LENNDEVOURS

"Green" is Not a Logical Prerequisite for Good Wine

By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent

Sometimes, seems like we are in the midst of a green invasion, rather than a green revolution.

The term is used all over the place nowadays and has cropped up in several Finger Lakes stories lately:

• Democrat and Chronicle staff writer Karen Miltner discusses green grape growing here
• In a special report to the Democrat and Chronicle, freelance wine writer Thomas Pellachia outlines the effect of global warming on Finger Lakes vintages (Pellachia is also the author and publisher of the Vinofictions blog). 
• The Finger Lakes Weekend Wino has also unearthed this report on Finger Lakes green space from MPNnow's Bryan Roth.

My first attempt to gather some thoughts on this topic came off like an expository essay, which I quickly abandoned with the assumption that there is enough preaching going on in the green movement already. The crux of it, from my perspective, is that like many trends "green" is largely a good thing. But within the discourse there is plenty of bad as well.

The good is easily recognized, of course.

In terms of agriculture, the advent of the motor took farms that were previously run like artificial but efficient ecosystems and allowed for faster, less-expensive work, thereby producing more waste. Better transportation spurred the development and distribution of chemical treatments that could be delivered cheaply, creating a dependency on these methods.

Green, on some level, is the acknowledgment that efficiency has been lost from the system, and that farms of any kind can benefit from careful planning and a dedication to allowing the natural systems and by-products to work with one another to keep the farm clean, sound, efficient and sustainable. It just makes sense, doesn't it?

The bad part of green is a little more complex, but is also obvious to many observers. Those who espouse "green" the loudest run the risk of hypocrisy since the reality of what is possible with current technologies and market demands is never quite up to speed with the rhetoric.

In the wine industry, the wineries that have embraced "green" and market it like crazy sometimes seem to lose sight of their main purpose--creating the best wine possible. What if the best wine from a given year requires both conventional and green techniques? Those who want to buy wine based solely on whether it is green or not are not buying wine, but a concept that is emotionally satisfying. That is their right, but they are in the minority.

I am far more impressed with winery operations that go green because it makes sense but promote it as a secondary consideration. Green is not a logical prerequisite for good wine.  A sense of modesty about green indicates an acknowledgment of the challenges inherent in such a venture. Over-marketing of the term is simply tiring and serves to dilute the meaning of such a commitment.

Diploma Dispatches: Loire

By Sasha Smith, New York City Correspondent

I used to get annoyed at wine writers who seemed to have a knee-jerk reaction against big, high-alcohol, ripe wines. I saw it as nothing more than a kind of elitist (to invoke the word of the week) pose against wines that were simply made to appeal to a broader audience.

And then I started taking this course. It’s not so much that my wine evaluation skills have improved (although I like to think that they have) as a question of volume. The more wine I taste/drink, the more I crave refreshment – or, at the very least, wine that doesn’t stain my lips and teeth dark purple after one sip.

This week’s class, then, was just what the doctor ordered. There are few regions that offer as much food-friendly refreshment as the Loire, and it’s always been one of my favorites. To my mind, acidity is the most underappreciated component of wine, especially for the casual drinker, and no place does acidity quite like the Loire. Sancerre, Savennières, Saumur-Champigny…the names alone are mouth-watering. Granted, in some vintages the acidity can be a little overbearing, and I have yet to fall in love with Pinot Noir-based wines from here, but overall, I’m a pretty big fan.

Tuesday’s tasting was one of the best we’ve had. The Domaine de la Pepière ‘Granite de Clisson’ Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie had some of that pretty creaminess that comes from lees contact but without any of the aggressive yeastiness. The Domaine François Chidaine ‘Les Argiles’ Vouvray was a great Chenin Blanc combo of apricot, honey, and wet wool. (Or, as our instructor Mollie Battenhouse – my favorite so far – charmingly put it, “did you notice any sheep leaping out at you?”) The Domaine du Closel ‘Clos du Papillon’ Savennières was young, but with a very promising future. My favorite though was the Charles Joguet ‘Cuvée de la Cure’ Chinon, which hit all the right Chinon notes: firm tannins, good acidity, wild strawberries, pencil lead, ash, earth, dried herbs, great balance…all for a whopping $22.

In fact, all of the wines we tasted were under $30, definitely a first. For all of my talk about acidity and refreshment, I am not ruling out the possibility that I love the Loire simply because I’m cheap.

Know Valvin Muscat? Hunt Country Vineyards Does.

By Jason Feuler, Finger Lakes Correspondent

Last weekend I attended a reception at Hunt Country Vineyards on the northwestern tip of Keuka's left branch to celebrate the first available vintage of Valvin Muscat. This hybrid is, like the name implies, a genetic relative of the ancient and prolific muscat grape which is grown the world over, but usually in warmer climates.

The few muscats I've had in the past were aromatic, food-friendly whites with good balance. How does its cousin compare? Actually, quite well. The Valvin Muscat I tried at Hunt Country left me with most of the good impressions of a muscat and the mid-palate did not suffer from the same flatness that plagues many hybrids. Overall, it was very good white by any standard.

Chris Wirth, the winemaker, is pleased with his creation. "We had some experimental rows planted for the last few years, and they were turning out very nicely. It didn't take long for us to decide to release a vintage of this grape."

Valvin Muscat is known genetically as 62-122.01 and was first developed in 1962 by the Cornell Experimental Station in Geneva. "When the Cornell folks test the drinkability of wines they don't filter and prepare them for general consumption," explains winery owner Art Hunt, "so sometimes good grapes can seem a little rough. When I first tasted the Valvin it was great, and I knew that this would be a good grape to experiment with and produce."

Art's wife and co-owner Joyce Hunt took the opportunity of the Valvin Muscat's release to ask local restaurant Snug Harbor in Hammondsport to prepare some dishes to pair with the new wine. The result was a pleasing buffet of spicy shrimp, smoked lake trout salad, and white truffle macaroni and cheese. All the dishes were fantastic on their own and each paired with the Valvin Muscat very well, showing both the skill of Snug Harbor's chef and the flexibility of muscat in general.

Hunt County has been a winery since 1981, but it is in fact a six-generation family farm that stretches back well into the 19th-Century. The tasting room has one of the best patron-friendly setups of any Finger Lakes winery and the hospitality extends to the warm personalities of Art and Joyce who graciously introduced me to as many guests as possible. The premier of Valvin Muscat was a fun and informative event.

Hunt Country is not the only Finger Lakes winery to have bottled Valvin Muscat, but they are one of only a few and their efforts have produced a food-friendly, drinkable white that should appeal to both lovers of vinifera and those who seek out wines for casual summer sipping.  Hunt Country's Valvin Muscat will retail for $14.99.  I am curious to see how the public responds to this varietal and whether or not other Finger Lakes wineries will begin to produce it as well.

 

Firkin Friday at DEKS and Sixpoint in Bellport

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

The next Firkin Friday at DEKS is coming up soon; it's this Friday, the 18th. A firkin of Green Flash Hop Head Red is on its way from Vista, California for our cask conditioned drinking pleasure. Hop Head Red is "a deliciously full-bodied and appropriately hoppy ale," according to Celebrator Beer News. It earned the silver medal in the American-Style Amber/Red Ale category in the 2007 Great American Beer Festival, the USA's oldest and most prestigious craft beer competition.

As far as I can tell, this may be Hop Head Red's Long Island premier (in a firkin, at least). The Hop Head Red was spotted on tap at Big Z Beverage on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington (if you want a preview). Green Flash is a popular brewer in southern California and they've had a presence on the East Coast for at least a couple of years. Their IPA has been readily available in multiple venues on the Island (notably at Bobbique in Patchogue).  Currently, a Green Flash Imperial IPA is pouring at Once & For All in Patchogue.

The next day (Saturday the 19th), you should head on down to Dave's Bellport Beer & Soda where a representative from Sixpoint Craft Ales (Brooklyn) will be present with 7 or 8 different kegs for our sampling and purchasing pleasure.  Bring a glass and a growler.  The event starts at 1 pm and the good folks of the Long Island Beer & Malt Enthusiasts will be grilling hot dogs and burgers for the hungry masses.  If you come out, you'll find ample parking at the Bellport train station at the corner of Station Rd. and Montauk Hwy.  If you come out, be sure to meet the new manager at Bellport Beer, Rich Thatcher.  He's a friendly and beer-knowledgeable guy.

These are Long Island Beer & Malt Enthusiast-sanctioned events. Come on out and meet a bunch of fellow beer lovers. If you are new to the scene, make sure you introduce yourself. I'll be wearing my RadioBeerHall.com button, but you can always ask for me at the bar or at the grill. Everyone at DEKS and Bellport Beer knows Donavan. One more thing, all these beer events (and more!) are listed on the Long Island Beer Calendar.

Savor Syracuse: An Accidental Riesling Tasting

By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent

Last night, my parents-in-law graciously invited my wife and me to a Syracuse charity event that raises money for the Food Bank of Central New York. Savor Syracuse, as it is called, was held last night at the Hotel Syracuse, an early 20th-Century gem that is no longer functioning as a hotel but serves as a tremendous event venue with a fantastic decor.

The event is simple: local restaurants and other institutions prepared and served food at various stations, and you go around and taste.

We went to this event two years ago and at that point it was heavy on the food and had maybe one or two wineries pouring wines. The rest of the drinks at that event were beer or from wine sales reps who were pushing their client's wines from California, Australia, etc. Basically, there wasn't much going on in the local drink department.

Much to my surprise, when I walked in this year,  I saw more wine than food and it was all Finger Lakes wine! 

Here before me were wineries like Standing Stone, Lamoreaux Landing, Fulkerson, Heron Hill, Dr. Frank's, Prejean, and several more. It was something akin to a tasting event that was not even labeled as such and so I quickly took advantage of the circumstances and started the rounds.

I was not equipped to take detailed notes, but I'll leave you with some of my overall impressions. 

Diploma Dispatches: European Grab Bag

By Sasha Smith, New York City Correspondent

You know how it is when you go to the wedding of a not-very-close friend and you’re seated at the table with all the other not-very-close friends, like the guy who worked at the groom’s ill-fated online start up for 6 months circa 1999, and the bride’s friend from her semester abroad in Buenos Aires?

 

Well, that was kind of like this week’s class, a motley crew of wines from a random assortment of countries that most US wine drinkers know little about. Technically it was “wines of Central and Southern Europe,” basically Switzerland, Cyprus, and everything in between. My hopes were not high. But just like diminished expectations make sitting at the marginal table so much fun (no one is asking you to make a toast, and the consequences for getting hammered are pretty mild when no one knows who you are), these wines offered some great, unanticipated surprises.

 

First was a 2006 Craftsman Hárslevelu from Hungary. Hárslevelu is one of the grapes that goes into Tokaji Aszú, Hungary’s noted dessert wine. Somewhere between off-dry and medium-dry, this has all kinds of soft, ripe fruit nicely balanced by fresh acidity and a pleasantly bitter note on the finish. For nine bucks, you could do a lot worse.

A 100% Robola (yeah, I’ve never heard of that grape either) from Cepholonia tasted like alcoholic iced chamomile tea, but in a good way. I could have done without the overly tannic Croatian Plavac Mali, but the Berger Blauer Zweigelt, at $12 for a liter, would be lovely fruity/peppery accompaniment to barbecue. (Unfortunately, you get no points for suggesting food pairings on the exam.)

The show stopper though was a Dobogó Tokaji Aszú 6 Pottonyos. I’m a huge fan of botrytized sweet wines in general, and Tokaji is one of my faves. I tried to run through the whole WSET systematic approach on this one but quickly gave up and switched from spitting to drinking. This stuff is like nectar – can you blame me?

 

On a more serious note, I can feel the pressure starting to mount. I came across this paragraph on Cyprus in the Oxford Companion to Wine (aka our textbook) the other day:

 

“Commercial wine-growing is confined to the southern foothills and slopes of the Troodos mountain range at altitudes varying from 250 m to 1,500 m (800–4,900 ft) above sea level. The vineyard area is divided into six regions: Pitsilia (the highest), Marathasa, Commandaria, Troodhos South, Troodhos East, and Troodhos North. Three of the regions contain designated subregions: Madhari in the region of Pitsilia; Afames and Laona in Troodhos South; and Ambelitis, Vouni tis Panayias, and Laona Kathikas all within Troodhos East. Pitsilia and the northern (higher altitude) half of Commanderia have igneous soil and subsoil. Elsewhere soils are of sedimentary limestone with a particularly high free lime content.”

 

No offense to Lenn’s Cypriot fans, but these are some crazy names. There’s no way in hell I’m going to remember them. If there’s a diploma candidate in Cyprus right now who’s reading the Oxford New York entry and wondering how she’s going to memorize Cutchogue and Canandaigua, I feel your pain.

Do I Hear a 90? Going once...

By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent

As Lenn wrote last week, Wine Spectator just released scores for a list of 2006 Finger Lakes rieslings as tasted by James Molesworth. Many thanks to our friend over at Finger Lakes Weekend Wino, who has summarized these results in two posts here and here.

The wines on the list represent some great wineries to be sure, and while I respectfully disagree with some of the relative comparisons between these tastings (the 2006 Ravines is, in my opinion, one of the best Finger Lakes wines I've ever tasted and deserves a higher score) it is encouraging to see that these wines are showing a great deal of consistency across the board. 

2006 was a great vintage for rieslings, and many different producers are creating competitive wines that are true ambassadors for the region as a whole.

Despite this success, I continue to be discouraged by the gentleman's B+ that Wine Spectator always seems to designate for the top crop of Finger Lakes wines. I am not implying that Finger Lakes rieslings deserve scores well into the 90s or even approaching the magical classic status of 95+, but it has been apparent to me over the last few years that no matter the quality of the group of rieslings tasted by Wine Spectator, the very best always hit a celing at 88-89.

Richard, a LENNDEVOURS reader and publisher of his own blog Passionate Foodie, was kind enough to supply me with the text of a James Molesworth subscription blog post that explains the taster's feelings about New York wine:

Richard Olsen-Harbich Wins Edible Communities Award

I received an email this morning that Richard Olsen-Harbich, winemaker at Raphael and LENNDEVOURS contributor has has received the for "Best Beverage Artisan of 2007" from Edible Communities and Edible East End Magazine. Rich is being recognized for making his significant contributions to the local foods movement for our region. Voting for the award took place online and ended in December, and you won't hear any arguments from LENNDEVOURS headquarters.

Rich has been a member of the  Long Island wine community for nearly 30 years and has authored all three local Federal American Viticultural Areas on Long Island" The North Fork of Long Island, The Hamptons, Long Island and Long Island. As you probably alrady know, Rich is also a founding member of the Long Island Merlot Alliance, Long Island’s first wine quality alliance formed in 2005 and dedicated to the advancement of quality merlot production on the East End.

Rich also sits on the advisory board for wine and grape research at the Cornell University/Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead, N.Y. and has also served on the Board of Directors for the New York State Wine and Grape Foundation.

So join me in congratulating Rich on this award. It's well deserved.

Cask Night at Deks: March 28th

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

It's happening again: DEKS American Restaurant in Rocky Point is having another cask night.

This time there will be an entire firkin (that's a little more than 10 gallons) of a special edition from the York Brewery in England. York Brewery has been experimenting with different varieties of hops and has been releasing ales that use only a single variety. The advantage of this for the person interested in developing their beer tasting skills is that single hop beers make it possible to focus on the flavor coming from only that one hop. The hop variety that we'll be studying on Friday is called Saaz.

Saaz is a hop that originally comes from the region that is now the Czech Republic. This hop is responsible for the characteristic flavor of Bohemian Pilsners (most notably Pilsner Urquell). Saaz is often described as floral and/or grassy. Personally, I associate the aroma with crisp spiciness, so typically, when I brew with this hop, I'm looking for it to deliver an edge to the aroma and flavor that contrasts with the round, maltiness of the grain.  Saaz is one of the four noble hops whose characteristic is a restrained (or delicate) bitterness and pronounced aroma.

I've never tasted York Brewery's experiment with Saaz hops, but it will be interesting to see what they are able to bring out of this hop.  Hope to see you there.  The firkin will be tapped at 6 pm and pints will be served until the firkin runs dry.

Diploma Dispatches: USA...But Where is New York?

By Sasha Smith, NYC Correspondent

So my plan was to use this week’s class—North America, minus California—as a jumping off point to talk about my visit to the North Fork over the weekend. Because surely we were going to taste a NY wine in class, right? Right?

There was an Oregon Pinot Noir that I liked quite a bit, intrigued by the potpourri-meets-wet-leaves nose. A spicy, cheap Petite Sirah from Baja was more than drinkable. A luscious Inniskillin ice wine was much, much more than that. Andrew Will’s 2004 Champoux, a well-structured Bordeaux blend, made me wish I had been more aggressive about selling their wines when I worked retail. (Although expensive Washington State wine is not easy to move.)

I was mystified by the Gruet in the line up. First and foremost, sparkling wine won’t be on the exam. And second, it was presented as an oddity, as if this good value, dependent sparkler weren’t served at every other holiday/birthday/office party. (Clearly my instructor and I run in different social circles.)

The most baffling wine of all was a Chardonnay from, of all places, Connecticut. It was not good. Disjointed, with oak that was out of proportion to the rest of the wine, it was one bizarre bottle. Still, I have to give it to the producers. It takes some kind of intestinal fortitude to make wine in Connecticut.

And…that was it. No New York wine. The instructor said she didn’t have time to find a something in time for our class. I sympathize, to a degree — finding a NY wine at a NYC wine store can be regrettably difficult — but seriously. Even if I weren’t so rah-rah about the New York wine industry, I’d still think diploma students should be required to taste at least one wine from their closest wine-producing region. The fine folks at the WSET, the UK-based organization that administers the exam, must agree with me, considering that British wine is on our syllabus, for God’s sake. Looking on the bright side, our instructor was very upbeat about the New York wine industry, Long Island in particular, but it would have been much better to have something in the glass to give credence to her optimism.

So, long story short, I have no way to seamlessly segue into my weekend on the North Fork. Not sure what I can’t say that Lenn hasn’t already covered, although I did get a sneak peek at some of The Old Field’s 2005 Pinot Noir, which I’m pretty sure Mr. Thompson has not tasted. I liked the bright, clear fruit and look forward to picking up a bottle when it becomes available. We took a tour of Shinn and got to check out the five acres of vines they recently planted, including some Pinot Blanc, a new variety for them. At Lenn’s insistence (and he was right to insist), I bought a bottle of Roanoke Vineyards’ 2004 Merlot, which I’m going to open for my some of my classmates—I just refuse to accept that we will not taste New York wines.