Posts Tagged“riesling”

Sheldrake Point Vineyards 2013 Dry Riesling

Dry riesling (that is actually dry — but that’s another topic for another day) is harder to make that many people realize. Without careful, thoughtful decisions in the vineyard and in the cellar, you can be left with that I always refer to as “lemon water” — shrill, acidic wines that have a pithy, often-bitter citrus note but little else in terms of flavor or concentration. With Sheldrake Point Vineyards 2013 Dry Riesling ($16) winemaker Dave Breeden shows his deft touch. Aromas of lemon-lime, dried pineapple and just a bit of peach lead into a palate that is crackling with acidity…

Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard 2013 Josef Vineyard Riesling

It’s easy to get complacent when you taste a lot of Finger Lakes riesling — overall quality has risen to the point that even producers that historically fell below the median are now making wines I’m happy to drink. It’s almost to the point that one can take for granted that Finger Lakes riesling is going to deliver. Then you taste a wine like Hermann J. Wiemer 2013 Josef Vineyard Riesling ($39) and you’re reminded just how high the ceiling is for Finger Lakes riesling. The Josef Vineyard, located 10 miles north of the winery, is just south of the better-known Magdalena Vineyard.…

New York Cork Club: November 2015 Selections

The November 2015 wines for the New York Cork Club will be shipping out to our members soon — so it’s time to give you peek at the picks. Harvest 2015 has mostly wound down across the state with many winemakers pressing off the last of their reds over the next couple of weeks. I’m looking ahead — to Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday and it is that holiday that inspired this month’s wine picks. Both are great picks for a diverse, turkey-focused dinner and they will both be served at the dinner I’ll be hosting with my family. Paumanok Vineyard 2014…

Leonard Oakes Estate Winery 2014 Petillant Naturel Riesling

Pet nat — shorthand for Pétillant Naturel — wines are all the rage these days, particularly in New York City. These are lightly sparkling wines made in a style that, while new to the New York wine industry, is far from trendy or new. In fact, the method is as rustic and old as the wines are fun to drink. Unlike sparkling wines made using methode champenoise (as with Champagne), where yeast and sugar are added to a fully fermented base wine for a secondary carbonation in the bottle, pet nat is made via méthode ancestral, where the wine is bottled before primary fermentation —…

Weekly New York Wine News — October 6, 2015

Cider continues to surge, a couple of sad passings, new and mature wine trails and news of New York wines in the other 49 states… NEWS WHAM – 9/16/2015 Casa Larga co-founder Ann Colaruotolo recently passed away after an extended illness. Napa Valley Register – 9/17/2015 Dan Berger and Tom Wark talk hard cider, and upstate New York juice is found to be fascinating. Facebook – 9/28/2015 The Finger Lakes lose another long-time fixture at Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery, with the death of winemaker Stephen Whitlock. Crain’s New York Business – 9/30/2015 Opinion: New York Farm Winery legislation was a progressive boon to…

Michael and Yancey Migliore Break Ground Again

“In constant motion” is the best phrase I can use to describe the dynamic team of Michael Migliore and Yancey Stanforth-Migliore, founders and owners of Whitecliff Vineyard and Winery. I was lucky enough to catch them in the same room long enough to snap this picture. It has been more than three decades since they broke ground on their vineyard in Gardiner, NY and now they have something new and exciting on the horizon.

New York Cork Club: October 2015 Selections

The October 2015 wines for the New York Cork Club will be on there way soon, so it’s time to give you peek at the picks. (If you missed our announcement about the rebirth of New York Cork Club, check it out here.) The 2015 grape harvest season continues. Just about all of the white wine grapes are in across the state and now growers are deciding what they should do with their red wine grapes — pick before the heavy rains that could come with Hurricane Joaquin, or wait it out and hope for the best? I’m glad they have make those…

Weekly New York Wine News — September 28, 2015

Image: Leon Millot harvest at Hid-in-Pines Winery’s Bordeaux Family Vineyard. Harvest has been in full swing and the wineries are now producing prodigious amount of carbon dioxide…don’t hold your breath though, most ferments have a long way to go. In the meantime, check out some recent news about the New York beverage scene from a lowly apple press to his high holiness. NEWS Seacoast Online – 9/24/2015 JoAnn Actis Grande touts riesling to her coastal constituency and her examples from Gunderloch Estate and Dr. Loosen in Germany were joined by Ravines and Dr. Konstantin Frank in the Finger Lakes. Cornell Extension…

Kemmeter Wines 2014 Sonero

“Balance” is a term that gets bandied about in the wine world. Collectively, “balance” has a meaning that most agree on — a wine is balanced when all the different components (fruit, residual sugar, acidity, tannin, etc.) come together in a harmonious way. A balanced wine doesn’t have protrusions or awkward components. But even if we can agree conceptually on this definition, there is a lot of room for interpretation. A wine that you find perfectly balanced, I may find too oaky. Similarly, what I consider balanced might have too much acidity for you. Context matters too — and that gets us…

Domaine LeSeurre 2012 Semi Dry Cuvee Classique Riesling

As you may remember from my recent post, I don’t write reviews based on at-winery tastings. I do use those tastings to help identify wines that I want to taste again or learn more about. Such is the case with Domaine LeSeurre 2013 Semi Dry Cuvee Classique Riesling ($19). My visit to the tasting room over the summer was a bit of a let down. It was too warm in the tasting room, leaving the reds well above cellar temperature. The glassware was small and weighty — the kind of glass you expect at a wine-tasting festival perhaps, but not at…