Over The Barrel

Wine Scribbles: From the Notebook and Calendar

By Lenn Thompson

You wouldn’t know it from the snowstorm we enjoyed earlier this week, but spring is only a few weeks away. To the wine lover, that usually means that lighter bodied red and crisp, fresh whites start working their way back into the drinking rotation.

But, before we jump ahead to spring, I wanted to give you a peek inside the planner of a wine enthusiast, which is packed with events—both those I know I’ll be able to attend and then those I hope to attend.

First and foremost is the event that I’m looking forward to most—Brooklyn Uncorked on May 16. Sponsored in part by the Long Island Wine Council, Brooklyn Uncorked represents the best opportunity since the now defunct Windows on Long Island event, to taste many of Long Island’s best wines all in one place. Participating wineries include Bedell Cellars, Bridge Vineyards, Channing Daughters Winery, Clovis Point Wines, Castello di Borghese, Jamesport Vineyards, Lieb Family Cellars, Lenz Winery, Macari Vineyards, Martha Clara Vineyards, The Old Field, Palmer Vineyards, Paumanok Vineyards, Peconic Bay Winery, Raphael, Shinn Estate Vineyards, Vineyard 48 and Wolffer Estate Vineyards. The public tasting starts at 6:00 p.m. at BAMcafé at 30 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn. Tickets are $30. For more information visit www.ediblebrooklyn.net.

Of course, you don’t need to travel into Brooklyn to enjoy the wine bounty of the East End. This Saturday, Castello di Borghese will host the North Fork Film Festival at 7:00 p.m., screening Screaming Men a Finnish documentary that was seen at the Sundance Film Festival. Tickets are $12 and wine will be sold by the glass. Details about the film and directions to the event are available at www.castellodiborghese.com or at 631-734-5111.

If poetry is more your cup of tea (or wine), Paumanok Vineyards is the place to go. The next two Sundays, the Massoud family is happy to welcome the North Sea Poetry Scene, which will present “Poems on the Vine.” For information to attend, please email: Thenorthseapoetryscene@hotmail.com

or call: 631-204-1240.

Paumanok is also teaming up with one of the North Fork’s premier restaurants North Fork Table & Inn to offer a very special wine dinner on March 21. With menu items like local fluke sashimi, porcini-crusted salmon and roasted beef sirloin, attendees will enjoy several of Paumanok’s best wines—including a vertical tasting of their Grand Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon. Tickets are $85 plus tax and gratuity. To make a reservation, call the North Fork Table at 631-765-0177.

The last tidbit I wanted to share is a venture of my very own, in conjunction with Greene Grape Wine Company, which has wine shops in Brooklyn and Manhattan. We’re calling our little project the New York Cork Club and it brings the best and most interesting wines of New York State directly to your door. Each month, I select two wines that I’m really enjoying and we send them to you. Recent shipments have included wines from Shinn Estate, Roanoke Vineyards and Macari Vineyards from Long Island and delicious Finger Lakes wine like Hermann Wiemer’s 2005 riesling, Dr. Frank Cellar’s 2000 Brut sparkler and a vidal blanc ice wine from Standing Stone Vineyards. So, if you’re into New York wines or just plain want to learn more about them, you can learn more at www.lenndevours.com or www.greenegrape.com.