Winemaker Notes
Lahoma Vineyard Riesling is always overwhelmingly orange-fruit driven from the moment it arrives as picked grapes at Red Newt. This wine seeks to bottle that joyful fruit expression of tangerine and apricot every year in its most exuberant form. Modeled of the balance point of a German Kabinett, it is juicy to drink when young but has the sugar and freshness to reward cellar aging.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A steely and tight white with sliced-lemon and green-apple aromas and flavors. Medium body. Tangy and acidity-driven. Really lively.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Riesling Lahoma Vineyards has 57 grams per liter of residual sugar, 8.7 grams of total acidity (plus a low pH of 2.9) and 7.9% alcohol. When last seen, this was a star. Let's check in. Just gorgeous again, this youthful Riesling is in fine shape. It very much has the feel of a classic Spätlese. Despite that considerable amount of sugar, this is beautifully balanced. It doesn't seem that sweet. It's also pure, fresh and persistent. There is a reductive touch in the background, but it is submerged fairly easily at the moment. This is delicious and vibrant. It should easily last another decade, perhaps more.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rather delicate on the nose in tones of stone and lime zest, the palate explodes in flavors of lime peel, melon rind and apple. There's pulsing freshness to the semidry palate, with lasting stone and citrus flavors that end crisp and clean.
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.