Winemaker Notes
Tropically ripe, brimming with apricot, nectarine and a touch of pineapple. Lemon citrus and acacia blossom balance the sweetness effortlessly.
Pairs well with spicy and aromatic ingredients like pepper, ginger, curry, sesame, and soy. Also spicy BBQ, wings and pork.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Tasted blind, it'd be easy to mistake this Riesling for Muscat. Heady and perfumed, this wine indeed has musky, floral aromas of honeysuckle and jasmine, candied orange and lime granita. The off-dry palate is more tempered with a slight chalky grip but a mouthfilling texture and just enough acidity to support the sugar. Overall, it's a balanced and highly crowd-pleasing style for sipping cold with a summery dessert like a fruit tart.
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.