Winemaker Notes
An expressive style with dominant characters of minerality, grapefruit, lime and soft apricot. The crisp lime-driven acidity enhances the distinct Keuka Lake minerality, rounded by stone fruit and ginger. Our Riesling finishes long and mouthwatering balanced perfectly with a slightly weighty texture.
Pair with shrimp ceviche with avocado, baked Brie with apricot jam, jalapeño and tomatillo snapper, or Riesling coq au vin.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Dry Riesling comes in with six grams per liter of residual sugar, 6.8 of total acidity and 12.5% alcohol. Lively and sunny, this has a fresh and friendly feel up front, but then it proves that it has fine persistence and some power too. It's dry, but not austere. This has beautiful length on the finish. The mid-palate is elegant, but it has enough concentration. It's another fine Riesling value in the Finger Lakes. This should age pretty well, maybe better than indicated, assuming good storage, of course. There is no rush.
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Wine Enthusiast
A delicate pome-fruit aroma meets a tinge of peach and passion fruit on the nose. While the palate is fruity and straightforward, it offers well-honed flavors of apple and stone fruit, with a refreshing line of acidity to balance.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
As the most historic wine-producing region in New York state, winemaking in the Finger Lakes area dates back to the 1820s and today as a region, accounts for 90% of the state’s total wine production.
Its narrow and deep lakes created by the movement of Ice Age glaciers create an environment similar to the classic Riesling-loving regions of Europe, namely Germany and Austria. The Finger Lakes retain summer heat that incidentally warms up cold winter air, making it fall down from the lakes’ steep slopes. When spring comes, the lakes, already cooled by cold winter weather, stave off vine budding until the danger of frost has subsided. The main lakes of the zone, that is those big enough to moderate the climate in this way, are the focal points of prime vineyard areas. They include Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca and Cayuga.
While Riesling has fueled most of the region’s success, today Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc enjoy some attention.