Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The nose of this wine is delicately tropical and pulls you into the ripe and concentrated palate. Terrific mouth feel, thanks to the gentle tannins that beautifully underline the fruit. Glides off at the very long, graceful finish that is at once chalky, dry and silky.
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Wine Enthusiast
From a single vineyard on limestone soils, this is a radiant and richbut-balanced Riesling with vibrant aromas of fresh lemon-lime juice and peach blossom, with a warm stone mineral nuance. There’s honeyed intensity to the palate. Crystalline acidity slices through the slippery texture, making this a harmonious and complex bottling that punches above its price point.
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Wine Spectator
Bright and superfresh, with star fruit, white peach, acacia and heather notes rushing through, backed by tangy, slate-accented minerality on the finish. Drink now through 2025.
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.