNDEVOURS Ratings) 

Diploma Dispatches: My first WSET Diploma Unit 3 Class

By New York City Correspondent Sasha Smith

And so it begins. I had my first Diploma Unit 3 wine class last week, and I’m already feeling overwhelmed.

The Good News: I’m not the only person who isn’t in the wine business. I was a little worried that the class would be wall-to-wall sommeliers and importers, but there’s a small contingent of civilians like me. From a purely selfish perspective that’s good news as it makes me feel less self-conscious, but I think it will be good
for the class, too.

In my experience from previous courses, WSET students tend to overlook the more commercial end of the market, and those of us who have to actually pay retail for what we drink help keep things real.

I found my way into a great tasting group. I can’t emphasize enough how important this is. In my other WSET courses I’ve found that much of the real work happens in these groups — classes go by very quickly (see The Bad News, below), with usually no more than half a dozen wines to taste. Tasting with a good group of inquisitive, perceptive students is one of the best ways to learn and sharpen your skills. Tasting with a bad group can easily devolve into 20-minute arguments about whether that petite sirah has notes of clove,
allspice, both or neither.

We started off with Alsace and Beaujolais, a great place to begin. Bordeaux might have been a more logical place to start, but I’m glad we kicked things off with these regions instead. (And not just because they’re two of Lenn’s favorites.)

Labeling, varietal selection and classification for both regions are fairly straightforward, and aromatic whites and low-tannin, fruity reds are relatively easy to taste.

The Bad News: Our instructor, Linda Lawry, dropped some pretty scary numbers on us. The pass rate for the exam last year hovered around 60%. The exam is divided into two parts, each of which is graded separately — a tasting section and a “theory” section with essay questions.

Pass rates for the theory section are usually a bit lower, but I’m more worried about the tasting part, where you have to write detailed tasting notes about 12 wines, some of which you’re given completely blind. And these aren’t just any tasting notes — you have to follow very specific guidelines, which brings me to…

4th Annual Long Island Real Ale Festival: Mild Preview

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

Last year I attended the Long Island Real Ale Festival with my beer writer hat on. This year, I'll be there as a brewer. On January 6, my brewing buddy, Mike Voigt, and I mashed-in and brewed up a batch of an English-style Mild that we'll be proud to serve at this Saturday's Long Island Real Ale Festival held annually at the Blue Point Brewery in Patchogue.

The beer has been fermenting away at Mike's house for the last couple of weeks and earlier this week it was ready to transfer into the firkin.  We sampled a couple of pints right out of Mike's totally swank 14 gallon stainless steel conical fermenter and pronounced the beer utterly delish.

We've been working on this Mild recipe for a few months. We've brewed two pilot batches and tweaked the recipe to our taste. If you are not familiar with Mild, it's a historic style that isn't brewed too much nowadays because Milds (as the name implies) are low alcohol beers.  They are dark beers (usually) and you'd think that you are looking at a stout or a porter, but a Mild is a beer that you could probably drink all day and never get a buzz. (Okay, I've confused you; why would anyone want to drink beer and not get a buzz?  The taste!)

These low-alcohol Milds were originally brewed as refreshers for laborers who would be working at steel mills or other hot, physically demanding jobs. These workers would sweat out copious amounts of fluid and they would be in serious need of re-hydration to avoid death. The Mild was perfect. These manual laborers could drink ten or fifteen pints of Mild and then get back to work, but refreshed.

In the 21st century, no one (at least not in the "western" world) labors that hard and beers tend to be in the "relaxer" alcohol range (6% ABV and up). But we shouldn't look down our noses at Milds just because they won't knock us on our collective ass.  They are still full-bodied, full-flavored brews. If you don't believe me, then come to the Long Island Real Ale Festival this weekend (January 26, tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door) and we'll prove to you that Milds are just as flavorful as any other beer.

If you'd like to know more about what "real ale" is, then I invite you to listen to a recent episode of Radio Beer Hall (#101) and find out the answer to the question "what is real ale?"

Listen: download the mp3 (6.6 MB, 14:25 mins) [other info]
Subscribe to the beer podcast: regular feed | with iTunes

"Pruning" by Christopher Watkins

By Poet Laureate Christopher Watkins

 

Pruning

Early morning, and like middle-schoolers
chicken-pimpled beside a swimming pool,
the once-mighty vines stand humble, naked in their rows;
I swear they’re shivering—
a finishing school
of apprentice scarecrows
practicing on snowflakes...

I walk the morning-after battlefield — the fight
an ancient rite of deconstruction —
marveling at the meager
quintessence of these vines: arms thin
as antennae, slender trunks poorly mimicking
their elder’s muscularity;

reminded of a bubblegum
cartoon, I imagine Old Vines walking by
and kicking sand in all the little
vine’s faces, then stealing off their girls...

A long year ahead, and I have no song I can sing
to march them onwards, but like soldiers under clippers
weeping quietly, they may take heart
that hair grows back, all wars end,
and somewhere there is someone
short a glass of wine.

Twisted Logic

By Jamie Gabrini, Special Columnist

Please note: the rather forceful opinions of Jay are in no way, shape, or form, a reflection of Lenn’s, or of any other contributor on this site. Indeed, they often wish she’d get off the damn soap-box already.

Ignorance is bliss. Truly. Aside from being cursed with stellar beauty and rapier wit, I’ve a thirst for information that won’t quit (and feel free to decide which attribute I exaggerate… ) Admittedly a conspiracy theorist, I love digging into books that pick apart social issues and highlight the erring of our American ways. And, since I work with food and wine, nothing gets me more excited than reading about the evils of Big Farming, be it viticulture, agriculture, or animal husbandry. That winning combination allows me to feed my food/wine monkey and inflate my paranoia – what’s not to love?

It has occurred to me, however, after circling the local food co-op for the umpteenth time, still-empty basket in hand, that maybe – just maybe, I take this too far. I’ve even questioned that perhaps – just perhaps – my brain has a deeply-rooted meta-hate thing going on and that it’s trying to kill me off. I’ve already gone vegetarian and try to buy local produce, but did I really need to read about how corn has been teased apart and reconstructed and added to just about everything? No, that info was neither necessary nor welcome, and I now spend far too long trying to find stuff without high fructose corn syrup or any other such nonsense in it. And just forget about going out to eat: if I can’t see it being made, I don’t know what’s in it, and I won’t touch it. Yeah, I’m a real treat on a date. All you bachelors? Call me.

Thankfully, there seem to be others just as particular (read: anal) out there in this vast world of ours. And those lil’ nuts gather at places like Shakti Yoga studio here in Buffalo for vegetarian cooking classes at which I give an organic wines-shpiel. What could be better than sipping on a biodynamic Fiefs Vendeens blanc and nibbling on tempeh with your foot wrapped around your neck?

High-End Spirits from the Garden State? Yes.

By Robin Meredith, Cocktail Columnist

Even those of us with a relatively enlightened, cliché-free view of New Jersey may be surprised to find out that one of the nation's most intriguing spirits hails from the Garden State. The most densely populated state in the country seems pretty far removed from the dark hollows of Kentucky and Tennessee or all those wacky mavericks distilling brandy and eau-de-vie in the mountains out west.

Laird and Company of Scobeyville, NJ (not far from Red Bank) produces an impressive range of apple-based spirits and has a truly fascinating history. Billing itself as “America's oldest family of brandy distillers,” Laird was founded in 1780 and its Scobeyville facility holds the very first bonded warehouse license issued by the Internal Revenue Service. Laird survived Prohibition by producing non-alcoholic apple products such as cider and applesauce. The Laird family still controls the company — the president and senior market executives are all eighth and ninth generation family members.

The Sweet Hereafter

By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Escarpment Correspondent

One of the coolest parts about living in an area with a burgeoning wine region has to be the fact that you get to literally watch history unfold. Of course, some history takes place outside in the kind of cold that burns your lungs and freezes your eyeballs, but when I regain feeling in my fingers I’ll be able to look back on January 3 of this still-new year as the date that marks the first local harvest of ice wine grapes at not one but two local wineries. When temperatures dropped into the teens for two days earlier this month – long enough for the Vidal grapes on the vine to freeze solid — I got the call to be in the vineyard before sunrise for harvest.

Did I mention it was cold? For ice wine, there’s no other time to do it. There’s usually a narrow window of time within which wineries have to harvest and press these grapes. Even a slight, five-degree warm up into the twenties can affect the concentration of the pressed juice, and I quickly realized time is of the essence. Luckily, our area experienced an ideal two-day cold snap during which Schulze Vineyards and Winery (where I pitched in) and Niagara Landing became the first in the region to harvest and press grapes for what should be an exciting vintage for ice wine.

Even if you're not familiar with the Niagara Escarpment region, you may well have heard of Niagara Peninsula, Niagara-on-the-Lake or Ontario wines — which means chances are you’ve heard of ice wine too. Usually packaged in 375ml bottles — with price tags quite often upwards of $90 for the half bottle — these wines are decadent, internationally sought after and critically acclaimed. Since the American Niagara region is only just across the Niagara River, the same general geology and climate extends in to the US side of the border. 

Canadian wineries have been making world-class ice wines for decades now, and they seem to have the whole process down. On our side of the border, the wineries are learning as they go. Late in the growing season, the vines are prepared by placing netting around the rows to catch clusters if they fall from high winds or heavy precipitation. When I arrived (did I mention it was cold?), the wind was calm with light snow. It was extremely surreal to be out in a vineyard in these conditions. The only noise I could hear was the sound of frozen grapes hitting the bins below and the crunching of snow at my feet. The Canadian wineries do an excellent job of romanticizing the harvest, and I always thought that this was all marketing, but there is something very special about being there working in extreme conditions, on the one or two days of year and in only one of a few regions where nature can provide the conditions to make this unique wine.

As I tasted the grapes and drank the fresh juice from the first crush, I really got to thinking about the future of ice wine here. There’s every indication from what I tasted that this years ice wine vintage should make some exquisite wines. Even so, I often ponder how wine regions all over seem to grapple with identity issues with regards to the grapes that are cultivated within. Is Merlot Long Island's signature grape? Well, yeah. So it only stands to reason that Riesling has to be the official grape of the Finger Lakes. Up here, there's the pinot noir buzz. There's the "well they can only make good white grapes cause it's so cold" belief. And there's always the hybrid and university-lab-engineered grape contingent. Well I’ll throw another log onto the fire. Could it be that in the near future if you’re drinking a Niagara Region wine, it might just turn out to be an American Niagara ice wine? That would be sweet.

WTN: Lieb Family Cellars 2004 Bridge Lane Bubbly (North Fork of Long Island)

Lieb Family Cellars' Blanc de Blancs, made entirely using the pinot blanc grape, has long been a favorite (look for a review and rating later this week). But at $35, it's not the sort of bubbly we can keep on hand for casual consumption.

Luckily, they've recently introduced a sparkler under as part of their second-label Bridge Lane product  line -- a 2004 Bridge Lane Bubbly ($27).

Bright and impressively flavorful from the first refreshing sip, this affordable bubbly is made with 60%  pinot noir and 40% chardonnay by French-born Gilles Martin (formerly of Martha Clara Vineyards and currently winemaker for Sherwood House Vineyards).

It's a really nice value in traditionally made , local sparkling wine. Apple, honey, and faintly yeasty aromas and flavors come through here with a slightly creamy mouth feel, fine bubbles, and nice acidity. If you join their wine club, the price is right around $20, making this one as good as you're going to get in local bubbly value.

Grape(s): 60% pinot noir, 40% chardonnay
Producer: Lieb Family Cellars
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $27
Rating:  (3 out of 5 | Recommended)

(About LENNDEVOURS Ratings)  

Sunday Baby Blogging

I can't believe that this little guy is going to be 1 at the end of the month. I also can't believe how his gear has overtaken our living room. I guess it will only get worse, right?

His birthday party is next Saturday. Nena spent yesterday making meatballs. This week she'll make sauce and lasagna. Her mom and sister are bringing the rest of the food. I'm handling the wine and my parents are bringing some beer from my hometown. 25 people in our little house is going to be 'cozy' but we'll have fun.

We are also taking advantage of family being around to go to dinner at Kitchen - A Bistro with friends. It's a great little BYOB spot that we haven't been to in over a year. I wonder why.

WTN: Brooklyn Oenology 2005 Chardonnay (North Fork of Long Island)

A couple weeks ago, Sasha wrote about Brooklyn Oenology's debut this fall. Eating local has become a part of every day life for many of us, but drinking local hasn’t quite caught on. But, as we all think about how we can reduce our carbon footprints, drinking wines made closer to home makes perfect sense. Shipping wine across the country or around the world — in those heavy bottles — burns a lot of fossil fuel, emitting a whole lot of carbon dioxide.

For Brooklynites, Alie Shaper owner of and winemaker for Brooklyn Oenology (BOE) is making it that much easier to drink local with the release of BOE’s first two wines, a chardonnay and a merlot from the 2005 vintage. (See Sasha's piece about Brooklyn Oenology's debut from a couple weeks ago).

Both wines were made on Long Island’s North Fork at Premium Wine Group, a custom-crush facility where several producers make their wine. Eventually, Shaper will bring the winemaking operation too Brooklyn.

Today, we'll focus on the 2005 Chardonnay ($15), made with grapes Shaper purchased from from three North Fork vineyards: Castello di Borghese, Galluccio Family Wineries (now owned by Macari Vineyards) and Martha Clara Vineyards.

It's a wine that straddles New and Old World styles. A tight, somewhat weak nose offers a little of the expected citrus and apple aromas and just the faintest hints of baking spice.

A lively, but slightly disjointed palate offers nice fruit flavors of apples, mandarin oranges, green grapes, and tropical fruit with a little vanilla and spice. But, as much as I love (demand?) acidity in chardonnay, here it's a little harsh and tart. In fact, it finishes downright sour. I think that all of the components are here, they are just all over the place. Maybe it will settle down with more time in bottle, but with only partial malolactic fermentation, it may not.

Grape(s): Chardonnay
Producer: Brooklyn Oenology 
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $15
Rating: (1.5 out of 5 | Not Recommended-to-Average)

(About LENNDEVOURS Ratings) 

Bedell Cellars Set to Release New Red Blend, Musee

Remember Bedell Cellars' Cupola, their flagship red blend?

Well, they haven't made it recently, apparently deciding to discontinue the product line.

Instead, they've released a new high-end blend with their 2005 Musée, price at $65, making iti their most expensive wine (and $15 more than the last Cupola if I remember right).

Joining wines like their Gallery, TASTE Red and TASTE White, Musée's front label features artwork by a renowned artist. This time, Chuck Close a well-known painter and recipient of the 2000 National Medal of Arts, has contributed the beautiful label, a photo daguerreotype of grapes.

Musée is a blend of merlot (78%), cabernet sauvignon (17%) and petit verdo (5%). Only 400 cases were made and they will be available in single bottles for that $65 or in hand-crafted wooden boxes of six for $400.

I haven't tasted the wine yet, but I hope to soon. I can't help but wonder if Bedell is starting to price their way out of much of the wine-buying community that walks through their tasting room doors. 

Time will tell though -- with this wine and their prices in general.

WTN: Lieb Family Cellars 2004 Cabernet Franc Reserve

Every time I taste a wine like this one, I wonder if Long Island wineries aren't crazy to push merlot as the be-all-end-all red in the region. Crazy might be overstating it a bit, but I wonder if cabernet franc would get more publicity in these parts if it were a better known variety amongst the wine-drinking population.

You all know of my undying devotion to the grape probably best known as the key red France's Loire Valley. But I'm not alone. Not by a long shot.

General Manager Gary Madden, the sometimes-reluctant face of Lieb Family Cellars, loves the stuff too. They released their first varietal cabernet franc some time ago, a 2003, and it disappointed. It was disjointed on release and, at least the last time I tasted it, hadn't come together much later in its life.

But, the 2004 is much much better. In fact, it captures the grapes potential on the North Fork quite well.

Lieb Famly Cellars 2004 Cabernet Franc Reserve ($24) is nicely aromatic with smoky, earthy and cherry aromas and a sprinkling of fresh herbs -- classic Long Island franc.

Similar flavors -- cherry, faint smoke, dusty cocoa, and mint -- entice and satisfy. It's medium bodied, well-balanced and smooth, lingering just long enough on the palate.

At Lieb anyway, I think cab franc rules the red roost. The 2003 merlot, while tasty, pales in comparison. Go for the franc.

Grape(s): Cabernet Franc
Producer: Lieb Family Cellars
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $24
Rating:  (3 out of 5 | Recommended)

(About LENNDEVOURS Ratings) 

Well, I missed Wine Blogging Wednesday

Sorry for the blog silence the last couple of days. A bad head cold has gotten the best of me.

I even missed Wine Blogging Wednesday. But, I do have a Friuli white that I'll just taste later in the week...when I can actually taste again.

Next Cask Night at Deks: Oakham Bishop's Farewell

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

A firkin of Oakham Bishops Farewell has just arrived in the US.  This particular firkin is reserved for thirsty Long Island beer enthusiasts. It will be tapped at Deks in Rocky Point on Friday, February 8.

For the last few months Deks has played host to a series of cask nights instigated by the nascent Long Island Malt and Beer Enthusiasts, an organization devoted to the promotion of craft beer culture on Long Island.  I was very happy to see Lenn at the last cask night. (That cask night is also the subject of the 100th episode of my Long Island beer podcast Radio Beer Hall.)

Last September, I wrote about what cask conditioned or real ale is, but some of you might not know what a "cask night" is. If you've never attended such an event, then you'll have a chance early next month.  I'll give you a taste of what to expect at a cask night.

If you arrive when the cask is tapped, you'll get to see the cellarman (or "landlord" or "publican", etc.) tap the cask. The cask sits on top of the bar on a wooden rack known as a stillage. The first thing the cellarman does is drive a soft spile into the top vent of the cask.  After that he'll use his trusty mallet again to drive a tap or spigot into the serving port. All this takes a few minutes and is quite dramatic. When the cask is tapped everyone cheers and the beer starts flowing.

While the cask might be the focus of the event, what's fun about cask nights is the social dimension. Beer lovers from all over Long Island will converge on the pub for the cask night. The topic of conversation usually starts with beer, but as the night goes on you'll have made some new friends.

A cask is usually small enough that it will be finished the same night that it is tapped. Typically, we've been procuring casks that contain 40 pints. The cask of Oakham Bishops Farewell is a full firkin which is about 80 pints. So we hope that you'll come out and help us put this ale to good use.

If you can't wait until the next cask night at Deks, the annual Long Island Real Ale Festival is taking place at the Blue Point Brewing Company on Saturday, January 26. The event starts at 1 p.m. and runs until 5 p.m.

Finger Lakes Pioneer Donates Books to Cornell Wine Library

Everyone knows that Dr. Konstantin Frank and the winery he founded blazed a trail for East Coast wine. But he was also the owner an extremely extensive book collection, which has been donated to Cornell University.

In doing so, the Frank family has made Cornell's viticulture and winemaking collection at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station's Lee Library one of the best in the country.

The Konstantin Frank family book donation consists of 132 titles, composed of 19th and 20th century titles on a wide variety of topics including horticulture, plant science, viticulture, enology, chemistry, nature, history and literature with the largest single subject category being wine- and grape-related material. 

Apparently, when Dr. Frank emigrated to the United States in 1951 from Europe, he sacrificed all other luggage and only brought his book collection. As a book-obsessed man myself, I can understand why. 
 
Of particular interest in the collection are a number of wine appreciation titles signed by the authors to Dr. Frank.  Also of special notice are French and Russian ampelographies and a multi-volume history of horticulture in Russia. 

 
The grape growing and wine making titles, which make up the largest portion of the donation, will contribute greatly to the Lee Library's already impressive holdings in those areas.  The Lee Library's viticulture and enology collection, said to be the finest east of the Rocky Mountains, features over 2,700 books and over 40 current subscriptions to periodicals from around the world. Together with the larger Cornell Library system these holdings in enology and viticulture exceed 7,000 titles. The Lee Library (located in Geneva, NY) will also be setting up a display about Dr. Konstantin Frank containing ephemera found in the book collection.  Some of the historical materials found were vintage photos, tickets and papers.

Like I said, I'm a book lover, so when we finally make it out to the Finger Lakes, I may just have to stop by the Lee Library to check this out.

Vineyard Visuals: Wolffer Estate Through the Seasons (January 12)

It's been a little while since our resident photographer, Ellen Watson, sent a photo update of our little block of Wolffer Estate chardonnay. We've had a lot of dreary weather when Ellen was out that way, and as you can see, we still haven't had any snow that is sticking long.

There is something about vineyards this time of year that I find so appealing. I actually think I find them more attractive now than when they are lush and over-flowing with green and grapes. Maybe it's the fact that they are sleeping now, preparing to bring us great wines again next year.

As always, this picture has been added to our Flickr slideshow.   

Finger Lakes Harvest 2007: Excellent for Reds, Hopeful for Whites

By Finger Lakes Correspondent Jason Feulner 

"The intense flavors just burst in your mouth," explains Phil Davis of Damiani Wine Cellars, describing the qualities of the red vinifera grapes he harvested and tasted in the fall of 2007. "The juice is dark and complex and shows a lot of potential."

Davis is one of many Finger Lakes winemakers who are extolling the virtues of the 2007 harvest, which they claim may lead to one of the best Finger Lakes vintages in many years. The weather certainly was unique. A dry spring led to a very dry summer; the growing season extended far into September and even into October with several 80 degree days arriving after Columbus Day.

"The weather speaks for itself," Steve Shaw of Shaw Vineyard states succinctly. "This harvest exceeds 2005 and is probably better than 1981 for the development of varietal character."

Many Finger Lakes wineries struggle to register more than 19 or 20 Brix in their red varieties any given year. This year, Shaw was able to record 23 Brix for his merlot crop, 24.2 for cabernet franc, and 24.7 for cabernet sauvignon. "I would have waited and gotten even higher Brix," Shaw jokes, "but the migrating birds saw the potential and were eating my grapes like crazy."

Despite the obvious benefits the hot, dry weather added to the red crop, white grapes -- including the esteeemed riesling variety -- may not fair as well or as evenly. While the Finger Lakes terrior often adds a nice acidic backbone to its rieslings, the hot weather sapped many clusters of their acidic character. For some wineries, acid will have to be added to the riesling batches post harvest to help balance the flavors of the grapes.

Both Davis and Shaw are life-long grape growers who have turned to winemaking only in recent years. They point to low yields as the secret to surviving problems with drought, low acidity and even sour rot. "I kept my yields as low as possible," says Davis. "Those who tried to exceed four tons an acre probably had more problems."

Another winemaker who did not want to be identified was even more direct: "This vintage will vary in quality depending on the skills of the winemaker and vineyard manager and how they evaluated the yields and other conditions on their site. Some rieslings will be excellent, while others will be a disaster. It's that type of year."

Ironically, 2007 may be a great year for red varieties, for which the Finger Lakes are not well known, and an uneven year for riesling and other whites, for which the Finger Lakes are highly recognized. Only time will tell, but as the wines begin to develop in barrel and in tank a consensus may soon develop over the 2007 vintage and what its hot, dry weather has wrought.

If critics and consumers respond favorably to Finger Lakes reds and find uneveness in the whites, it will be a strange vintage indeed.