The winners from our 2010 Wines of the Year tasting (Photo by Morgan Dawson Photography)
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor
This is the third year of our New York Cork Report “Wines of the Year” program and over the past several weeks, my colleagues Bryan Calandrelli and Evan Dawson, and I have been tasting, re-tasting and re-re-tasting dozens of wines to , narrow and hone our lists of finalists 2011 Wines of the Year.
We don’t pretend that we’ve tasted every single wine released during the 2011 calendar year, but we feel that we’ve tasted a more-than-representative sampling from each region. Each of these finalists was hand-picked by the regional editor for each region — Evan Dawson (Finger Lakes), Bryan Calandrelli (Niagara) and myself (Long Island and Hudson River Region) — and will be blind tasted by most of the NYCR team in mid-February to determine the winners. While the team will attend and take part in the tasting, only wine editors will vote.
You will notice some variations in terms of categories and wines per category. Those decisions are left up to the regional editors.
Finger Lakes Region
Red Wines
Billsboro Winery 2010 Syrah
McGregor Vineyard 2007 30-Month Barrel Black Russian Red
Ravines Wine Cellars 2009 Pinot Noir
Red Tail Ridge Winery 2009 Teroldego
Rooster Hill Vineyards 2008 Lemberger Reserve
Riesling Wines
Anthony Road Wine Company 2009 Art Series Riesling
Bloomer Creek Vineyard 2010 uten Vineyard First Harves Dry Riesling
Hermann J. Wiemer 2010 Dry Riesling Reserve
Keuka Lake Vineyards 2010 Semi-Dry Riesling
Tierce 2009 Riesling
Standing Stone Vineyards 2010 Riesling
Sparkling Wines
Chateau Frank 2006 Blanc de Noir
Hermann J. Wiemer 2006 Blanc de Noir
Dessert Wines
Atwater Estate Vineyards 2010 Celsius
Ravines Wine Cellars 2007 Appasionata
Standing Stone 2010 Riesling Ice
Hudson River Valley Region
Red Wines
Hudson-Chatham Winery 2010 Casscles Vineyard Reserve Baco Noir
Oak Summit Vineyard 2010 Pinot Noir
Tousey Winery 2010 Cabernet Franc
White Wines
Hudson-Chatham Winery 2010 Estate Seyval Blanc
Millbrook Vineyards 2010 Tocai Friulano
Oak Summit 2010 Chardonnay
Long Island Region
Merlot Wines
Clovis Point 2007 Vintner’s Reserve Merlot
Grapes of Roth 2005 Merlot
Lenz Winery 2007 Estate Merlot
Paumanok Vineyards 2007 Merlot
Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2007 Christian’s Cuvee Merlot
Non-Merlot Red Wines
Jamesport Vineyards 2007 Sidor Reserve Syrah
Leo Family 2007 Red
Peconic Bay Winery 2007 Lowerre Family Estate
Roanoke Vineyards 2007 Blend 2
Roanoke Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
White Wines
Bedell Cellars 2010 Viognier
Channing Daughters Winery 2010 Mudd Vineyard West Sauvignon Blanc
Grapes of Roth 2009 Riesling
Palmer Vineyards 2010 Sauvignon Blanc
Paumanok Vineyards 2010 Sauvignon Blanc
Sparkling Wines
Bedell Cellars 2007 Blanc de Blancs
Lenz Winery 1999 Cuvee RD
Lenz Winery 2005 Cuvee
Sparkling Pointe 2001 Brut Seduction
Sparkling Pointe 2007 Brut
Dessert Wines
Jamesport Vineyards 2010 Late Harvest Riesling
Grapes of Roth 2009 Noble Roth Late Harvest Riesling
Paumanok Vineyards 2010 Late Harvest Riesling
Shinn Estate Vineyards 2009 Veil
Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2009 Laica
Niagara Region
Reds Wines
Arrowhead Spring Vineyards 2010 Pinot Noir
Arrowhead Spring 2010 Estate Syrah
Eveningside Vineyards 2009 Cabernet Franc
Freedom Run Winery 2010 Reserve Pinot Noir
Long Cliff Winery 2010 Pinot Noir
White Wines
Arrowhead Spring 2009 Reserve Chardonnay
Eveningside Vineyards 2010 Reserve Chardonnay
Freedom Run Winery 2010 Estate Chardonnay
Leonard Oakes 2010 Reserve Riesling
Schulze Vineyards 2010 Vidal Blanc
Congratulations to all of the finalists. Keep an eye on this site for more information and results in a few weeks.
