Damiani Wine Cellars Compares their Cab Sauv to the World!

How does Damiani's Cab Sauv compare to old world and new world Cab Sauvs? Last weekend they hosted a Blind Tasting in which Damiani's 07 Barrel Select Cabernet Sauvignon was compared to Cab Sauvs from Australia, Northern Italy, France, Argentina and California. A crisp,but sunny spring day was the setting and the new Damiani tasting room on the East side of Seneca Lake was the place. Tables were set up in the lower level (which still has a gorgeous view of the lake) for the tasters. A large table with food pairings (sliced meats, peppers, chocolates and cheeses) was available to compliment the nuances in the wine. And so we began. Wines A, B and C were poured and we sniffed, eyed, swirled, pondered, tasted, pondered some more and eventually rated each wine. Terms such as: fruit forward, earthy, minty, minerally were thrown about and the consensus of the group was that these were new world wines. Sure enough, it was revealed that one was a $12.oo Argentine wine - 2008 Mendoza, another Australian - Cover Drive 2007 ($22.00) and the other from California- 2005 Sensorium ($35.00). Next came bottles D,E,F and the process repeated. These wines, 2 of which were old world: 2005 Chateau d'Issan Margaux at $74.oo a bottle and a 1999 Swansburg Castel (?) at $40.00 a bottle, were deeper in color, peppery and delicious. The third wine of this group was the Damiani 2007 Barrel Select at $30.00 a bottle. It was interesting to find out that Cab Sauv grapes originated from Sauv Blanc and Cab Franc vines! So what were the favorites? The French, the Italian and the Damiani. Yay!
Meeting new people, getting educated and drinking great wines, what better way to spend a March afternoon? There are more events coming up at Damiani's: April 24th a Merlot tasting, May 22 - Riesling, June 6 - Sauv Blanc and July 24 - Pinot Gris. Other reds will be tasted in the fall. Thank-you, Damiani Wine Cellars!

Vacation!!!!

My husband was really taken with Will.I.Am's name (of the Black Eyed Peas) during the SuperBowl. While he was ecstatic that the Packers won and still expounds the greatness of their defense, his mind has been secretly pondering other thoughts. Just days before his birthday he sprang his new identity on us. That's right, Jim will now be referred to as Jam.Es! Pity us here at my house. Soooo, OK that makes me Joy.Ce and the dog: Mag.E. Cool.
"Jam.Es" and I decided to go on vacation the other day. I know, I know, others have taken off for Florida, Belize and the Caribbean in the middle of a LOOOONG, COLD winter, however, we took off for Seneca Lake. Actually, we had to strategically plan our vacation between winter storm warnings. Last Thursday was the day to go (the next storm was to start Thursday night), so we grabbed the window and made it to the lake by noon. Our plan was to stop at the StoneCat Cafe for a bite to eat before hitting the wineries. Unfortunately, there were no cars at all in the Cafe parking lot, so we scraped that idea and headed to Damiani's new tasting room with its glorious view of the Lake. It is large and open with a kitchen area for food pairing prep - really well done. We totally enjoyed our tasting and chat with Gabriel Damiani, and walked away with a 2009 Riesling, the 2009 Dolce Bianco (for our daughter who likes a slightly sweeter wine) and a couple of bottles of Cab Sauv Barrel Select 2008. Damiani is having a dinner coming up in March as well as a Cab Sauv tasting where they compare their Barrel Select to other wines from around the world. Check their website for details. Both sound great!
Next we stopped at the new JR Dill winery, but it is only open Fri-Sun. We really want to try the wines, so will have to come back.
On to Red Newt Cellars, Winery and Bistro, where we knew the Bistro would be open. Debra Whiting (winery co-owner with husband Dave and the Bistro's executive chef) prepares wonderful lunches and dinners at the Bistro. We enjoyed a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon, greens, cheese and cranberry sauce, chicken lentil soup and Riesling. Chris, our server, offered us two Rieslings recently rated in Wine Spectator at 89 and 90 Points. One was slightly sweeter, 2009 Lahoma Vineyards Riesling, and the other slightly drier, 2009 Sawmill Creek Vineyards Riesling. They were both really nice. Then Chris brought us another Riesling to try that has not been rated yet by Wine Spectator, the 2009 Davis Vineyard Riesling. This Riesling's sweetness fell between the other two and was absolutely awesome. It paired the best with the sandwich and soup. We all agreed that this one will also do really well with Wine Spectator. Since there are a limited number of cases of all three (less than 200), we bought several bottles. We really like the fact that Red Newt gives credit to the Vineyard that grows the grapes they use. For example, the Davis Vineyard is that of Phil Davis of Diamiani wines. Another example of the unique cooperative/collaborative spirit of the Finger Lakes wineries.
We made one last stop at Standing Stone Vineyards to pick up some favorites: Pinot Noir 2007, Pinnacle 2007 and Smokehouse Red (their red blend). We had a great chat with Gary and Sandra Smith, caught Marti for a second, then started our homeward trip before the storm hit! We were gone for maybe 6 hours, but what a relaxing, enjoyable day! Now is the time to go to the wineries when it's quiet and you can talk with the staff, winemakers and winery owners. We are so lucky to have this mini-vacation right outside our back door. Needless to say, when the snows hit on Friday, "Jam.Es" and I built a fire, got out a bottle of wine and re-lived our day at the lake!

Let's make a toast to 2011!

Last night, Jim and I celebrated the New Year as we do every year with our dear friends Dave and Kathy. Back in the day when money was tight and we were just starting out, making the New Year's Eve dinner at home was our preference. Then when the girls were little, we changed from New Year's Eve dinner to New Year's Day brunch. Well, the girls are in college and have New Year's ideas of their own, so we are back to having dinner together, just the four of us. It has been a lovely tradition that helps us to catch up on news and ponder possibilities in the new year.

This year it was our turn to have dinner at our house. Jim and I wanted to do something a little different, so we decided to put on our own wine and food pairing dinner. So here is what our menu was and our choice of wines to go with each course:

Appetizers: Garlic shrimp/cocktail sauce, Bruschette/rosemary and sage bruschette toasts paired with Damiani's 2007 Sparkling Wine.

Course 1: Warm Spinach Salad with pears, pecans and Gorgonzola cheese paired with Anthony Road 2008 Semi-Sweet Riesling.

Course 2: Lobster bisque with Standing Stone 2007 Reserve Chardonnay

Course 3: Lobster Ravioli. Here's where personal preference made a difference in the wine we chose. If the sauce was butter/wine sauce the wine choice was to continue the Chardonnay. If it was the vodka sauce, the choice was Van Duzer 2002 Estate Pinot Noir.

Course 4: Beef tenderloin, grilled asparagus and twice baked potatoes. Wine: Whitehall Lane 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dessert: Cheese cake with Raspberry drizzle and Standing Stone 2008 Vidal Ice.

Midnight: Pillitteri Estates 2008 Sparkling Icewine Cabernet.

It was a wonderful evening. My daughter and I watched Julie & Julia as we prepared the food - just to get in the Julia Child frame of mind. Jim and I mapped out time frames - when to turn this on, when to put that on or take that off. At 6:30 our guests arrived, we poured the Damiani's and the celebration began. OK, so the Damiani sparking wine was a LOT drier than we anticipated or remembered. It was a wonderful, clean,crisp sparking wine. We liked it a lot, but debated whether a sweeter champagne would have paired better with the shrimp. The jury is still out on that one. However, we LOVED the Riesling with the salad. Great choice. As was the Standing Stone Reserev Chardonnay with the lobster bisque. Home run on those. The lobster ravioli choices were great. Jim and I had pondered/obsessed about whether a Pinot Noir could go with the lobster ravioli with vodka sauce. Everything we read said Chardonnay or Champagne with lobster, but the Pinot was outstanding with it! Of course the Cab Sav was perfect with the tenderloin and the ice wine with the cheese cake was also a really nice pairing. Finally our special sparkling ice wine that we bought in Niagara on the Lake was the perfect way to end a great evening with good friends! The evening was a success - really fun to plan and execute! So happy 2011 - may your year be filled with good friends and good wine!

Rooster Hill Holiday Party and...the Question?

Last Saturday we enjoyed the holiday party at Rooster Hill as members of their wine club. Owner Amy Hoffman and staff spent considerable time planning and arranging this event and their efforts were well worth it! Picture A Wonderful Life playing in black and white on the flat screen TV, a live band playing holiday and other favorite songs, decorations, stainless steel wine barrels with wreaths on them and cozy tables spread among the barrels for meeting and eating the DELICIOUS tapas on the buffet (seafood crepe, pork tenderloin, turkey, chocolates, roll-ups, cheeses and more)! Of course all were accompanied by the delicious, award winning Rooster Hill wines.

Jim and I started out with the Cabernet Franc/Lemberger blend. It's smooth, rich taste warmed us up after our drive to Keuka Lake. As we searched around the barrels for a place to set our plates, we were invited to share a table with Melissa and Rich. We found we had a lot in common besides the love of good wines and wineries including an intense interest in promoting the Finger Lakes wine industry. We enjoyed exchanging ideas, laughs, perspectives on the state of education today and blog addresses. As we talked, we were offered a taste of the Reserve Lemberger by Barry Tortolon, Rooster Hill's Winemaker. We also tried their award winning Gewurztraminer (fabulous) and others. What a great way to spend an afternoon - meeting new people and enjoying outstanding wine!

But here comes the question that Melissa posed to us when we first joined their table:

Why do we enjoy coming to the Finger Lakes Wineries?

For us it is simple. We love the ability to speak with winemakers and winery owners. Where else could you walk into a tasting room and start a conversation with the person pouring the wine and find out they are the owner or the owner's son, daughter, niece, nephew, sister or brother! Or perhaps you are speaking to the winemaker if the winery owner doesn't make the wine himself. I love to hear their stories - HOW they started their business, WHY they started their business, WHO is working with them (often family members are involved in one way or another), WHERE their winery is located and the special terroir and climate of their chosen spot, or WHAT is the current project? It fascinates us and engages us in the industry. The winery owners that we have met are the salt of the earth, hardest working people I know who absolutely love what they do and who are grateful for the opportunity to make their dreams come true. It isn't about having the most awards (although awards ARE nice), it is about creating a top-notch wine in good years and not-so-good-years. Yup, THAT'S what it is all about for us. Our hats are off to the hard-working Finger Lakes Wineries. We will continue to do all we can to support them.

Barrel Tasting and Vertical at Standing Stone Vineyards

What a fantastic afternoon we spent at Standing Stone Vineyards on the east side of Seneca Lake! Our friends, Pam and Dave joined us for a delicious lunch at the Bistro at Thirsty Owl Vineyards on Cayuga Lake. Then we traveled west a bit and arrived at Standing Stone just in time for the barrel tasting. We joined Jenny and Gary in the big yellow barn that houses the barrels. We tasted several wines - 2 Chardonnays that differed in the yeast that was used in the fermentation process (and yes, they tasted very different), 2 Pinot Noirs, a Cab Franc, 2 Merlots, Petit Verdot and Saperavi. What a great experience to taste wines in process as well as to compare different vintages of the same varietal. Let me give you a heads-up - the 2010 wines are out of this world! Next we filled up our plates with breads, spreads and meats and headed back into the winery for our vertical tasting of Pinnacle. Pinnacle is Standing Stone's Bordeaux style blend, generally comprised of Cab Sav, Cab Franc and Merlot, although the 2007 Pinnacle (Wine Spectator score of 87) has Petit Verdot blended in also. We tasted the following years (vertical tastings compare different vintages of a given wine): 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. Love, love, love the 2005 and 2007! Very interesting to see, smell, and taste the differences over the years, plus it gives you a nice experience in tasting the effects of age on the wine. We had time to chat with winery owner and winemaker Marti Macinski, who, while a wealth of information about each vintage, is clearly passionate about her vineyard. This event was a wine-club member special event, so here is my plug about joining a wine club. While getting shipments of wine is great itself, the special events such as this barrel tasting provide for wonderful learning opportunities that you wouldn't ordinarily have.
It was a great time with great friends at a unique event. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon in November!

J.R. Dill - New Winery on Seneca Lake

Columbus Day Weekend
While Jim and I were busy with our annual October trek to Niagara on the Lake, "Rover" Jon diligently scoured the East side of Seneca Lake to report on the latest happenings. He discovered a new winery, J.R. Dill's which he said has really great dry wines. It is located 6 miles north of Watkin's Glen. Young J.R. (26?) is making wines from vines his great grandfather worked over 100 years ago. I am looking forward to visiting this new winery as well as Damiani's new tasting room, which is now open.
Jim and I have been helping out at Standing Stone this fall. They have a wonderful Saperavi, the 2007 Pinot Noir is out of this world as is the 2007 Pinnacle (Cab Sav, Merlot and Cab Franc blend with the addition of the Petit Verdot grape). The 2006 Pinnacle is also really good. It is fun to ask tasters their opinion when sampling the two, because it is pretty much 50/50 as to their preferences between the 07 and 06. I can't say enough about the ice wines from Standing Stone either. There are 4 to taste: Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Vidal. Each is unique and de-lish (with 91+ Wine Spectator ratings)!
We are looking forward to Standing Stone's First Ever Loyalty Club Event: Barrel tastings and Verticals.... Nov. 21st. Check out the Standing Stone website for more details.
In the mean time, pour yourself a glass of a Finger Lakes Wine and enjoy the beauty of the fall!

California? PUH!

So here again is a plug for joining wine clubs at your favorite Finger Lakes Winery. Why? Because...

• You get wine DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME 4-6 times a year.


• Often the wine is exclusive to wine club members: limited productions, library wines, or a new release.


• You can be invited to special events such as pig roasts, dinners, vertical tastings, barrel tastings, etc.


• There is a discount on wines purchased in the retail shop.


• Newsletters, food pairings, recipes...


• No tasting room fees.

Our Finger Lakes region is so beautiful and the wines are emerging as world-class (don't believe me, check out the Wine Spectator). Who needs California?

Joe Beans Coffee Roasters

Did you ever notice that the Wine Spectator writes articles about coffee? Why? Because coffee and wine have a lot in common : both compliment a meal, both enjoy complexity in flavors, and both leave lasting impressions. Did you ever have a wonderful dinner, then get served a poor to mediocre cup of coffee at the end? It literally leaves a bad taste in your mouth and usually your whole impression of the evening suffers as a result. Here in Webster, NY, we have the answer to your poor coffee dilemma: Joe Beans Coffee Roasters! Owner Kathy Turiano offer the alternative to that lousy cup of coffee. Deep, flavorful, locally roasted coffees. Check out her link and philosophy of using fair trade certified products. Like Finger Lakes Wines, Joe Bean is a local treasure.

Rooster Hill Pig Roast

The month of August is here and we started it with a bang at Rooster Hill's Wine Club Pig Roast. Again, another fabulous day on the east side of Keuka Lake! The view from their patio is stupendous! Their patio also hosts a huge wood fired pizza oven. So while we arrived, distributed our raffle tickets, and enjoyed participating in a blind wine tasting, the pizza oven was cranking out gourmet pizzas! (Seafood, pineapple, pepperoni and plain with huge chunks of tomato in the sauce...yum!) The band played Jimmy Buffet and other favorites while club members tasted wines and socialized. We were able to try all the newly bottled 2009 wines which are not yet released. We especially liked the Pinot Noir (young but complex, so it will only get better), the Gewurztraminer and the Estate Late Harvest Vidal Blanc. Watch for these releases and give them a try! The dinner was fabulous: awesome pork with fresh salads, baked beans, rolls and cookies!

As the sun slowly sank in the sky, we sat on the patio enjoying our last glass of wine with new friends Dave and Barb, and made plans to meet them again at the Holiday Party! Thank- you Amy Hoffman (president and co-founder) and staff for a well-organized and enjoyable afternoon.

Fox Run Happenings

I am sipping Fox Run's Dry Rose as I write this. It is the perfect dry wine, well chilled, on a warm evening! Which reminded me that Fox Run Vineyards has several events coming up. Most immediately is their 18th Annual Garlic Festival happening this weekend August 7th and 8th. This is a huge event with food, music, and of course wine! Also coming up are more Tapas Tastings. These are held Thursday evenings from 6-8 pm and cost $20 per person. Winemakers Peter Bell and Tricia Renshaw will discuss the wines and the food pairings. The upcoming dates are Aug 19, Sept 2, Sept 16 and Oct 7. These informal gatherings are a great experience because you get to meet the winemakers and chat about the wines you're drinking. And Executive Cheft Heather Tomkins and her staff always do a bang-up job with the food pairings. Hope to see you there!