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You might remember Arrowhead Spring Vineyards from when Bryan introduced us to them back in February, when the winery first opened the snow-covered doors of their new tasting room. Much like Long Island wines often don’t make it off the Island, wines from that neck of the woods don’t often make it down here.

Luckily, I’ve been emailing with co-owner and winemaker Duncan Ross for some time now and he recently sent me a few of his wines to try, including this 2006 Riesling ($16), which he made from grapes sourced in the Finger Lakes. The grapes actually come from Skaneateles Lake, one of the easternmost lakes in the region and not one typically associated with grapes or wine production.

From the first sniff, this pale greenish-yellow wine is easily recognized as a Finger Lakes wine, with aromas of fresh pears, limes and slate. I actually asked Duncan if he bought fruit from Keuka Lake for this wine because I found that slate- mineral character in almost all of the Keuka rieslings I tasted in April.

On the palate this wine brings the flavor of juicy pear flavor to the table with some lime and lime zest accents, and more of those slate/mineral flavors. This wine is made in an off-dry style so there is some sweetness here, but there is plenty of acidity too.

I tend to prefer drier riesling when it comes to the Finger Lakes, but this is a pleasing, refreshing wine that is sure to be popular in the tasting room. In fact, Duncan told me last week that he was down to fewer than 70 cases already.

Grape(s): 100% riesling
Producer: Arrowhead Spring Vineyards
AVA: Finger Lakes
Price: $16
Rating: 25

(2.5 out of 5 | Average-to-Recommended)

(About LENNDEVOURS’ Ratings)