Fresh-Caught Seneca Lake Trout with Peppercorns and Paprika

One of the greatest parts of our Finger Lakes trip was a fishing excursion we went on the night we arrived. E had suggested the idea of catching something and cooking it ourselves on a cedar plank. As adventurous as that sounded, I had my doubts. There were so many things to consider! How do we fillet the fish? What do we cook it on? Where do we cook it? Will it taste good? E reassured me that all would be OK. I put a little faith in him, and below is the result, conjured up with a disposable grill from Walmart, some spices and vegetables from a grocery store near the lake. This simple, fresh dish can be recreated in any wilderness that you find yourself in!

Ingredients:

Fresh-Caught Lake Trout (or anything else you can reel up)
1 Red Onion
1 package cremini mushrooms
3 lemons
Black Peppercorns
Paprika Spice Rub
Salt

Portable Grill
Plastic Bags
Cedar Plank
Tongs
Knife

1) Spend 4 hours fishing and then finally catch something just as the sun is going down. Or, be a lot more skilled than myself and catch something for dinner sooner ;) If you’re with a guide, have him debone and fillet the fish for you.

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My First Finger Lakes Trip (Everything But the Riesling)

Emerging wine regions often choose one grape variety to focus their efforts on. It helps consumers place the region in their minds i.e. Oregon Pinot Noir, Argentinean Malbec or Long Island Merlot. It lessens the risk people have to take if they choose to expand their horizons. For the Finger Lakes, that grape is Riesling. Riesling is sturdy and frost-resistant enough to survive cold Winters, which makes it a highly qualified candidate for production in upper New York State. The only downfall to this varietal-focus is that other grapes tend to get lost. So, when E and I took our trip to the Finger Lakes, I expected to taste Riesling, Riesling and more Riesling. We did taste some nice ones, but other wines took the spotlight for me.

With only a few days on Seneca Lake, we had a lot to fit in to a short period of time. Between hiking, fishing, and general touring, we only made it to two wineries: Damiani and Lamoreaux Landing. Maybe if we hadn’t had so much fun with Lou Damiani and Josh Wig at Lamoreaux, we could have tackled some more stops. But this was vacation, and we soaked it all in.

Damiani is a small-production winery, offering a few hundred cases each of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and various blends. Their 2007 Reserve Pinot Noir was solid, with tightly wound flavors of spicy oak and black cherry ($32). The Cabernet Francs in barrel promise great things as well and the Gewurztraminer ($19) was nicely expressive and balanced with bright acidity.

At Lamoreaux Landing, the Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir were overshadowed by luscious Chardonnay and berry-rich Cabernet Franc. Both the regular 2006 Chardonnay ($13) and the 2006 Chardonnay Reserve ($20) showed delicate zesty fruit with a touch of oak. The Reserve went through full malo-lactic fermentation yielding a creamy style. My unexpected favorite wine of the weekend had to be their T23 Cabernet Franc which was bursting with berry flavors, had a nice round mouthfeel, and a long lingering finish. I was flabergasted when Josh told me this wine is only $15. Lamoreaux has decades of experience and far larger production, so it wouldn’t be fair to compare these prices to Damiani.

Great wines are being made in the Finger Lakes, and they don’t have to be Riesling!

TasteCamp EAST: Wolffer and Channing Daughters

A month after the trip, I am finally onto my last post of TasteCamp East, the wine bloggers’ marathon tasting event in Long Island, hosted by Lenn Thompson. Though it has been some time, I can’t let the trip pass without mentioning our trips to Wolffer and Channing Daughters on Sunday.

We spent our time on the North Fork until Sunday, when a brave few of us plowed on to the South Fork. I can speak for everyone when I say we were not only pleased to have stayed, but felt that the others had sorely missed out in heading home early.

Wolffer is a well-established winery in Long Island with a loyal customer base of Hampton-ites, from what I’ve heard. Their German-born winemaker, Roman Roth, gave us a private tasting of their Estate Selection 2005 Chardonnay, 2004 and 2000 Merlot, an Amarone-style Cabernet Sauvignon and a late-harvest Chardonnay. We tasted a vertical of Wolffer on Friday evening so I did have some experience with the wines. As I did Friday night I preferred the 2004 Merlot which had rich black fruits like plums and blackberry with a hint of spice and a nice, smooth finish. The 2005 Claletto Cabernet Sauvignon demonstrates a bit of that risk that Long Island winemakers are taking. Some of the grapes were allowed to dry further on the vine creating that rich, raisin character that Amarone has. (A true Amarone goes through a process called rasinate, where the grapes are dried on straw mats.) While the wine certainly had a lot of character, it’s hard to argue for an $85 “Amarone-style” Long Island wine, when a real Amarone can be found for $60. Nevertheless, this small production wine will have a loyal enough fan base to sell through the lot.

From Wolffer we made our final stop at Channing Daughters. Though I was feeling chilly and wet from the rainy weather (read: miserable) I quickly perked up when we met dynamic Christopher Tracy and their adorable Labradoodle, Remy. Channing Daughters has a vast portfolio of wines, including many unique white blends like their Mosaico, a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat Ottonel, Tocai Friulano, and Gewurztraminer. They even make a Blaufrankisch softened by a touch of Merlot. Tracy seems to have a real sense of adventure and passion as he told about how they like to model themselves after the Friuli region of Northeastern Italy, rather than Bordeaux, a comparison that other Long Island wineries make. The wines were so vibrant and and Tracy was so charming that most of us lined up to make purchases following the tasting. I went home with the Mosaico, a Cabernet Sauvignon Rose and two diverse Chardonnays: Scuttlehole 2007 (all stainless steel fermentation and no malolactic to preserve the crisp, purity of fruit) and L’Enfant Sauvage which was barrel-fermented, yielding a luscious, buttery style of Chardonnay. I should mention that Tracy also boasted to everyone about how they don’t send their wines for ratings, and don’t make their wines for big scores. He was playing this up to please the crowd but it’s a bit of an embellishment. They have, in fact, sent their wines to us in the past and Susan Kostrzewa has given them nice ratings. Maybe the lack of a 90+ score caused some bitterness. I hope not, as these wines deserve to have their voice heard and a write up in the magazine is a great way to make that happen.

I hope that passion, restraint and risk that I felt visiting these wineries, came through in my stories. It was certainly evident during the trip. I cannot wait for TasteCamp EAST 2010, in the Finger Lakes!

TasteCamp East: Shinn, Bedell, Lenz and the Saturday Night Smorgasboard

In the past couple of posts I’ve been recounting many of the highlights of TasteCamp East, a weekend-long bloggers get together on the North Fork of Long Island, hosted by Lenn Thompson. I left you all after our visit to Paumanok on Saturday morning, where we tasted their phenomenal 2008 Chenin Blanc, amongst many other wines. From there, we headed to Shinn Estate for a lovely lunch and vineyard walk.

Spending our Saturday lunch at Shinn was perfect. Owners Barbara Shinn and David Page know a thing or two about food, after spending years building elegant restaurant Home on Cornelia Street, which celebrates farm to table cuisine. They bring that same spirit to the cooking at the winery. David prepared a rocket salad with a mustard-thyme vinaigrette, peconic bay calamari, piccolini pasta with asparagus, spring onion, lemon and fire-roasted shiitake mushrooms with ramps and fregula and crescent duck breast with sea salt, pepper and apricot-mustard sauce.

Dozens of wines from Shinn Estate, Jamesport and Macari Vineyards were served to complement the meal. I expanded on lunch with some of my favorite pairings in a piece on UnReserved. Honestly, every dish was sublime. The beauty of Page’s food is its seeming simplicity. He allows the ingredients, often sourced from local farms, to display natural flavors on their own without being weighed down by heavy sauce and spice. The star wine at lunch was a 2007 Shinn Estate Cabernet Franc that we tasted from barrel (to be released in 2010). Other nice wines included the Macari Katherine’s Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc as well as their 2008 Rose which is a blend of 5 secret grapes. As we ate lunch we shared an honest discussion with Barbara Shinn, Joe and Katherine Macari, and Ron Goerler from Jamesport. They discussed a similar goal they have to become certified organic, which is a difficult process, but they seemed to feel that each small step makes a great difference. Barbara even passed around some special manure they’re using for us all to have a sniff. What a treat ;)

Following lunch at Shinn we had a larger tasting with other Long Island producers like Bouke, Sparkling Pointe, Borghese and Harbes Family Farm & Vineyard. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to some palate fatigue at this point, so I do not have notes on specific wines.

Bedell, the winery whose gorgeous guest house I stayed in last Summer, was our next stop. We tasted and enjoyed a surprise cheese platter from the Village Cheese on their patio. As if I wasn’t full enough from lunch, I pigged out especially on a real stinky Blue d’Auvergne. A lot of the wines were similar to what I had tasted last year including the Gallery White (a blend of Chardonnay, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc) and their high-end Red Blend, Musee. I do think a common sentiment (that I agree with) is that the wines at Bedell are overpriced. Even the whites, though nicely made, were in the $30-$40 price range which does feel hefty, especially when other wineries out here (and elsewhere) are charging $20 for wines of the same caliber.

Were we tired after all of this? Absolutely. But we had an appointment at Lenz to attend! I did not make it to Lenz last Summer and I was looking forward to experiencing their wines but by this point in the day, I was really starting to deteriorate. Luckily the winemaker Eric Fry, (who looks more like a member of ZZ Top) at Lenz is a real character.

We formed a circle and hovered over a large drain as Fry brought us many pitchers (yes pitchers!) of wine from barrel. As we tasted he tested our whits to see if we could guess the wines. He even threw a White Pinot in the mix!

After Lenz we had a relaxing 10 minutes to get ready for our smorgasboard dinner, kindly hosted at Grand Cru Classes by Tracy Kamens and Jared Skolnick who are as sweet as they are well-versed in wine. They’re also the only people I’ve met who have a Coton de Tulear, like my parents! I had the pleasure of meeting them at the Wine Bloggers’ Conference in Sonoma where they told me about their “rare breed” and I could not believe it! Jared is making his own wine at Grand Cru with grapes sourced by nearby vineyards.

All of us brought special wines from our collections to dinner on Saturday night, but I was too busy chatting with everyone to take notes. I tasted everything from a clunker from Massachusetts (sorry Becky!) to a real nice Jefferson Vineyards Cabernet Franc from Virginia. There was a white Rioja that Nick Gorevic brought and I brought a Clarendon Hills Cabernet and a Donnafugata from Sicily. I also brought the Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta which was Spectator’s #1 wine of the year. It was a big, big wine that while delicious, was too extracted for my taste. I think other bloggers got a kick out of making fun of it. We enjoyed this smorgasboard of wine with huge platters of cheese from the Village Cheese (I can’t get enough), filet mignon, grilled eggplant and more. Somehow I eventually made it into a cab with a couple of cookies in hand, and slept like a baby at the Greenporter.

Many of the bloggers have been using words like whirlwind, and tsunami to describe this marathon of a tasting weekend, and they are absolutely right!

Stay tuned for the report of our last day, including Wolffer’s Amarone-style Cabernet and Blaufrankisch at Channing Daughters!

TasteCamp East: Raphael, Roanoke, Paumanok and More

TasteCamp East kicked off with a warm welcome at Raphael winery for dinner on Friday evening. Before proceeding to the larger tasting, we sampled Raphael’s crisp 2008 Sauvignon Blanc which I enjoyed last year at the Frisky Oyster in Greenport, followed by their Merlot Rose. The Rose had a nice nose, but unfortunately plummeted on the palate. Some members of the Long Island Merlot Alliance (Sherwood House, Wolffer Estate, Clovis Point and Pelligrini) generously poured Merlot verticals for us. The 2004 Wolffer and the 1997 Pelligrini Merlot were the highlights. I know other bloggers felt the 2000 Wolffer stood out but I found the fruit on the younger Wolffer Merlot to be more open and developed. Counter-intuitively, the older vintages seemed subdued. I enjoyed all of the Pellegrini Merlots but the older vintages had a rich, earthy character and were a true expression of Merlot, much like what I discussed about the passion, restraint, and risk of Long Island wines. Fantastic hors d’oeuvres were served like mini eggplant rollatini served on a bed of parmesan and luscious rare tuna on crisps. My sister and I commiserated on the fact that there were no BS hors d’oeuvres (think cucumber rounds with salmon mousse or crostini with tomato slivers) The food at Raphael was no joke!

For dinner we enjoyed a foie gras appetizer followed by bay scallops on a bed of risotto in parmesan broth followed by a short rib-stuffed pasta and perfectly seared filet served on a celeriac puree. Even the bread was special with some kind of gruyere-esque cheese baked into it. Though all of our dinner courses were home runs, dessert took a nose dive with a spongy chocolate cake in a chocolate shell. Lucky for me, dessert has never been my favorite course. Australian-born Russel Hearn, winemaker at Pellegrini, spoke on the importance of the Long Island Merlot Alliance throughout dinner, especially when Merliance (a Merlot blended between the members of the alliance) was poured: Merliance is an example of what you should look for in a Merlot. This is what we will be known for. We will make Merlot as the #1 grape of Long Island” he said. This was certainly true for his wines, though the Merliance wasn’t a favorite of the evening for me. Brian Calandrelli of Niagara Escarpment quietly poured a Catawba Ice Wine he brought from his neck of the woods, which was nicely acidic and luscious. I discovered that not all Ice Wine is naturally frozen on the vine, sometimes winemakers do a post-pick freeze of the grapes. His bottle was all natural. I also got a kick out of sitting by uber-wine-geek Tom Mansell of IthaCork, even if we disagree on the importance of wine accessories.

My best tasting notes of the weekend are from Saturday morning at Roanoke since they wisely setup a formal tasting for us. We tasted 5 of their wines: 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon (just released), 2005 Merlot, 2004 Blend One, 2006 Cabernet Franc and a pre-release of Marco Tulio Blend Three, all in the $30-$40 range. Amiable, Richard Pisacano led the tasting and gave us an in-depth recount of the thought-process behind leaving them unfined and unfiltered, using primarily French oak and adding strange grape percentages like 3% Merlot in their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. What does 3% Merlot do? We’e not sure, he said. I guess that’s the risk taking I’ve been talking about! Highlights for me were the 2004 Blend One (24% CS, 33% Merlot, 43% CF) which was very smooth and balanced with a nose of blackberries, plums and some vegetal notes like green pepper. The 2007 Marco Tulio (53% CS, 8% Merlot, 39% CF) was a second favorite with a pronounced nose of plum and baking spice. It was lean and refined with juicy fruit that wasn’t overly extracted and showed the greatness of the 2007 vintage.

Our next stop was Paumanok with the always adorable Kareem Massoud and his parents. Paumanok is a family-run vineyard, founded in 1983. I enjoyed the wines immensely on last Summer’s trip and this year was no different. We tasted far too many wines to list, but I loved the 2008 Chenin Blanc (just as I did the 2007) and the barrel-fermented Chardonnay, which always reminds me that oaked Chardonnay can have both a lush, full body with crisp fruit as well. (Long Island restraint!) Kareem took us through some barrel samples of 2005 Petite Verdot amongst others, and also gave us a taste of their 2008 late harvest Riesling, which they only produced 56 cases of. It had lovely, pronounced honeysuckle aromas/flavors and excellent acidity for balance.

me and Becky Borichevsky of SmellslikeGrape

It was wonderful to share these experience with such a zealous group of cool winos.

More to come including Saturday lunch with the talented Shinns followed by Bedell, Lenz, and Sunday at Wolffer and Channing Daughters.

TasteCamp East and Long Island’s Passion, Restraint and Risk

After the 3-day wine tasting marathon that was TasteCamp East, I am happily sobered up and ready to tell the tale. Thirty wine bloggers gathered Friday evening at Raphael winery on the North Fork, but only the strong survived Lenn Thompson’s intense tasting schedule, through Sunday afternoon. It was a pleasure to experience more of the region, with so many talented wine writers. I have so much to say about the weekend but before I dive into all of the notes and specifics, I need to mention these three qualities of Long Island wine that pervaded our experience: its passion, restraint, and risk.

Many of the winemakers discussed, at length, how difficult it actually is to grow grapes in the region. The cool temperatures and unique soil can make this part of the country a tough place to make wine. A perfect, sunny ripening season is a luxury that often exists on the West coast, where rain tends to have its proper place and time. Things can be far less predictable in Long Island’s maritime climate, as demonstrated by the difficult 2005 vintage, when a late rain threatened the crop. Many winemakers admitted that grape growing could be easier elsewhere, but they were so wooed by the potential of Long Island wine, that they stayed firmly planted in the area. A lot of them are even driving for sustainability in the vineyard. It takes passion to persevere when it feels like the odds are against you, and they seemed excited to take on the challenge. It is this understanding of the climate that lends a greater appreciation for the special wines being made here.

What I found most refreshing (literally and figuratively) was the elegant restraint of these wines. The fruit was pure, the alcohol was mostly under 14%, and they had ample acidity that made them food-friendly. The Merlot was soft, not overly-extracted to taste like Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet Franc had the characteristic green aromas that make it distinct. These wines stood out as if to say: Hey, I’m expressing myself! This is what a Merlot tastes like. Its scary when you start to have difficulty discerning between varietals! But the winemakers on Long Island want their grapes to sing. There is a special level of control and pride that it takes to make wines that express themselves uniquely rather than catering to a broad palate. It was much appreciated by me, and all of my blogging comrades.

It’s strange to be a risk taker and show restraint at the same time but I kept observing these qualities at various places. People out here are making Amarone-style Cabernet, late-harvest barrel-fermented Chardonnay, Blaufrankisch, and Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc/Muscat/Tocai Friulano/Gewurztraminer blends. They’re pouring wines from plastic pitchers. They’re passing out manure at lunch. They are speaking at lunch while thousands of bees wait in their truck! The winemakers have a sense of adventure, which is a cool thing for such a young wine region that some would say, still has something to prove. It sure made for an exciting trip!

I have plenty more to come including detailed notes of who, what, when, and where we tasted. Stay tuned.

Our Long Island Winery Trip

After a week of reflection (read: laziness) I’m finally recapping the Long Island winery jaunt that I took with a couple of my longtime girlfriends. With the gracious help of Lenn Thompson and Susan Kostrzewa we took a two-day tour of some of the North Fork’s gems including: Paumanok, Bedell Cellars, Peconic Bay Winery, Lieb Cellars, Macari Vineyards, and The Tasting Room. As with any tasting trip, the roster of wines contained clunkers and wowers but overall I was impressed by the wines, the beauty of the region and the kind people that we met. We had engaging conversations everywhere about anything from the joy of screw caps to bluntly honest recommendations (and dissuasions).

Some highlights:

Kareem at Paumanok whose family owns the winery was a joy to chat with. Their crisp, unoaked Festival Chardonnay reminded me that I do like unoaked Chards. I purchased a bottle and enjoyed it at the Philharmonic in the park last week (while procrastinating on this post). My friends Julia and Ali really liked their Chenin Blanc as well. I believe Paumanok is the only winery to make a Chenin Blanc in the North Fork. It was a nice example.

The folks at Bedell Cellars were incredibly generous in letting us stay at their beautiful guest house, owned by Michael Lynne. Kelly Urbanik who was recently promoted to head winemaker (in her 20s, you go girl!) told us about how she’s focusing on using less oak in their Chardonnays as we sampled their stellar 2007 straight from the barrel. It drank beautifully with seering acidity and an expressive nose. We had a lunch of lobster salad plus beet, walnut and goat cheese as well as many other goodies with she and Jean. The first vintage of Musee, a red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot had elegant berry aromas but could use some time to reveal itself more fully. The Taste White was an intriguing blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Gewurztraminer and Riesling with layers of floral aromas and stone fruits.

We watched drunken bocce ball players as Pascal took us through a tasting and a cellar tour at Peconic Bay. Much like at Bedell, we had a 2007 Chardonnay preview which gave a great glimpse into what’s in store for this vintage. The wines are seemingly remarkable thus far.
Dinner at the Frisky Oyster was a perfect conclusion to a day of tasting. After a stiff martini break, we verged back into wine with a 2007 Raphael Sauvignon Blanc alongside crisp zucchini blossoms, oysters stuffed with spinach, and shrimp quesadillas. After a walk on the pier and an ice cream, we were beat.

On Sunday morning after a lovely breakfast at the guest house of croissants, corn muffins, berries, and coffee we hopped over to the Tasting Room where Theresa Dilworth poured some wines from boutique wineries in the area. These guys are too small to have their own tasting rooms so they have their wines poured and sold in this shop. I really enjoyed a Comtesse Therese (name sound familiar?) 2007 Rose and a Schneider Syrah 2004 made from Hermitage clones had nice spice and depth. There were some elegant Rieslings being poured here as well.
We traveled West to make our way back, stopping at the Village Cheese and snagging a local goat cheese, a creamy NY State blue, a parmesan, and a baguette for lunch later.
We nearly missed the discrete, Lieb Cellars tasting room where we met Lenn and tasted a vast portfolio of Lieb wines. I loved the Bridge Lane Cabernet Franc and their Blanc de Blancs was a unanimous hit.
Our final stop was Macari which had a vast tasting room full of tourists but the gorgeous view and terrace made fighting the crowds worthwhile. Their 2007 Sauvignon Blanc was sublime with expressive grapefruit notes and a lingering finish. It was quite a combo with our goat cheese. Their $10 Collina 48 Merlot was surprisingly good too. Who says decent wine can’t be affordable?

What an enjoyable and eye-opening trip. It was funny to see myself buying Merlot, Rose, and Chardonnay which aren’t my typical favorites, but were made well here. Many examples of red blends are being crafted here as well that I neglected to mention. They seemed to miss the mark in a lot of places but that’s not to say they won’t get there. This is certainly an ever-evolving region. New Yorkers, if you haven’t made it out to the North Fork… what are you waiting for?