LENNDEVOURS

Sips and Slurps (March 7, 2008)

Life has been a bit different of late, but in a good way. I've made a concerted effort not to spend as much time online when I'm at home, with the goals being reading more and getting more sleep, frankly. It's worked pretty well, but now I'm painfully behind in my blog reading, blog posting, and wine tasting.

The New York wine and food world doesn't stop just because I'm not writing about it however, so here are a few notes on things going on that you may not have seen.

* Hamptons Restaurant Week is coming up starting March 30 and LENNDEVOURS.com is a proud media sponsor of the event. This is the sixth edition of the program and there are some great restaurants participating this year. I'm hoping to schedule at least a couple babysitters throughout the week so that Nena and I can go to at least one of them.

* Bedell Cellars will be hosting a party at The Modern in Manhattan on Monday to announce the official release of Musee, their new premier red blend. I can't make it into the city for the event, but Sasha Smith, who covers the NYC beat for LENNDEVOURS, will be there. I will, however, be reviewing this wine over the weekend at home.

* Long Island Wine Camp, a great program on the North Fork, has three sessions scheduled over the next few months March 13-16, April 17-20 and May 29-June 1. It's $829 per person, not cheap, but it includes three nights at a local B&B (with breakfast) lunches in the vineyards, dinner at a local restaurant the first night, a wine pairing dinner at one of the participating wineries, a case of local wine to take home at the end and other various tastings and gifts. The two spring sessions are being dedicated to Slow Food and members will get $100 off per person.

* Long Island Spirits, Long Island's first legal distillery since the 1800s has finally received it's licensing and has started producing its first batch of LiV Vodka (pronounced 'live'). They are using local Long Island potatoes to make LiV in small batches.

I've driven by the building that will now house their active distillery over and over on my way to wine country and it's beautiful. I'm hoping to stop in over the next few weeks for a tour with co-owner and distiller Rich Stabile. It will be interesting to taste this first batch and also see where Rich takes things in the future. Surely flavored vodka is a no-brainer, but I wonder if we'll see some products made from grapes and other local fruit. Grappa? Eau de vie? Stay tuned.

 

A Morning at Sannino Vineyard...Racking, Cleaning and Tasting

Last Saturday, I stood in a large, barely-heated garage-turned-winery just off of Alvah's Lane in Cutchogue. The thermometer had crept just above freezing, so I could I barely feel my hands. That's the bad news.

The good news is that I got my first taste of the wine that my group and I are making at Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard, sipping a barrel sample of 2007 cabernet franc, made from fruit grown on vines just at the end of the driveway behind me.

Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard, the East End's only home winemaker's center, is a welcome and exciting new addition to the local wine world. Most importantly, it's just plain fun.

There are several places where you can taste and learn about wine on the North Fork -- from winery tasting rooms to my friends' education center, Grand Cru Classes, all just up the road in Mattituck -- but no one offers such a comprehensive, hands-on wine education as Lisa and Anthony Sannino.

Sips and Slurps (March 23)

I taste a lot of wine—and I mean a lot of wine. I hope that doesn’t sound like complaining, because it’s anything but. I love exploring the world of wine and bringing the best—and sometimes even the worst—to you, my readers.

As spring begins, I thought it a good time to catch up on some one-off wines and news bits that I have dog-eared in my tasting notebook—notes that just haven’t made it into any stories for a variety of reasons.

This is the beginning of a new periodic feature here on LENNDEVOURS...Sips and Slurps.

If you love Zinfandel, look for Monte Rosso Vineyard. Monte Rosso Vineyard, which means “red mountain” is named for the red volcanic soils you’ll find there, high above the Sonoma Valley. Over the past several weeks, I’ve had three different zinfandels made with fruit from this well-known vineyard—one from Rosenblum Cellars, Rancho Zabaco and Ravenswood. All were outstanding, balanced renditions of my favorite West Coast grape. In particular, the 2002 Rosenblum stands out. If you see this wine, pick it up. You’ll be glad that you did. I know that there are other great zin vineyards, but this is one I like a lot.

Rkatsiteli—hard to pronounce, easy to enjoy. Dr. Konstantin Frank Wine Cellars is one of only a handful of U.S. wineries to grown and make wine from Rkatsiteli—a wine most popular in Eastern Europe. That’s no surprise, the producer’s namesake founder pioneered the growing of classic European wine grapes on the Eastern United State. Smelling and tasting like a racy, exotic blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Gruner Veltliner, this $25 white is impeccably balanced and just might be the perfect wine to serve with Asian cuisine.

A hearty congratulations. This isn’t directly related to any particular wine, but I’d like to extend my heart-felt congratulations to Christopher Tracy and Allison Dubin of Channing Daughters Winery. The winemaker and general manager respectively, they are use to raising delicious, hand-crafted wines…but now they get to try their hand at raising their first child, a boy, who was born a couple weeks ago. Salute!