Winemaker Johannes Reinhardt at the Tierce blending session By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes CorrespondentAll photos by Morgan Dawson "These are the most precocious aromatics I've ever seen at this point in a wine's development," Peter Bell said, surveying more than 40 glasses containing Riesling blends from the 2008 vintage. "I mean, it's December. This is remarkable. Wine does what it wants to do, and the aromatics could drop a cliff. But I doubt it. This is just remarkable." This is not propaganda. Some winemakers play up the virtues of each vintage. They have to answer to accountants, after all.…
Posts Tagged“riesling”
New York Wine News and Notes (12/8/08)
A few New York wine news items from the last several days: Shinn Estate Vineyards 2005 Estate Merlot was mentioned over on Eric Asimov's wine blog, The Pour, last week. Eric has long been a proponent for Long Island merlot and I think this wine, year in and year out, is one of his favorites. (Read my review) Shinn Estate also received an 89-point score from the Wine Spectator for their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that I've not tasted. Juan Eduardo Micieli-Martinez, winemaker at Martha Clara Vineyards, also let me know that Premium Wine Group, the custom-crush facility where…
Finger Lakes Winemakers Announce the Release of TIERCE 2006 Riesling
Anthony Road Wine Company, Fox Run Vineyards and Red Newt Wine Cellars have announced the release of the third vintage of their co-produced riesling TIERCE, a 2006 Dry Riesling. I thought it had been released over the summer, but apparently not. Peter Bell, winemaker at Fox Run also let me know this morning that there will not be a 2007 edition because 2007 rieslings from the region "just aren't all that racy." I don't think that is true across the board, maybe the group learned a lesson with their 2005 TIERCE, which I thought lacked acidity the last time I…
A Taste of the Old(er) Finger Lakes
Morgen McLaughlin and Leign Triner. Photo Courtsey of Morgen McClaughlin Editor's Note: The following is a guest post by Shannon Brock, wine coordinator at the New York Wine & Culinary Center. Those in the know are well aware that Finger Lakes wines, particularly rieslings, are capable of ageing ten years or more. A couple weeks ago, a group of Finger Lakes wine community members gathered at Red Newt Cellars prove it. Their mission: to select about 40 library wines to send to James Molesworth of Wine Spectator. The hope is that if Molesworth finds the wines to be holding up…
Heron Hill Winery 2005 Riesling Reserve
Nena and I both love riesling, but not always the same ones. When we visited the Finger Lakes last spring, our differing preferences arose at nearly every winery stop — if the winery had more than one riesling. For the most part, I preferred (and prefer) the drier, more minerally styles and she preferred the semi- and off-dry wines. It isn't so much about the sweetness, but she prefers the richer fruit flavors — the peach, tropical fruit, etc. And we both want riesling with racy acidity. That brings us to this wine, Heron Hill Winey's 2005 Riesling Reserve ($30).…
Finger Lakes Wine: Will Old Wines Mean New Respect?
By Melissa Dobson, Finger Lakes News Correspondent In an effort to continue to establish the Finger Lakes wine region as a producer of world-class wine, a first-time older vintage tasting of almost 70 wines produced from 1988-2003 will be held tomorrow, Friday, November 14, 2008 at Red Newt Cellars and Bistro on Seneca Lake. This tasting of a diverse collection of wines from past vintages is an important step for the wineries of the Finger as they travel the road toward carving out a place amongst the top wine regions of the world. Prior to this effort, there was no…
The 2008 Riesling Shoot-Out
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent Events sometimes receive an exclamatory billing only to draw attention to an antithetical subtext. The title of the "Riesling Shoot-Out," the brainchild of John Zuccarino of Silver Springs Winery and wine author Thomas Pellechia, evokes a line-in-the-sand Wild West gun fight between Finger Lakes and German rieslings, with only the biggest and baddest wines left standing to proclaim victory. Of course, the results were far more mixed, and therein lies the point. The big critics and the publications they work for consider Germany the home of riesling and treat her wines well, giving many a score above the coveted 90-point mark. As this…
More Finger Lakes Riesling Invades California
The following is a guest post from Bob Madill, owner of Sheldrake Point Vineyards and Chair of the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, who recently attended Copia's RieslingFest 2008. Nothing like picking a few Finger Lakes rieslings to showcase in Napa, California at Copia. What a novel idea. A Riesling festival in the heart of Cab land. So on behalf of the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance (FLWA) country mouse traveled to Napa lugging cases of wine to pour at RieslingFest on October 19, 2008. Ten dry Rieslings from 2007 and all awarded a Wine Spectator score of 84+. Copia, the "non-profit…
Letting the Grapes Speak: An Interview with Anthony Road’s Johannes Reinhardt
By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent Johannes Reinhardt came to the Finger Lakes from Germany, yet it is his varied work experience which sets him most apart from many other winemakers. He has honed his craft in the ancient family wine business, at an organic winery, at a large-scale commercial winery, and now finds himself the sole winemaker at Anthony Road Wine Company on Seneca Lake. Johannes brings a European perspective to a winemaking region in which he sees a great deal of potential. The Reinhardt family, from the tiny village of Neuses Am Berg in northern Bavaria, was awarded…
Finger Lakes Wineries Win Gold in Riesling Competition
By Finger Lakes Correspondent, Jason Feulner The Finger Lakes continues to earn recognition for its outstanding rieslings. Last week, at the 10th Annual Riesling du Monde tasting competition in Strasbourg, France, five Finger Lakes wineries placed in the gold medal category amidst a slew of riesling entries from prestigious German and French wineries. These Finger Lakes wineries include Chateau LaFayette Reneau, Dr. Konstantin Frank, Fox Run, Glenora Wine Cellars, and Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards. Each winery submitted its top 2006 riesling for review. Fred Frank of Dr. Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellars is keen on entering competitions like the Riesling du Monde…