Posts Tagged“vignoles”

New York Cork Club: August 2015 Selections

The August 2015 wines for the New York Cork Club will ship once the weather cools a bit (the July wines will ship soon too I hope). In the meantime, I wanted to tell you a bit about them. (If you missed our announcement about the rebirth of New York Cork Club, check it out here.) For August, we’ll return to the “one red and one white” club shipment — with one classic grape from a well-known winery and one lesser-known grape from an under-appreciated winery included: Keuka Lake Vineyards 2014 Gently Dry Vignoles — Some look down on vignoles because it’s a hybrid grape…

Keuka Lake Vineyards: Hybrids Providing More Mileage In Dry Style

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor This is apparently a controversial or surprising thing to say, but I'll say it anyway — the writers and editors for this blog like hybrid wines from New York state. I have voluntarily purchased vignoles. I have consumed an entire bottle of Cayuga without convulsing. I do not believe that hybrids cause sterility, senility or loss of agility. There is, however, plenty of room for hybrids to improve. One way that some local wineries are trying to get more mileage from their hybrids is by going with a much dryer style. That's the plan…

Keuka Lake Vineyards 2007 Reserve Vignoles

I think that Vignoles, a French-American hybrid grape, gets a bum rap. Sure maybe Ravat 51, as it is often called (J.F. Ravat was the creator), probably does its best work in late harvest/dessert-style wines. Take high sugar and natural acidity and add tight clusters that make it susceptible to noble rot and you have a grape well suited to sweet dessert wines that are well balanced and even complex. But Vignoles isn't a one-trick pony. While it's true that Vignoles is never going to have the elegance, delicacy or grace of a well-made riesling, this Keuka Lake Vineyards 2007…

WTN: Anthony Road 2005 Vignoles (Finger Lakes AVA)

Anthony Road Winery, which  released its first wines in 1990, is  on the west side of Seneca Lake. Owned by Ann and John Martini, the wines are made by Johannes Reinhardt, a German native. Reinhardt grew up in a family that has been in the wine business since 1438, so he’s been in vineyards and wineries just about all his life. With his German background, it is no surprise that he ended up in the Finger Lakes, where the best wines of Germany, particularly riesling, thrive. This wine, however, is a first for me — a non-dessert wine made from…