By Lenn Thompson, Publisher and Editor
May is Riesling Month in the Finger Lakes, but somehow this is my first Finger Lakes riesling review this month. Look for more riesling reviews this week and next (I'm tasting a lot of them lately, just haven't written them up yet).
Before we get to today's wine, a little background on Billsboro Winery. It's located on the west side of Seneca Lake, just south of the city of Geneva, NY and is owned by Kim and Vinny Aliperti. Vinny, who makes the wines, also serves as winemaker at Atwater Estate Vineyards, which is right across the lake.
I've enjoyed Vinny's Atwater wines for some time now for their balance, focus and value. This Billsboro Winery 2007 Dry Riesling ($16) fits within that framework though with a bit more opulent fruit and lower acidity — both the result of the warm 2007 growing season.
The nose is bright with lush peach and apricot aromas and light honeyed citrus character.
Ripe and juicy up front, it's much more mouth-filling than I've come to expect from dry Finger Lakes rieslings. Peach and pear flavors dominate here with a squirt of lime juice. There's enough acidity here to balance all that fruit, but it doesn't show the tension and verve that are apparent in cooler, more-typical years.
Producer: Billsboro Winery
AVA: Finger Lakes
RS: .75%
Price: $16
Rating:
(3 out of 5 | Recommended)