By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor The Lenz Winery, located in Peconic on Long Island's North Fork, has built its reputation primarily on the back of it's merlot and sparkling wine programs -- and with good reason. Winemaker Eric Fry's merlot,...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor The evolution and expansion of this website, particularly over the last three years, has been a lot of fun. New writers. An ever-growing readership. It's been great. The site has never been better. But, the...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor I apologize for reporting this over a month after it happened -- and only one day before the memorial -- but I thought it important to publish. From the Suffolk Times: "Charles H. Flatt of...

By Donavan Hall, Long Island Beer Correspondent Every few months or so our little brewery goes through a number of cylinders of compressed CO2 gas. It's an easy enough thing to load up the cylinders in the brewery truck and...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor It's weeks like this one when I'm eternally grateful for the rest of the NYCR team. After the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, VA last weekend, I headed west with Nena and Jackson to...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor NOFO Rock and Folk Fest, the second annual two-day music festival will kick off at Peconic Bay Winery tomorrow at 11 a.m. My family and I had a great time at last year's event and...

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that, he says, goes a long way toward helping New York state wineries succeed. The changes come from recommendations made in 2008 by the New York Wine Grape...

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor The small French commune of Tain-l'Hermitage is known for its pitched vineyards that yield some of the world's finest syrah. It is not nearly so well known as the birthplace of copper ovens. "France's...

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Buffalo's Community Beer Works received its TTB approval this month, taking the fledgling brewery one step closer to legit beerdom. Brewer and founder/owner Rudy Watkins was kind enough to send some prototype suds my way...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor I think I can speak for my fellow editors and contributors when I say that we'd publish this website even if only our friends and family read it. Cliche or not, it's a labor of...

By David Flaherty At 8 pm, amidst the sweltering steam bath of NYC, the Half Moon set sail on the East River. Aboard were 27 cases of German Riesling, 2 kegs of Gotham Project Riesling, about 40 tons of ice,...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Later today I'll be heading south on I-95 to attend this year's Wine Bloggers Conference later this week in Charlottesville, VA. It's been a few years since I've attended WBC but I'm looking forward to...

Editor's Note: The following is an op-ed written by Rob Tebeau from the blog Fringe Wine, a site focusing on the lesser-known regions and grapes in the wine world, based on his first visit to the Finger Lakes wine region....

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor By now you've probably heard about the faux scandal involving Congressman Paul Ryan and his expensive bottles of Burgundy at a D.C. restaurant. If you somehow missed it, here's a quick summary: Rep. Paul Ryan...

The always-beautiful spot next to the pond at Pugliese Vineyards By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor If you're like me, when you first move to a new wine region, you intrepidly explore it -- visiting different tasting rooms every weekend and...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor As much affection as I feel for the wines of New York State, there are only a handful of wineries with "any wine" status -- status that means I will happily drink any wine from...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor These are tasting notes for some wines that have graced the NYCR tasting table recently but won't be reviewed in standalone posts. Channing Daughters Winery 2009 Lagrein ($30): Very peppery on the nose (almost syrah-like)...

By Mark Tichenor, Beer Correspondent American beer fans are fortunate; the best and most famous craft brews are available from coast to coast. Still, it's a pleasure to find excellent beers brewed and served on a small scale, with a...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor This Saturday evening, I'll be making the drive down to the Hamptons to attend the inaugural Dan's Taste of Two Forks event at Sayre Park in Bridgehampton. Organized by Dan's Papers (full disclosure: I'm their...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor By any measure, last night's NYCR Artisan Dinner at Luce + Hawkins -- featuring the wines of Heart & Hands Wine Company -- was a success. The packed house enjoyed an incredible meal prepared by...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor As a general rule, I don't like double entendre on wine labels. It gimmicky and usually only clever in a too-obvious or not-all-that-funny sort of way. With the city skyline on the label, we are...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Today Mark Tichenor joins our masthead as a Beer Correspondent covering the beer scene in Rochester and beyond. I've been a reader of Mark both on Twitter and on his site, Beercraft, for a few...

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor The Signature Series is Custom Brewcrafters' higher-end line of beers, allowing the brewers to stretch their wings outside the regular CB flagships and contract brews. This saison pours a gorgeous three-finger head with perfect lacing,...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Channing Daughters Winery's winemaker, Christopher Tracy, makes several chardonnay-based wines in a wide range of styles. For my money, his all-steel Scuttlehole Chardonnay is consistently the best and is the wine against which I judge...

The tasting room at Benmarl Winery. By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Day two of my Hudson Valley adventure was all about wine tasting, but before wine there has to be coffee, and we kicked off the day with a trip...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor This week, we dedicate our What We Drank feature to Red Newt Cellars, winemaker Dave Whiting and especially Debra Whiting, who was taken from us and the world far too soon. And, we've invited members...

The crowd at Winebar's opening last Thursday night. By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor When Theresa Dilworth closed The Tasting Room on Peconic Lane, some wondered where they'd be able to taste and buy wines from producers like Bouke Wines and...

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor Photo by Morgan Dawson Photography You could forgive Judy Wiltberger for feeling skeptical about what she just heard. It was summer, 1989, and maybe the warm air and stunning views had imbued the region with...

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor We are devastated to report the loss of Deb Whiting, co-owner and chef of Red Newt Cellars and Red Newt Bistro. Deb died in a car accident last night while returning home from Vermont with...

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor This list is a kind of public to-do list for me. It is not perfect or complete. This is not the list of the five best places to eat, or anything like that. But anyone...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Here's a sampling of what our editors and contributors are drinking: David Flaherty: De la Senne Wadesda #1 (a series of barrel experiments) In the slightly sketchy outskirts of Brussels, Yvan de Baets and Bernard...

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor May's Times Union New York Wine Club selections are on their way to members today and tomorrow, so it's once again time to announce the selections and share a bit about them. For our Basic-Level...

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor Residents of the City of Buffalo may have noticed a strange phenomenon last week: all beer-loving residents suddenly became completely unavailable at work, at home and in their social lives. Every craft beer enthusiast in...