By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Publisher
Well folks, it would appear that my first official review of a 2008 Finger Lakes riesling is of a wine made and bottled by a Long Island winery.
Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard, located in (you guessed it) Baiting Hollow, NY is the first tasting room you come across as you head east on South Avenue/Route 48 and they are often swamped with people on weekend and during the pumpkin-picking season.
Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard and its wines reside somewhere in the middle of Long Island wine. Their wines are often good, not great, and none of them retails for more than $21. In an industry with sweet, magnum-bottled blends of dubious origin on one end and $125 merlot on the other, Baiting Hollow is perfectly middle class.
This riesling fits that model a bit too.
They are planting their own riesling vines this spring, but as I mentioned earlier, this wine was made from grapes grown in the Finger Lakes.
I really like the nose on this riesling. It shows nice green apple and just-ripe peach aromas with a little spicy-floral note in the background.
With 2% residual sugar, it's clearly made in the popular "off-dry" style. The flavors are fruity — apple, peach and a little melon — but it really lacks the acidity needed to bring balance, especially on the finish where a little citrus peeks through.
This is the kind of riesling that will probably fly off the shelf in their tasting room, but I prefer my riesling a bit more racy.
Producer: Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard
AVA: New York
ABV: 12%
Price: $18
Rating: (2 out of 5 | Average)