Damianos, prominent Long Island winemaker, crash victim

Jason Damianos

Services were held Thursday for Jason Damianos, a prominent member of the Long Island wine industry.

Damianos, 49, owner of Jason's Vineyard in Jamesport, died as a result of a head-on automobile crash on Route 58 in Riverhead last Friday.

He was the son of the late Dr. Herodotus “Dan” Damianos, who founded Pindar Vineyards in Peconic in the early 1980s.

The younger Damianos held a degree in business administration from the University of Hartford and a degree in enology from Fresno State University. He was further educated in France, under the Diplôme National d’Oenologue program at the University of Bordeaux, and worked in several French wine regions. He returned to Long Island in 1996 and planted Jason’s Vineyard and headed winemaking at the family’s vineyards on the East End.

"Jason was charismatic and passionate about life and wine on the East End. He will be missed by our wine community and it is a shame to have lost him at such a young age," said Juan Eduardo Micieli-Martinez, of Martha Clara Vineyards. And, said Roman Roth of Wolffer Estate, "He was a passionate and dedicated winemaker and vineyard owner. He always was generous and he loved the Long Island wine region. His passing is a sad loss for all of us."

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• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins
• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail

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Is Bed Bath & ... Baco heading for more parts of NY State?

The corporate folks at the Bed Bath & Beyond chain won't speak publicly about their multi-state foray into alcohol and food sales, but their actions are loud enough to fuel speculation about continued expansion of that niche.

Corporate executives' practice has been to answer questions from the media and the public only at their annual meeting in June. But, down in Brooklyn,  BB&B has just opened in soft mode a restaurant called Bay Market Kitchen where wine and beer are being served. The restaurant is part at BB&B's 120,000-square-foot Liberty View Industrial Plaza store in Sunset Park.

While a number of New York craft beers (Sixpoint, Ommegang, Brooklyn, Greenport Harbor, etc.) and ciders produced by several New York wineries (Applewood, Wolffer Estate) are offered, Bay Market's initial beverage menu ignores New York wines.

The alcohol sales effort for BB&B locations in affluent areas began in the Cleveland suburb of Solon, OH, and the Miami suburb of Aventura, FL, in  2015. Now, work has been sped up on licensing and renovations that will allow sales of wine and beer at BB&B locations in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, IL, and renewal of licenses at many of the Cost Plus World Market subsidiaries in Texas, New Jersey and elsewhere that it acquired in 2012. 

No word at this point about whether the household furnishings chain will be doing anything along those lines with its many other stores throughout New York State, but the odds seem in favor given that so many are located in affluent suburbs.

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• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins
• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail

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Imbibeable Cartoonery

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• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins
• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail

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Seneca Lake Wine Trail holding early 'spring cleaning'

The Seneca Lake Wine Trail is nothing if not imaginative. As evidence, I present details of its annual "Bargain Bash!," scheduled for this Saturday through Monday, January 16. The only thing you need to do to participate is be willing to spend some money.

Most Trail events require paid admissions. This one does not. Visitors merely visit one of the participating wineries that will be doing an early "spring cleaning" to clear out their inventory and drop prices on such select items as wine, wine glasses, clothes and other retail items.

Go here for a list of participating wineries, what they will be selling, and at what discounts. The page will be updated throughout the event.

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• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins
• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail

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24 wineries lined up for Elmira's 'Wine On Ice' festival

The annual "Wine On Ice" festival in Elmira has an impressive lineup of wineries and vendors for the January 20-21 event.

The venue is First Arena, located at 155 North Main Street. Visitors will be able to sample and purchase a variety of New York State wines and specialty foods. The Friday session will run from 6 to 9 p.m., while Saturday will be split in to two sessions -- 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m.

Tickets are available online. Participating will be 24 wineries and a wineries and a distillery:

• Americana Vineyards 
• Ashley Lynn Winery 
• Bagley’s Poplar Ridge Vineyards 
• Casa Larga Vineyards 
• Castel Grisch Winery 
• Coyote Moon Vineyards 
• Crooked Lake Winery 
• Four Flights Distilling 
• Fulkerson Winery 
• Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards 
• Lakeland Winery 
• Lime Berry Winery 
• Merritt Estate Winery 
• Miles Wine Cellars 
• Montezuma Winery 
• Pazdar Winery 
• Pleasant Valley Wine Company 
• Rasta Ranch Vineyards 
• Rock Stream Vineyards 
• Six Mile Creek 
• Stoney Ridge Orchard & Winery 
• Thousand Islands Winery 
• Three Brothers Winery 
• Vetter Vineyards 
• Victorianbourg Wine Estate

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• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins
• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail

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Imbibeable Cartoonery

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• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins
• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail

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Bordeaux wines rebound after a 5-year decline

• From Bloomberg

The Bordeaux wine market confirmed its recovery in 2016 after five years of declines that cut prices of the region’s leading wines by more than 40% from their 2011 peak, according to a review from the London-based Liv-ex exchange.

The "Liv-ex Fine Wine 50," comprised of 10 recent vintages of Bordeaux first-growth wines including Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Latour, climbed about 26% for the year, and was heading for its 13th straight monthly gain in December, according to Liv-ex data.

Even with that rebound ... the index remained some 25% below the peak reached ... from 2008 to 2011, according to Liv-ex.

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• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins
• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail

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