By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief I had never heard of, let alone tasted, a wine made from the Rkatsiteli grape until I tasted a 2006 bottling from Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars, on the western shore of Keuka Lake. I loved that wine and it's riesling-meets-gewruztraminer-meets-sauvignon blanc aromas and flavors, all wrapped up in great acidity and length. I still have a couple bottles in my cellar. I've heard that it ages beautifully, so we'll see. And so, it was with much excitement that I got to try the Dr. Konstantin Frank 2007 Rkatsiteli ($18). The nose is…
Posts Tagged“dr. frank”
24 Years of Dr. Konstantin Frank Riesling
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent On Sunday I had the unique privilege of tasting ten rieslings from Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars, ranging in date from 2008 all the way back to 1985. While several other Finger Lakes wineries offered riesling library tastings as part of Riesling Month, virtually no other can reach as far back as Dr. Frank's, which has bottles dating from the 1960s. In this sense, Dr. Frank's provides an historical perspective on the region's potential. Fred Frank, president of the winery, explained that the wines included in the tasting were not selected based on any notion of vintage quality…
Dr. Konstantin Frank 2007 Dry Riesling
Of all the Finger Lakes wines that I review every year, those from Dr. Konstantin Frank are among my favorites. Why? Well, for one, the whites are consistently good, especially the aromatic whit varieties like riesling and Gewürztraminer. For another, these are often the only quality New York wines that my friends and family back in Pittsburgh have any chance of seeing in their local, state-run liquor stores. Much like the other wine regions of New York, the Finger Lakes enjoyed a long, hot growing season in 2007 and that is apparent in many of the wines I've tasted from…
Dr. Konstantin Frank 2007 Reserve Gewurztraminer
Too often the descriptor "food wine" is used in a negative way, used to describe wines that aren't all that pleasing on their own. This is, of course, preposterous, and is just a way for writers to soften the blow when writing reviews of mediocre wines. Wine is meant to be enjoyed with food. At least it should be. Saying that a wine needs food, should be a given. This Dr. Konstantin Frank 2007 Gewuztraminer Reserve ($25) doesn't need food, but it sure does shine with it (or at least it did with the green Thai curry chicken and zucchini…
Chateau Frank and the Economics of Bubbles
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent During a recent visit to Dr. Frank's to compile a profile of its sparkling wine operation for Life in the Finger Lakes, I learned more than I expected to about the hard economic realities of creating such wines in the Finger Lakes. As nearly all Finger Lakes winemakers will profess, the region is well suited to making sparkling wine. Because of the cool climate, and a wide open harvest window, growers can let grapes hang just a little longer to enhance ripeness and flavor without sacrificing the crisp acidity necessary for good sparklers. Two of Dr. Frank's team winemakers who work with sparklers, Eric Bauman and…