By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief I'm not sure if it can be attributed to Finger Lakes Editor Evan Dawson's Four Stages of Riesling or not, but most people I know strongly prefer either dry OR semi-dry styles of riesling. When Nena and I first visited the Finger Lakes a couple years ago we ended up taking a bottle of dry and a bottle of semi-dry from just about every tasting room we visited — one that I liked better (dry) and one that Nena preferred (semi-dry) For me though, it's not really about residual sugar, it's about acidity. If a wine…
Posts Tagged“finger lakes”
Mini-Rieslings: Hazlitt Hopes To Take a Major Step With Customers
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photo courtesy of Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards has just released a new mini-format riesling and they believe it will provide more options for consumers and restaurants. As shown at right, the wine will be sold in packs of four, with each bottle containing 187 milliliters of wine (or exactly 1/4 a standard bottle of wine). "People want a single-serving bottle," Hazlitt's Director of Marketing, Brad Phillips, told me. "There are a lot of customers who don't want to have to get rid of a whole bottle of wine. So this format not…
Ravines Wine Cellars 2008 Argetsinger Vineyard Dry Riesling
By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Often in the wine world certain wineries or vineyards are noticed by a writer or two and a huge mountain of hype ensues — sometimes warranted and sometimes not. If you've been paying attention to the Finger Lakes region for very long, you've heard the hype about Ravines Wine Cellars and winemaker Morten Hallgren. If you're a bit more of a geek, you've probably heard about Sam Argetsinger and his vineyard on Seneca Lake. In this case, the hype is warranted. If I were to start a winery in the Finger Lakes, Morten would be on…
Zugibe Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Franc
By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Zugibe Vineyards is one of the newest producers in the Seneca Lake wine community, only opening their tasting room in November, so don't feel bad if you haven't heard of them. I hadn't either until Brendan Zugibe, one of three Zugibe brothers responsible for the winery, commented on a post a while back. Planted in 2005, Zugibe Vineyards began as 23 acres of vinifera wine grapes, but has since grown to 40 acres. They grow 11 varieties, including riesling, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, gewurztraminer, pinot gris, chardonnay, merlot, Blaufrankisch, sauvignon blanc and gruner veltliner.…
2009 Harvest Update: Handling High Acids at McGregor Vineyard
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photo courtesy McGregor Vineyard Before harvest has even ended, McGregor Vineyard owner John McGregor has a sense for what the 2009 vintage will offer. "There are some people who really love these kinds of years," he says. "They love racy wines. They love acid. Well, we're going to have that." The challenge will be making sure the wines don't show so much acid that they're off balance. "I would guess that we're dealing with the same issues other people are dealing with in the Finger Lakes right now," McGregor explains. "You can only do…
Dr. Konstantin Frank 2007 Cabernet Franc
By Lenn Thompson, Long Island Editor and Editor-in-Chief To most wine lovers outside of New York (and even many in New York) Dr. Konstantin Frank Viniifera Wine Cellars is synonymous with Finger Lakes wine. Dr. Frank's is one of the region's largest, best and most widely distributed producers. Of course, the winery is best known for its riesling bottlings, followed closely by Gewurztraminer and, partly because it's unique and partly because it's unique — Rkatsiteli. Today's review isn't of any of those well-regarded wines. Instead, we'll focus on a ripe, polished Dr. Konstantin Frank 2007 Cabernet Franc ($20) that still…
Q&A: Derek Wilber, President and Winemaker, White Springs Vineyards
By Lenn Thompson, Long Island Editor and Editor-in-Chief This week's Q&A is with Derek Wilber, president and winemaker at White Springs Winery on Seneca Lake. Derek is a native of the Finger Lakes and has been in the grape and wine business since his dad dragged him in kicking and screaming as a teenager. A graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Fruit Science, he became a commercial winemaker in 1984 and since then has worked for a large winery, a start-up winery and wineries in between. Since February, 2006 he has been president and winemaker of White Springs…
Finger Lakes 2009 Vintage: Working Hard for a Happy Ending
By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor Photos by Morgan Dawson Just as hailstorms and cold snaps are destructive to a vineyard, sweeping generalizations are destructive to a harvest report. This year, more than any in recent memory, it is nearly impossible to describe the Finger Lakes pre-harvest conditions in one or two declarative statements. That's because Mother Nature did some — let's just call it like it is — weird, weird stuff this year. Take the case of Hermann J. Wiemer, which utilizes three vineyards on Seneca Lake. One of them, the HJW vineyard behind the winery itself, endured a recent…
A Surprising Second Label at Shaw Vineyard
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent (Note: this story is part one of a two-part series highlighting some unique production choices at Shaw Vineyard.) Wineries that produce a second label do so for many reasons, although the secondary nature of the label almost assuredly implies less-expensive, less-focused wine. Some top-flight establishments offer a second label that is still a solid wine by almost any standard, although many wineries throw whatever they can into a bottle and call it a day, often not focusing on quality in the process. On a recent tasting at Shaw Vineyard I encountered this pinot grigio, a part of their second-label…
Announcing TasteCamp EAST 2010: Finger Lakes
By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief By any measure, TasteCamp 2009:Long Island was a huge success. 30 bloggers descended upon Long Island and tasted more than 150 wines over the course of 2 1/2 days. Great discussions ensued, as did a dozens of posts about the experience. I think it was historic both for the blogging world and for the Long Island wine community. Well, tonight I'm thrilled to announce that we're doing it again — May 7-9, 2010 in the Finger Lakes wine region of New York. The programming specifics are still to be worked out, but I guarantee…