Bully Hill Traminette 2014
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
In 1920, as the Taylor Wine Company rapidly expanded, the Taylor family bought grapes from numerous local vineyardists. The successful winery needed a consistent water and electrical power supply, which it could not get at its original site. In 1929, the Taylor family moved the winery to a new site, two miles outside the Village of Hammondsport. The original winery site atop Bully Hill was sold to Lloyd Sprague. In 1958, Greyton H. Taylor purchased the vineyards back from Lloyd Sprague. Greyton and Walter began to convert the vineyards from Native American grapes to French American hybrids, pioneering these varieties in New York State. Slowly they rebuilt a winery, and in 1970 Bully Hill Vineyards, Inc. was formally incorporated. Ever since, Bully Hill has been known as the home of innovation.
Bully Hill Vineyards was the first small estate winery in the Keuka Lake area since Prohibition, and became the cornerstone for the growth of many wineries. To date, 11 wineries grace the Keuka Lake region.
There are hundreds of white grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles.
Increasingly garnering widespread and well-deserved attention, New York ranks third in wine production in the United States (after California and Washington). Divided into six AVAs—the Finger Lakes, Lake Erie, Hudson River, Long Island, Champlain Valley of New York and the Niagara Escarpment, which crosses over into Michigan as well as Ontario, Canada—the state experiences varied climates, but in general summers are warm and humid while winters are very cold and can carry the risk of frost well into the growing season.
The Finger Lakes region has long been responsible for some of the country’s finest Riesling, and is gaining traction with elegant, light-bodied Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. Experimentation with cold-hardy European varieties is common, and recent years have seen the successful planting of grapes like Grüner Veltliner and Saperavi (from the Eastern European country of Georgia). Long Island, on the other hand, has a more maritime climate influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, and shares some viticultural characteristics with Bordeaux. Accordingly, the best wines here are made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The Niagara Escarpment is responsible for excellent ice wines, usually made from the hybrid variety, Vidal.