TasteNY: Finger Lakes Riesling Tasting a Success
(Pictured left to right: Eric Fry (Lenz), Kelly Urbanik (Bedell), Adam Suprenant (Osprey's Dominion), Miguel Martin (Palmer), Rich Olsen-Harbich (Raphael), Pascal Zugmeyer (Peconic Bay), Greg Gove (Peconic Bay) and Jim Silver (Peconic Bay).
By Lenn Thompson, Long Island Editor and Editor-in-Chief
I just got home from a riesling-filled evening with some of Long Island's best winemakers, tasting a total of 24 rieslings from a variety of regions — the Finger Lakes, Long Island, Alsace, Washington, Mosel.
Tasting with a group of winemakers is always a fun exercise. Opinions were all over the map about the various wines, and I'll be compiling all of the scores and doing a little number crunching over the next couple of days.
In the meantime, I want to thank Jim, Pascal and the whole staff at Peconic Bay Winery for hosting the event, which went off without a hitch. Also, thanks to La Bonne Quiche for a delicious buffet dinner following the tasting.
And finally, to the winemakers who took time out of their pre-harvest preparations to taste through these wines (and for bringing their own).
I hesitate to delcare any "winners" without looking at all the score sheets, but it seems as I glance through them that almost to a person, the Billsboro Winery 2008 Riesling scored well. Look for more on the scores and how they differed between the winemakers and non-winemakers as well. Fascinating sitting with men and women who seek out fault so intensely and accurately. It's a humbling experience, really.
And I always love how, the second the "wine work" is done, winemakers are looking for beer.
Homefield advantage notwithstanding, I’m very happy the PBW wines (2003, 2007) showed so well. That said, I must say how impressed I am with the FLX Rieslings. Anthony Road showed everyone why it won the Gov Cup, while the big surprise for me was the very lovely Billsboro. Not every wine was a revalation, but clearly the terrior of the region and the talent of the winemakers, as well as house-styles were on display.
I’m glad that my assumptions about the style of NY State Rieslings seems to be solidified, that is, the upstate wines are “Mosel”-like and the downstate Rieslings are “Rhine”-like. That’s an over-simplification, but one most winos understand.