Winemaker Notes
The unique traits of Wiemer's Magdalena Vineyard are featured in this lush Riesling. A beneficial air exchange with Seneca Lake moderates the temperatures, creating a warmer and more protective site in the colder months and a cooling effect throughout the summer. The airflow keeps the vineyard dry, and deep soil provides room for spreading root growth. The lime silt loam soil that the site is celebrated for is crucial to the development of flavor intensity in the grapes. Magdalena wines are striking and powerful, and develop very well over time– whether in the glass or in the cellar.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A deep, flinty nose that's extremely youthful for its age. I love the white tea, lemon blossom, bergamot and white peach aromas that slowly unfurl in the glass. Compact and concentrated, with great energy and minerality. Just beginning to open up. Extremely long structure and a focused finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Still a spring chicken, this top Riesling—if drunk now—needs a few good swirls in the glass before releasing delicate orange citrus, jasmine and honeysuckle aromas from the clutch of more reductive ones. There's richness and intensity on the dry, slippery palate, cut with citrusy acidity and a chalk dust minerality to the ultralong finish. This is a wine of complexity and class that should cellar until 2032 or longer.
Cellar Selection -
Vinous
The 2022 Riesling Magdalena Vineyard is more tropical in character than the HJW and boasts a well-calibrated blend of acid and textural grip. Gorgeous aromas and flavors of papaya, just-ripe pineapple, white pepper and fresh spring flowers emerge gently from the glass. The star of the show is the tension and linearity that runs down the centerline of the palate.
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Wine Spectator
Shows a dusting of talc over lemon curd, yellow apple and mirabelle plum notes, while verbena and a flash of mint flicker on the plump finish. Drink now through 2029. 400 cases made.
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.