Winemaker Notes
The Riesling Reserve Dry is sourced late in harvest from select blocks in our estate vineyards. Extended hangtimes in the long, cool autumns around Seneca Lake allow flavors to develop with structure and complexity. The result is a Riesling with a weighty mouthfeel and a rich, balanced texture.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This impressive Finger Lakes dry riesling has a wide spectrum of stone-fruit and citrus aromas with floral notes. Ripe and generous, but very well-structured. Lots of citrus-zest freshness at the finish. A cuvee of all the estate riesling vineyards: 50% HJW, 25% Julia, 15% Josef and 15% Magdalena. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Dry Riesling Reserve comes in at 12.4% alcohol. In this difficult vintage, the winery declassified the single-vineyards Magdalena, Josef and the HJW Bio wine and incorporated that juice here and in the standard Dry Riesling and the Flower Day Riesling. This is easily the most successful of the three wines receiving that declassified fruit, showing off better concentration, good structure and big fruit, although the fruit tends to be a bit earthier this year. If this comes closest to putting it all together, it is still not a truly great Riesling Reserve. It should still hold reasonably well, and it has some chance to improve as time goes on.
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.