I thought we could all use a break from Paul Ryan and the budget shut down, so I’m going to do a bit of wine blogging. First off, Evan Dawson of New York Cork Report, my favorite wine blog, has a new book out about Finger Lakes wines that looks really good. I got a copy but I’ve only read the first chapter — it’s very good so far!
I also thought I’d write a bit about this crazy week-long (I kept decanting into smaller bottles to keep the wine fresh) Finger Lakes riesling horizontal I did last week. I tried the Hermann J. Wiemer 2008 HJW Vineyard Riesling, the Hermann J. Wiemer 2008 Magdalena Vineyard Riesling, and the 2008 Ravines Argetsinger Vineyard riesling. They were all a bit pricey (25-35) but excellent and it was a fascinating tasting. The Magdalena is the one everyone is gaga over because it’s the richest and fruitiest, but I liked it the least, even though it was very good. To me it was a rich, round, lovely wine dominated by the classic Finger Lakes note of candied lime. I preferred the brisk stone fruit flavors of the Argetsinger; they aren’t something I’ve seen in too many other rieslings, and I loved the clean, slightly bitter finish. My favorite, though, was the HJW Vineyard riesling, which had an unusual and haunting kiwi-strawberry-vanilla flavor. It was a wine you had to pay attention to to appreciate, but I like that.
What have you been drinking lately in the wine, beer, and spirits category (no tea talk!)?
Just Some Fuckhead
Last time I had wine, it was yours Dougj. Hehe. It was okay but I prefer cabernets and chardonnays.
Martin
Beer, as a pain reliever. I need to dive back into my project with a sore shoulder and arm, so I expect by Monday I’ll need to upgrade to something in the 80 proof range.
Lolis
Found a bar in Austin that has beer called Victoria, a refreshing Mexican import.
Yutsano
I did try that white rioja I’d been salivating over in the store. Nice crisp dry notes but a bit sweet to be a truly dry wine. Cooks beautifully though. Marques de Caceres.
Comrade DougJ
@Yutsano:
White rioja is a fun wine. It’s great with Spanish food.
Comrade DougJ
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Which one did you try?
kerFuFFler
I’ll raise a glass to your posting about finger lake wines! The economy around here can use all the promotion it can get, and perhaps I’ll get an idea or two about what labels to try.
Yutsano
@Comrade DougJ: I’ve been trying to get a bit more international, find different countries to sample if they’re available in the store. Fortunately I live in the oenophile paradise of Seattle, so every now and then really interesting bottles pop up. Saw an Argentinian red that could be interesting the other day. If I go tonight or tomorrow I’ll let you know.
kerFuFFler
Just bought some gin the other day looking forward to warmer weather. It’s hard to beat Hendrick’s on a hot day.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Comrade DougJ: I’m pretty sure we drank ’em all but I was so torn up I don’t really remember. Were they the New York/Finger Lake wines? Maybe pinot noirs? I just remember they were red, and not cabernet.
Sorry, I was already sick as a dog and doped up on cold medicine and had just driven 10 straight hours. If I give you my address, can you send me some more? I’ll send ya some Virginia wines.
Dee Loralei
I was on Long Island last week for work. Stoneybrook to be exact. 1) The hospital architecture there is very Dr Seuessian. 2) Ate dinner and then lunch the next day at John Havard’s Brewery. The food was pretty good, but I thought the beers were really quite excellent.
The hotel had a list of local winerys in the area and I wondered if any of them had restaurants. Do you know DougJ? I’ll have to go back eventually and would like to venture out more. ( See that was kinda on topic.)
I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and it was seriously the worst breakfast ever. But they had a small gallery in the foyer of local artists and I loved a bunch of what I saw. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of a tile artist and would love to maybe buy something of hers. So, if any locals have any idea who I’m talking about, please let me know.
Also, what’s up with that Hospital??
Maude
@Martin:
Wild Turkey.
cleek
Still diggin the new holland Dragons Milk.
Bobby D
Was a big fan of Reislings and Gerwhowdoyaspellitz, but alas I am on the wagon these days. Call it an acknowledgement of the middle aged athlete. I can no longer put back a bottle every night and expect to train and recover. So it was an all or nothing for me (moderation in aynthing doesn’t suit me). But I still love to read the tasting notes. hard on the will power sometimes, but I’m tough.
Just Some Fuckhead
All the Rieslings I’ve had are so sweet they make me wanna puke. I always feel like I’m betraying my german heritage by not liking ’em.
jl
I recently received some booze as presents. Syrah and Maker’s Mark Whiskey. The Whiskey is strange since I thought everyone who knew me understood that I find Whiskey to be a foul drink.
I’ve been putting a serving or two of Syrah into veggie stews. Makes them taste better.
I have been pouring a little Maker’s Mark into Hoppin’ John and other soul food style bean dishes.
Does that report count as ‘wine blogging’?
If you boil off all the alcohol crud, the booze is a good addition.
I take back some of the bad things I have said about whiskey. It makes a good condiment and cooking ingredient. If I could bake, I would try a Whiskey spice cake. But last time I tried something like that it ended up like sweet play doh. So I will stick to pouring it into beans and chili.
Yutsano
@Just Some Fuckhead: You can find dry Rieslings, although they can take some detective work to locate. Otherwise stick to an Italian white dry like a pinto grigio.
DS
Am having a very nice Sauvignon Blanc tonight from France called Les fumées blanches from an up-and-coming area called Gers (southwest, between Toulouse and the Atlantic); also had a Mauzac Vert from Gaillac a few weeks ago that was one of the nicest whites I’ve had in a while.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Yutsano: Yeah, I know the dry Rieslings are out there, just never had one. And pinot grigio has an odd flat metallic taste to me. Hard to describe, but it makes me gag.
schrodinger's cat
DougJ@top
Elitist! I thought real Americans drink beer. A couple of years ago we did some wine tasting around one of the finger lakes I think it was lake Seneca. There was one winery that made their own beers too. The beers were actually better than the one. I don’t remember the name right now…
I like Riesling with spicy food, it goes well with both Thai and Indian, I think.
There is a Spanish wine I like, my grocery store used to carry it, I forget the name but you could a huge bottle for around $10, made pretty good Sangria too.
BD of MN
Brooklyn Brewing just started distribution in MN this week, picked up a sixer of their Summer Ale, it’s very crisp and tasty, with just a bit more bitterness than a traditional summer ale has, but very nice. Also picked up the Summit Unchained series #6, Gold Sovereign; it too is quite tasty, but a little more alcohol and body than I’m looking for (I tend to lean towards smaller beers in the summer, saving stuff like Dragon’s Milk for the fall/winter…)
Yutsano
@Just Some Fuckhead: It’s the grape, pinto grigios have an interesting spicy note. Honestly I suggest that white rioja I tried. It does have a touch of sweetness but it’s not overpowering.
trollhattan
@ Comrade DougJ
Let me think…Terre Rouge Sentinal Oak ’00 and ’02 syrah (two very different takes that show the influence of weather) and the Easton ’08 Duarte-Georgetown pinot noir, which finally puts to rest the notion that that cranky grape can’t be grown in the Sierra foothills.
Also, too, some bargain Italian primativo I can’t recall the name of.
“Shut it down” in style [hic].
Menu
Strohs
Redshirt
If you’re looking for a Maine beer – for whatever reason – try the lineup from Geary’s. I’m partial to their pale ale myself, but they make a bunch of seasonals folks up Nawth dig. Not my style, though, the seasonals.
Tom Johnson
Last weekend I was at a tasting of 40 Missouri wines. This weekend I’m doing the tastings for an article about Kentucky wines. There are good wines from both places, but my mouth is traumatized by some of the bad ones.
I look forward to my return to more conventional wine-producing districts.
scav
I wish I had the income to do some serious damage to my liver: I’m tired of having to take reality stone-cold-sober.
rdturpin
Buffalo Trace and 1792 bourbons – both were dang good, but I prefer the 1792 for sipping. Drinking local Georgia wine: Creekstone merlot. And our local beer growled here in Athens just got in some fresh Dogfish Head 90 min. IPA…I’ve been in heaven!!
Svensker
Anybody in upstate NY have any info on “riggies”? We’ve run across them in Utica and Westmoreland, otherwise had never heard the term (the locals were fascinated that we didn’t know what they were).
Ontario has good beer! Some local things I’ve tried recently that I’ve really liked were Creemore Springs Pilsner, very classic, and Great Lakes Brewery Orange Peel Ale. The latter is advertised as a spring and summer brew, but with its spicy orange flavors I think it would be a lovely Christmas drink.
Would love to try the new Finger Lakes Rieslings. The last time I tried some was about 10 years ago, from one of the old line wineries and it was pretty awful. Where do you buy the stuff?
JAHILL10
Right now, Cape Cods because we’ve been having a nor’easter kind of day, but the hubby and I have recently enjoyed Argentinian malbecs.
John - A Motley Moose
Michigan Rieslings compare favorably with Finger Lake bottlings. The 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition named a 2009 Riesling from Chateau Grand Traverse as Best in Class. There are also some nice dry Rieslings from Michigan. I haven’t had a chance to try the 2009 Riesling, but I have sampled their 2008, which was excellent. Michigan wines are gaining recognition. The state is no longer known only for its fruit wines. I’m glad of that. I love cherries, but cherry wine is a bit too rich for me.
Yes, I’m a rabid homer.
tess
For my 40th birthday last week, my husband tried to find my favorite wine, 2003 L’Arco Rosso del Veronese. He was going to surprise me with a case, because I’d just asked for a bottle (it’s in the $35 range; we typically drink in the $12-18 range).
Apparently there is some dispute between the vintner and importer, though, because it wasn’t to be found. So he bought me a few bottles of their much more expensive Rubeo Rosso as a birthday present instead. It’s a nice wine, really good with grilled meat (or anything else–the smokiness of the food really works with it), and it’s interesting how different the mouthfeel is with this different level of wine. But I still like the other, cheaper wine better.
Tonight we’ll be having cheap prosecco with garlicky pasta. A nice way to relax on a Friday.
Elia Isquire
I find Andrew Sullivan’s opinions on wine to be unacceptable!!!
Punchy
But what’s Sullivan drink?
Linnaeus
George Dickel No. 12 Tennessee Whisky. Mmm.
Gina
I keep saying I’m going to start drinking, just haven’t managed to find the time. I like wine, so I think I’ll start with that.
brentblah
Delicious, burning goodness known as Booker’s Bourbon.
PanAmerican
@jl:
Boiling off alcohol is more myth than reality.
Gina
@jl: Alton Brown did a nice ham crust/glaze thingy years ago, IIRC, there was a mustard layer, brown sugar and crushed gingersnaps, and the bonding agent was whiskey, in a spray bottle, spritzed all over the thing. Pretty tasty. Reminds me I should try to make it again.
Edo the Vampire Squid
Tanqueray Stirling.
Why it’s marked down to cheaper than Smirnoff is a pleasant mystery.
jl
@PanAmerican:
I guess I boil off enough of it so that the food doesn’t taste bad. I do drink once in awhile, so I don’t mind a little alcohol.
Other than that I got nothing, especially compared to the erudite items in these comments.
There is some old pomegranate juice that I think has gotten bubbly in the back of the fridge. I will see what is up with that later.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
Hornsby hard cider. Nice crisp apple taste. I don’t like beer much and my daughter can’t drink it because of the gluten, so we were looking for something we could all have with homemade chili last week. It was a nice surprise.
Jim, Once
@Just Some Fuckhead:
I’m with you on this one – with one notable exception: Daly Creek Riesling. An Iowa wine, of all things. It’s yummy.
That said … tonight I just had my first gin and tonic of the season. Oh. My. God. I really had forgotten how good they can be.
Svensker
@jl:
Last Fall we bought some cider from a road side mill, then stuck it in the back of the fridge and forgot it. About 3 weeks later I had some — yummy, nice and fizzy, very refreshing! I poured a large glass and had it with my lunch, so cold and bracing. I was falling down drunk within minutes. Good lord, that stuff was shhhhtrong.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Gina: That sounds wonderful. I’ll go look that up, maybe serve it for Easter. It’s funny, all the people we invite seem to have little or no interest at all in religion, but they all like to come over for dinner that day. They don’t even mind when I make them baskets to take home.
losingtehplot
I love reading about Finger Lakes wines and all their fans. I graduated from college in Geneva, NY in 1979, and even then we were rejoicing in a ‘new’ vine producing a good rough dry red wine, that had just recently been imported from Romania, that was a fantastic departure from the predominant Manischewitz Passover wine that was the Finger Lakes main vino export at the time. We went on boozy bicycling pilgrimages in the autumn down Seneca Lake on taster tours of revolutionary new wineries mostly fronted by ex-Cornell hippies – so good that they’re still thriving. Is anyone on this blog familiar with the Rongovian Embassy, Trumansburg, NY – the first bar I’d ever been to that imported beers from all over the world – and it’s still going, big time! OKAY, now back to the real, miserable, annoying world …
Dan
I am currently enjoying a 2011 Diet Coke, served chilled on ice from the fountain at the 7-11 on Route 107. I usually go with the something in the Big Gulp range, but decided to treat myself to the Super Big Gulp. It is crisp, with a nice finish, and it goes lovely with the crispy chicken taquitos.
Martin
@Gina: Yes, that’s a nice recipe.
And alcohol does evaporate off. I use vodka as the binding liquid in my pie dough and there’s no hint of it in the final product.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
DougJ@top, our wine collection is sporadic, made up of stuff people have brought us when they came to a party and the “wine club” oddities that my daughter’s boss gave her as a Christmas present.
The one thing that we’ve had around for a while and have served after dinners for several years is some very nice Whidbey Port. I think we even have some of their blackberry port left, which was very nice also.
Martin
@opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland: We’ve shifted easter off of ham and onto bbq ribs. Everyone approved of the upgrade.
DougJ
@Tom Johnson:
That sounds fascinating! Is there a link to your articles?
MikeJ
@Punchy:
From the lexicon:
Oakeshott: Three ounces of Maker’s Mark in a wooden cup
DougJ
@losingtehplot:
Great story. You went to Hobart/William Smith?
Ruckus
@jl:
Use the makers in pot roast. 2-3 shots per couple pounds of meat, after browning and adding veg. Slow cook for 12-14 hrs. The onions will somewhat carmelized and the taste is out of this world.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Martin: In pie dough? Please tell me how to do this. I would imagine that if a fruity red wine is used in a berry pie, such as Logan or Boysen, or even Olallie, that it would be very nice, and the crust stained red as well.
How much vodka do you use, and how does it affect the crust itself? Does it make it more crisp?
JPL
@opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland: Google is my friend
It sounds good.
Comrade DougJ
@Svensker:
In Rochester, between our two main stores — Century and Whitehouse — the selection is great. But that’s right near the Finger Lakes. In NYC, the big stores have very good Finger Lakes wine selection, too. Other than that though I think it can be hard to find.
Ruckus
@scav:
No kidding.
Cassidy
Bristol’s Beehive Honey Wheat.
Yutsano
@Martin: You’re sort of both right. Most alcohol does evaporate off, but a small portion will always remain unless the liquid evaporates totally. But nowhere near enough to get you drunk or buzzed.
@trollhattan: Or this. Also.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Martin: Wonderful idea. I don’t love ham as much as I did when I was a kid, but I do love ribs. It won’t be warm enough to eat outdoors in two weeks, so I’ll have to use a tablecloth that will clean up easily.
Ruckus
@Linnaeus:
George Dickel No. 12 Tennessee Whisky. Mmm.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
trollhattan
@Martin:
[sciency crap] Ethyl alcohol boils at 173F, also has a lower vapor pressure than water, so it will leave a solution before the water does.[/sciency crap] They do have an affinity for one another, however.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Jim, Once: If I’m gonna have gin, it will be a Tom Collins. But I don’t drink liquor anymore except for the occasional six margaritas.
Svensker
@Comrade DougJ:
Thanks — I’ll see if I can find it when we pass through next week.
I want to know what you know about riggies. Anything?
Ruckus
@Dan:
LOL, almost tears. Thank You!
BTW I prefer diet Pepsi and am having a fresh one right now.
Cassidy
Beer gone. Time to finish the bottle of sweet red wine and then if necessary the local made vodka.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@JPL: It is, but you don’t go to Whidbey Island to buy it any more. The vineyard was purchased by one of the larger wineries near my house… I think it’s St Michelle. My husband seems to think it’s no longer made, but I don’t know why he thinks that. The most recent comment online that I can locate is from 2009.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Cassidy: Oooh! That reminds me. Tomorrow the meadery is open and I am dragging the mr to taste some. He is uncharacteristically reluctant for some odd reason.
Just Some Fuckhead
@MikeJ:
Haha.
Just Some Fuckhead
I’m going to take that as “no”, Dougj.
Martin
@opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland: Yeah, the alcohol doesn’t form gluten, which toughens up pie dough. I usually do half water/half vodka when I’m making up the dough, and don’t stress over it being a little too sticky.
For an apple pie, a nice cranberry schnapps can be used and it’ll leave the cranberry hint behind as you noted. A wine would work, but the alcohol level is pretty low so it may not have as much effect (unless you use a fortified wine…)
The crust comes out very flaky because most of the liquid that was used to work the dough, rather than being absorbed by the flour and forming gluten, evaporates away. Too much alcohol and the crust won’t even hold together but I’d say 1 part alcohol to 3 parts water works out pretty well. So anything in the 50 proof range can be used straight up, anything higher mix with some water.
Without alcohol I was always trying to walk the line between too dry a dough that it was nearly unworkable and too wet a dough that it came out like bread. Alcohol solves that problem entirely, and gives you a flakier dough than you can achieve with water alone.
Ruckus
@jl:
I also make oatmeal cookies of my own recipe using whiskey in place of the water. And you have to use more as the alcohol does evaporate off in a 350deg oven. The cookies are firm and very tasty. I have been invited over to friends houses to bake cookies. (I currently don’t have an oven) I will travel to bake/cook if anyone wants to pay.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland: I may have told an untruth. I don’t see port on the list at Chateau St Michelle.
Katie5
@Yutsano: What’s a good wine bar in Seattle?
Me, I’m drinking St Hallett’s wine from the Barossa Valley. It’s called Faith, I think.
Kilkee
@Redshirt: Like the Geary’s, but still think the basic Shipyard is a tad better. Agree with you on the seasonal stuff. Too tricked up. But really, I’m a wino, so what do I know? Love just about all the Savignon Blancs from New Zealand (Marlborough), e.g., Monkey Bay.
Comrade DougJ
@Svensker:
No, never heard of them. Upstate New York is a big place, it may be too localized for me to have heard of them.
Yutsano
@Katie5: There’s Sip, which is right downtown. Has food along with the wine so makes for a good evening out.
Katie5
@Yutsano: thanks!
Linnaeus
@Katie5:
The two Seattle wine bars that come to mind that I like are Portalis in Ballard and Purple Cafe downtown. Portalis is small and cozy, Purple is hipper and larger because it’s also a restaurant. Has a cool “wine tower” in the center.
(Sorry, I know you weren’t asking me but I decided to jump in anyway).
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Martin: Bless your heart for that info. And they thought I made a mean pie before this. Bwahahaha!
Seriously, though, when you’re working this dough is it very “short”? I hope you know what that means, but I’ve met people who had no idea what I was blathering on about when I was talking about it the last time.
Yutsano
@Linnaeus:
EVERYTHING in Ballard is small and cozy. They might as well advertise that.
Linnaeus
@Yutsano:
True, that. Especially if it’s on Ballard Ave.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Yutsano: We’ll have to try that place sometime soon. Maybe for the looming event on the horizon, which is “meet my soon-to-be-divorced daughter’s new boyfriend”. With enough alcohol I become all warm and nice and not at all like the real me: I’m a happy drunk.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Linnaeus: There is at least one more Purple in the area, in Woodinville. It’s a mile from my house; we clocked it when we were considering where we could go last winter if the snow knocked out our power. Well, it did, but only for an hour.
Katie5
@Linnaeus: really appreciate it.
chopper
had some random bottle of pope’s blood tonight. i’m starting to hate paying real money for wine.
Yutsano
@opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland: There’s another branch of Sip in Issaquah FWIW. Slight menu differences but I bet the atmosphere is the same.
Linnaeus
@opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland:
I looked it up and there are four Purple Cafes in the Seattle area: Seattle, Kirkland, Woodinville, and Bellevue. Only been to the Seattle one.
Svensker
@Comrade DougJ:
OK, that’s interesting. So Utica area — will have to investigate somewhat west, south and southeast of there to see how far it goes.
losingtehplot
@DougJ: Yessir. Graduated with the interesting, but useless BA degree of anthropology/religious studies, but learned under the amazing tutelage of Marvin Bram, Frank O’Laughlin, Chris Vescey, Valerie Saiving and many more. If you went to H/WS, depending on how old you are, and what your major was, you will view my course of study as pretty cool, or totally unworldly and ludicrous. But that was true even in 1979!
Living in Scotland, I can only dream of vineyards – though the way things are going, we might get our own vines that could produce Gewurtztraminer in the next few years, before everything just goes completely crazy climte-wise
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Linnaeus: I’ve been to the ones in Kirkland and Woodinville. Last fall they did a beef short rib that was heaven on a plate.
Just.
Incredible.
Gina
@Svensker: It’s a Utica/Rome thang. I’m in the Capital Region/Hudson Valley, with nary a riggie to be found.
opie jeanne, formerly known as Jeanne Ringland
@Yutsano:Thanks. I’ll suggest it to my daughter. We’ll probably meet this guy in Seattle. He lives there, she just bought a house there, and we’re not that far out. We’ve been spending all of our time working on the small rental unit upstairs so she can get it rented out ASAP, so on Tuesday we will probably be there already.
Svensker
@Gina:
Well slap me silly, I never thought to google it. We had chicken riggies exactly as described in Utica last week — very good. In Westmoreland the meat dishes all came with a side of riggies, but that was just rigatoni with “gravy” (er, marinara sauce).
PanAmerican
@trollhattan:
It really depends on method and time
@Edo the Vampire Squid:
Half the fun of spirits is figuring out which is the same juice being sold at wildly different price points.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
But I enjoy this blog’s whining a bit more.
.
.
Hawes
I have been enjoying The Pappy Van Winkle 12 year old bourbon very, very much, thank you.
Also Maestro Dobel tequila.
It would be a sin to mix either with anything.
paa
Had a blowout wine dinner at my house recently – cooked a beef wellington with a ’96 bordeaux and ’96 sauternes for dessert – with homemade durian ice cream. The wines were gifts from a generous friend/dinner guest, and were my first intro to well-aged wines. If only I had the funds to drink like that every night…
Mostly I drink norcal wines; I’m loving wind gap syrah, mckenzie mueller’s cab franc; white rock’s claret and no-oak chardonnay.
If hard alcohol, Ardbeg’s my scotch of choice.
Jason Kratz
@DougJ: Southern Tier Brewery Unearthly Imperial IPA. They’re in your neck of the woods.
PanAmerican
High West Rendezvous Rye.
Good stuff.
Poopyman
I’ve got a head cold, so I have no appetite for alkeehol. But a friend and I were trading emails about the sale (again) of Iron City and I was wondering if they’d move back in the old brewery. (His dad and grandad worked there, and so did he in summer.) Sadly, the answer seems to be no. Check out this photo essay of ex-breweries around the world.
smedley
@DS:IIRC, Fume Blanc is a Sauvignon Blanc that has spent some time in Oak.
I enjoy a good SB and find that New Zealand is putting out some wonderful herby SBs IMHO Fumes tend to lose the subtlety or crispness of a well made Sauvignon Blanc. That said, I’ve stumbled over some Fumes that are a pure joy of nuance. Tasting is such fun. Just made the quarterly replenishment trip to the big box wino store in Buffalo and discovered on leaving most of one case was Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling, and un oaked Chardonnay… Summer’s on it’s way.
Cheers all
smedley
@Tom Johnson: As I drive a cross the country, I try top stop at local winerys to taste the local vintages. I remember stopping in Missouri at the Heritage winery for a delightful tasting session and being especially enamored by their whites; leaving with half a case.
( I was heading for Mexico and already had two cases of NY wines hidden in the truck.) Regrettably I forget now what I bought.
While traveling, I regularly ask the restaurants where I stop if they offer local wines. Depressingly, most don’t.
And, when they do it often an disappointing experience.
BUT,I ask all of you; ask for the local wine it will often surprise.
Cheers
smedley
@tess: “…cheap prosecco with garlicky pasta.” Yes!
smedley
@Dan: I prefer the drier mouth feel of the 2009 – 2011 Coke Zero. It realty rounds out the finish of my Bacardi Anejo Cuba Libre.
Cheers
smedley
@Martin: Martin, can you be a little more specific in terms of quantity etc?
Would like to try it and include it in our local farmers market cook book.
BruceFromOhio
Shots: tequila, vodka.
Cocktails masquerading as martini wannabe’s.
Fanfuckingtastic ‘artisan’ brews.
Outta wine, sorry. [hic]
smedley
@Svensker: Just to throw in another NY wine region…
If your coming from the west via I-90, there are 20 or so wineries along what is called the Lake Erie escarpment. Many are new, some are excellent and most are passable.
Should you cross into NY at Ripley, there is a winery that offers about 4 to 6 vintages, they focus on a few. Their Chancellor is a delightful experience and their other offerings are worth taking a few home. Further on at Dunkirk exit, and 7 miles down the road on rte 20 is Liberty winery with a more varied offering; a white called Diamond that has garnered numerous awards and another award winner called Purple Haze; plus the well done Fredonia and Catawba offerings. Each of these wineries will have maps to other wineries worth a visit. I live in the midst of this eden of viticulture.
smedley
Duh! the Ripley winery is called Quincey.
cleek
@jl:
get some mushrooms, chop em up. sautee in a little butter until they get nice and golden, and then finish with a big splash of whiskey.
dump that on a steak.
OMFG.
EnfantTerrible
I live in Santa Rosa, CA, right in the middle of wine country and I must say, I’m spoiled. All kinds of really good varieties readily available at reasonable prices. My favorites are Zinfandels from Dry Creek Valley or Alexander Valley (lots of dry heat) and Pinot Noirs from the Russian River Valley (fog!). Check out “Canard Sauvage” for their Zinfandel – they also make a good Petite Syrah. Btw, if you’re on a budget (and who isn’t?), blends can offer a lot of bang for the buck.
cleek
@Svensker:
wow. that’s a pretty specific region. :)
i lived all over upstate NY, and i’ve never heard of riggies, either.
of course if you don’t live in Rochester/Buffalo, you probably don’t know what a “Kimmelewick” roll is, or what a white hot is, or a garbage plate, etc..
damn i miss Rochester. and snacks.
Tom Johnson
@DougJ the Missouri tasting notes are here and here, with an assessment of Missouri’s overall wine industry here.
The Kentucky wines I’m tasting this weekend are for a magazine article that I’ll turn in next Friday for publication in May. No doubt my tasting notes will make it onto my blog between now and then, since the article is more about why the food locavores haven’t expanded their tastes to local wines.
Also, I don’t think any of the participants in the upstate New York conversation have mentioned Dr. Konstantin Frank Riesling. Someone should, and now I have. It’s an excellent dry Riesling that goes for about $15 a bottle. Dr. Frank’s research into growing vinifera grapes in cold climates is the reason why they make wine out of something besides Concord grapes in New York.
Jonathan
@EnfantTerrible:
Any chance I could get you to ship me some Pliny from Russian River Brewing Co? Can’t find any out here on the east coast!
Myself, I’m had a Ramey Rodgers Creek Syrah with dinner tonight, and it was absolutely fantastic.
Jonathan
@Jason Kratz:
Southern Tier has been putting out some great brews lately… I like their stouts, and their unearthly imperial IPA is delicious.
TheMightyTrowel
I’m excited because my wonderful BF has made a new barrel of stout in honour of our anniversary (in 2 weeks) – the last barrel of stout he made was like heaven in my shed.
Also, we’re onto the last 2 fingers of the sloe gin. so sad.
JR in WV
As far as wine goes, we’ve had Argentine Malbec a lot lately, and Merlot and Cab from California at a higher price point than usual. All very good.
Beer, we mostly buy Great Lakes of Cleveland’s Burning River, Eliot Ness, but all our neighbors make beer, so we mooch a lot from them, cause it’s the BOMB.
Alcohol, I agree about Buffalo Trace, and when I approach finishing a big project I buy Pappy Van Winkel to celebrate, we drink it all when we finish a building fer example. A new old whiskey I like is Pogue’s, very smooth. And Wild Turkey’s Rare Bird barrel proof is very good too, strong enuff it needs branch water.
And for sipping Teonquila, Dos Lunas, which we bought on the road cause the bottle is beautiful, and opened on the full moon equinox, it was sooo good! Everyone sipped it, no one needed salt/lime, there’s a little bit left.