by Richard Leahy | Jul 8, 2018 | Regions & Terroir, Tastings/Evaluations, Winery Review, Winery Visits
East Seneca Lake is an exciting place in the Finger Lakes, especially the southeast corner, known locally as the “banana belt” due to the heat it accumulates during the growing season where the lake is deepest and the hillsides catch the reflected sun....
by Richard | Dec 16, 2017 | Tastings/Evaluations, Winery Review
Thursday 12/14 I enjoyed dinner in Charlottesville with consulting viticulturist Lucie Morton, and a colleague of hers from Australia, Helen Waite. After enjoying some introductory tastes, I was asked to fetch a bottle from Lucie’s wine cellar. I couldn’t...
by Richard Leahy | Aug 22, 2017 | Tastings/Evaluations, Virginia Wine, Winery Review
It’s been awhile since I tasted the current releases of Pippin Hill Vineyard, which has in the meantime become a partner in Michael Shaps Wineworks (who has always made the wines for the vineyard nearby at their Carter’s Bridge facility). The quality and...
by Richard Leahy | Jun 2, 2017 | Tastings/Evaluations, Winery Review
Wine in Keg | Blenheim Vineyards Wine as we know it is going through a transformation, in packaging as much as in content. Due to the weight, carbon footprint and transportation costs, many wineries are investing in alternative packaging, from PET plastic to Tetrapak...
by Richard Leahy | Dec 13, 2016 | Tastings/Evaluations, Winery Review
Muse Vineyards, which burst on the Virginia wine scene by winning the Governor’s Cup last year with their 2009 “Clio” meritage before it opened to the public, has now opened its winery tasting room to the public. They are now open...
by Richard Leahy | Jul 31, 2016 | Tastings/Evaluations, Virginia Wine, Winery Review
One of the smallest, and most obscure new Virginia wineries is Jump Mountain Vineyard, which opened in 2012 some 15 miles north of Lexington. Although it’s not far from the intersection of interstates 64 and 81, Rt. 39 and the Valley Route 11, it’s only...
