Lower Manhattan event scheduled for Sunday

Must have a dozen posts to get done and way too much other work. So let me try to put the other work on the back burner for two days and catch up before we reach the weekend. Been having this one since Monday. Here are two items I liked out of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation newsletter:


CITY WINERY in lower Manhattan will be the scene of our “Uncork New York—Sip, Savor & Shop” tasting next Sunday afternoon [Dec. 6], with 38 wineries, over a dozen food producers, and four restaurants providing samples for locavores. Besides tasting, attendees can actually buy the wines and foods on the spot, a great way to stock up for the holidays.

Friday’s Wall St. Journal included a nice mention of the event, which is also being promoted in Time Out New York and through other means. Tickets are only $45, and are available at www.citywinery.com/events/50934.

“WINES, WITH NOTES OF M.B.A.” is the headline of a New York Times Business Section article today by Kathryn Jones on the growth of the wine industry stimulated by people from other businesses pursuing a second career.

The piece also features a great photo of Mike Schnelle and Nancy Irelan, owners of Red Tail Ridge Winery on Seneca Lake, the first LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified winery in the Finger Lakes. Nancy’s Ph.D in genetics and years of experience in enology and viticulture research at Gallo, combined with Mike’s M.B.A. and experience in the heavy equipment and construction industries, brought a unique set of knowledge and skills to creating a new vineyard and winery literally from the ground up.

Of the 58 New York wineries that have opened in the past three years, virtually all are owned by people from other walks of life, as opposed to the immediate post-Farm Winery Act (1976) wineries which were all owned by grape growers whose traditional markets (large wineries) had dried up.

A similar trend is occurring in different parts of the country, and in most cases there is virtually no attrition (failure), largely because most new entrants do their homework and create sound business plans. In New York, for example, we offer a sophisticated web-based site selection system (www.nyvineyardsite.com), and on our own web site (www.newyorkwines.org) legal and regulatory information, a comparison of different types of licenses, and basic resources for business planning.

In today’s economy, few industries are growing and contributing as much value-added benefit as the wine industry, which in New York State generates over $3.4 billion annually in economic activity. Public officials would be wise to keep this in mind as they shape budgets and policy initiatives.

Serpent Ridge offering food/wine pairing Dec. 11

Couple of quick notes out of Serpent Ridge Vineyard, a Maryland winery located in Westminster that opened this summer.

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It's opened Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and offers a mix of primarily dry whites and dry reds. Four already have been honored in several Maryland and out-of-state competitions. The most decorated is their Vintner's Cabernet, which is 65 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 35 percent Cabernet Franc. That earned golds in the Indy International and Winemaker Choice competitions, and a silver in the 2009 Maryland Governor's Cup competition. All told owner Karen and Grag Lambrecht produce six wines, including a rose.

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They will be closing from Dec. 23 to Jan. 22, 2010, one of the few wineries I've seen in the region that will shut its doors after the Christmas rush.

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Before then, on Friday, Dec. 11, the winery will hold a holiday hors d'oeuvres and wine pairings. The event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. and cost $35 per person. Chef Greg Hutsell from L'ecole Culinaire School of Cooking will prepare several dishes and be on hand to answer questions about preparing what he makes at home. There will be six hors d'oeuvres paired with three Serpent Ridge wines. Reservations are required. Call 410.848.6511.

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One final note our of their most recent e-letter: "As many of you know, we are a true artisan style winery and everything is done by hand - including our bottling. There will be multiple opportunities to be part of this exciting process over the next few months and if you would like to volunteer, please email our winemaker, Greg at greg@serpentridge.com with your contact info."

Talking a little Mischief and 20 percent sale at Pennsylvania winery called Black Walnut

Should you get in the vicinity of Chester County, east of the Gap around the point where Route 30 turns into an elevated four-lane highway, steer down Lincoln Highway and stop in to Black Walnut Winery. A member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, Black Walnut now has its facility open for business. Nose around the 200-year-old renovated bank barn, and give the wines a try. It's a winery owned by two couples -- Val and Lance Castle and Karen and Jack Kuhn -- that's similar to a few others around the region in that it imports all of its grapes.

Was reminded of the winery, which officially opened in August, when we opened a bottle of their wine last night called Mischief. It's a medium-bodied to full-bodied white that blends their 2006 Pinot Gris and 2007 Chardonnay. Dry, with some hints of oak and the distinct smell of citrus. We just sampled enough to sip and enjoy, but it would have gone well earlier with the mix of vegetables, salad and shrimp we had out on a platter.

Black Walnut is open four days a week, from noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Also worth mentioning: As of Black Friday the winery launched its 20 percent off sale on all of its inventory that will last through the end of the year.

A sale worth sampling: Manatawny marks down 2006 Meritage by 30 percent

Like the looks of a Meritage sale that's currently under way at Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville, Pa. Owner/winemaker Joanne Levengood makes a line of wines that represent the region and state very well. Always like to mention that it's the only place I've visited where we were offered the entire line to taste (not sure if that has changed) at no charge (I'm very sure THAT hasn't changed), both winery staples that are about as common as a Pennsylvania screwtop. In other words, good luck finding more than a handful of others that provide so much when you walk into the tasting room, in addition to the snacks they place on their bar.

Levengood reported in her December e-letter early Friday that she has around five cases left of the Meritage, something you can drink now or store for a few years down in your cellar. This 2006 vintage is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot and normally sells for $21.95, on the lower end of the price scale when you compare it to other Meritages in the region. She's pushing it out the door by taking 30 percent off, knocking the price down to 16 dollars and change. Once those cases are sold, she'll roll out the 2007 vintage at the regular price.

Their Pinot Noir also is on sale, marked down 10 percent off the $14.95 price. As Levengood noted in her e-letter, this wine is aged in French oak and should be bound for your lips rather than your cellar. "This is not a wine for aging," she wrote. "It is wonderful with Christmas turkey -- we had some with our Thanksgiving turkey this year and it was a fabulous match."

More and more winemakers are using their e-letters or blogs or Facebook to chime in with answers to basic wine and wine pairing questions. This is Levengood's take on how to match up with holiday foods: "Which wine should you serve with your holiday dinner? Anyone who has ever been in our tasting room knows the answer to that question – serve what you like! The subjectivity of wine applies to wine pairing as well. Having said that, however, there are a few simple things to keep in mind. Don’t overpower the food with the wine and vice versa. If you are serving a turkey breast with a light glazing, serve it with a lighter wine like Pinot Grigio. If you are serving turkey with a full-flavored, hearty gravy, you may want to try an oaked Chardonnay. The addition of a sweet cranberry sauce may call for a wine with some sweetness to it, like a Riesling. Everyone thinks about white wine pairing well with turkey or ham, but a lighter-bodied red like Pinot Noir can work really well too. I very much like the idea of setting the table with two wine glasses at each place so everyone can try two different wines with each course. Different wines really make the food taste different!"

Allegro's Bridge hits all the high notes

One of the wines I featured in the Jan-Feb issue of In Central Pennsylvania magazine, published by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, is Allegro Vineyard's Bridge. It's a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc that ages for 22 months in French oak barrels and then is bottled unrefined and unfiltered.

Opened another bottle Wednesday to go with a pre Thanksgiving Day meal (in other words, the day you sit around with family and sample a few wines) and it was very, very good. Wonderful fragrance and color with just the right amount of tannins, it's something you could pair with any number of foods or simply savor as you're sitting around talking.

Carl Helrich, the winemaker and owner of the winery in The Brogue, in southcentral Pennsylvania, had e-mailed me about the history of the name at the time I was writing the story. It served as a bridge, he wrote, between the Cadenzas of former owner John Crouch and the ones Helrich was producing. You could call Cadenza, also a Bordeaux-stlye blend, the previer member of the Allegro line.

"In 2006, I felt that the wine wasn't quite Cadenza quality, but much better than our regular bottling," he said. "I brought back the name in 2006, and we bottled a 2007 as well. We may have one from 2009. We'll see."

It's selling at $27 a bottle. Definitely worth the investment. Helrich had noted that he felt this present vintage for sale (2006) would peak in 2011 and could be cellared as late as 2016 to 2018.

To Carl and wife Kris and all the other supporters and readers of this blog, Happy Thanksgiving and the many, many blessings this holiday brings.

Terrapin Station considers virtual wine tasting

Let me post this and then try and hook up with the folks from Terrapin Station Winery in Elkton, Md., over the next few days to find out the story behind the story. Already one of the more innovative wineries in the mid-Atlantic area with its support of the Terrapin Institute and its line of boxed wines, owners Janet and Morris Zwick want to try a virtual wine tasting if they can find enough interested parties. Here's how it would work, based on what's in their e-letter.

We are considering holding a virtual, online tasting using the capabilities of Talk Shoe.


This is how it would work:

1. We would announce the date for the tasting and the wine(s) that would be tasted.

2. You would acquire the wines for the tasting so that you can taste along with the event.

3. We would set up a Talk Shoe show that you would log into.

4. During the show, we would taste and talk about a wine or wines while everyone online tried them along with us.

5. During the show you could ask or post questions or comments.

We would like to give it a try, but of course don't want to log in and listen to (virtual) crickets chirping. Therefore, please let us know what you think by answering the poll we have on our Facebook fan page or send us a note here. If there is enough interest, we'll announce a date and give it a whirl.

Fiore serving dessert on Friday and multi-course Christmas meal on Dec. 5

Two notes from Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Md., less than a half-hour drive from I-83 and the Pennsylvania communities of Shrewsbury and Stewartstown.

The winery will be open Friday and is inviting visitors to pack a lunch and park themselves anytime between 1 and 4 p.m. Fiore Winery will provide trhe dessert and offer a 21 percent discount on all wine case purchases. While you are there, try and taste some of the Fiore wines that have received awards over the past several years, including the Proprietor's Reserve Chambourcin and the Chardonnay. And, in general, you'll find them priced moderately.

Like other regional wineries, Fiore is planning a Christmas meal from 6 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. Live music will be provided by the local duo Chalk Dust. Menu by Panache Fine Catering. Each course is served and paired with Fiore wines. Reservations are requested for the event, which will cost $65 per person.

Here's what you can expect to eat and drink:

Hors d'oeuvres: Antipastotable of cheeses, vegetables, dips, and spreads, with artisan breads, crackers,pita, crostini

Apple-lucious, Sangiovese

Seated Dinner: Butternutsquash ravioli with sage, rye, and cream.

Pinot Grigio

Baked salmon with roasted pepper sauce and spinach orzo.

Chardonnay

Spice beef round with roasted green beans and grape tomato.

Proprietors Reserve Chambourcin

Seasonal salad with fruit, nuts, and cheese, vinaigrette.

Vidal Blanc

Christmas pudding with hard sauce.

Maryland Merlot