Eastern wines

Of chicken wings and Chardonnay

Ah, Chardonnay. So common, so versatile that almost every winemaker keeps one in her portfolio. Warm or cool climate, good ol’ Chardonnay performs. The grape offers up a clean slate on which to stamp a style – from steely naked minerality to barrel-oaked creaminess and lots of variations in between. Is that bad? I wonder […]

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Heat’s on, NY wine producers adapt

“Look out there,” says Scott Osborn, gesturing toward his vineyards. “I bought a wind machine this year. We’re in the tasting room at Fox Run Vineyards on Seneca Lake’s west shore this late April afternoon. The temperature has topped 80 degrees – too early to switch on the air conditioning. I’m wearing a light cotton

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Boundary Breaks: ‘All in on Riesling’

Turning down a gravel road toward one of the newest Finger Lakes wineries, I feast my eyes first on long and slender Seneca Lake about a mile ahead. Then I notice the stark-white building at the end of the road, close to the lake’s eastern shoreline. Here’s where I find Bruce Murray, a former newspaperman

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Where to find Finger Lakes terroir

Once, on a road trip between Pennsylvania and Atlanta, we veered off truck-choked Route 81 and wandered back roads into a small southwestern Virginia hamlet for a bite to eat. We found a family-style restaurant where the locals drawled in a regional dialect we found charming. I’ve long forgotten what I ordered, but I’m sure

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Seven on Seneca: A wine journey (long)

Glacially gouged Lake Seneca is a protective godmother to the vineyards ringing her shoreline. Deep as she is – 640 feet at her deepest – Seneca rarely, if ever, freezes over in winter. She spreads a blanket of warmth over the vines to temper the cold. In summer, she reflects the heat back on the

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