LIMA goes upstate
John Leo (left) and Donnell Brown lead Finger Lakes trade and media through a blind-tasting of Long Island merlots.
On December 4-5, the Long Island Merlot Alliance took our show on the road. Clovis Point winemaker John Leo and I (Donnell Brown, executive director, LIMA) traveled to Canandaigua for our “Music & Merlot” event at the beautiful New York Wine & Culinary Center (NYWCC). Through a number of events-a trade/media tasting, “Celebration of Long Island Merlot” dinner, food-and-wine-pairing classes, and a daylong consumer tasting-we introduced more than 200 people to our merlots.
As you might imagine, a lot of the people we met there had never had merlot-or any wine, for that matter-from Long Island. Some even admitted they’d never even heard that we make wine here. (I assured them that, for a few years after I’d moved to New York, I didn’t know either.) So it was exciting to expose people to a new world of wines they might not have otherwise tried.
I’m happy to report that, across all the reactions I saw firsthand, people loved our elegant, food-friendly merlots. We shared examples from each LIMA member, as well as our current-release cooperative blend, 2006 Merliance. Each wine was someone’s favorite. (Note: For anyone reading who lives near the NYWCC, all these wines are still available for sale in the restaurant and tasting room there.)
Many thanks to all who came to our “Music & Merlot” event, to John Leo for sharing his wealth of wine knowledge, and to the Center’s inimitable Shannon Brock, who invited us to partner with the NYWCC for this terrific event and left no detail undone. She and the rest of the NYWCC are knowledgeable, passionate advocates for New York’s wine and culinary concerns. If you get the chance to go, GO!