Tag Archives: Finger Lakes

Heart and Hands Pinot Noir Barrel Reserve 2010

08 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by in Ageing Report, Wine Reviews

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

heart and handsThe ultimate test of a wine is its ability to age. This wine right now is simply gorgeous.

The combination of dried cherry, rose petal, and earthy but delicate dried leaves is a lovely juxtaposition set off by minty, herbal aromas.

Soft and spare with  just enough density to give a slight viscous impression, the palate is imbued with coloristic strength by hints of orange peel and cranberry. Tannins are felt but stay in the background, allowing a lovely fresh, spring water impression to persist on the finish. Despite high acidity it never bites or turns sour.

The delicate patina  of age rendered vibrant and expressive, like a fall-flowering plant that signals persistent life even as the season wanes.

Whole cluster fermentation from a relatively warm vintage and very gently oaked.

Heart and Hands is a small, artisanal producer of mostly Pinot Noir, one of the few Finger Lakes wineries that specializes in this varietal. Finger Lakes Pinot Noir is relatively austere but when made well shows considerable finesse and as this wine demonstrates, will age well at least in the 6-10 year range.

Score: 92

Price: $41

Alc: 12.3%

When paired with late Billie Holiday and Lester Young it drinks Fine and Mellow:

Wine Review: Bellwether Sawmill Creek Vineyard Dry Riesling 2014

01 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by in Wine Reviews

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

bellwetherWinemaker Kris Matthewson is a Finger Lakes native but when it comes to making Riesling he tries to “think like a German”. In the U.S. he says we’re “trained to think about wine on a French model” which may not be the best approach to Riesling which after all the Germans know something about.

Cold soaking white wines on the skins before fermentation, using pressurized tanks to keep wine on the lees for several months in a reductive state with no added sulfur, making multiple wines from a single vintage with grapes at different ripeness levels—all techniques common in Germany but unusual in the U.S. The result is layered wines with a focus on texture that are just different enough to stand out from the crowd.

The Sawmill Vineyard 2014 has the signature lime-kissed minerality possessed by all the quality Finger Lakes Rieslings, but seductive hints of honeysuckle and  tropical fruit, almost in the range of pineapple, signal the come hither dance that awaits. What sets this wine apart is the interplay of dense, luxuriant, charm over bristling acidity that happens in the mouth, vibrating with energy yet with a softly sensual midpalate that swells to an intense mineral core, then unfurling with citrusy chalk on the finish.

Restful yet thrilling, exquisitely balanced, it’s a mouthful of goodness and a testament to the Germanic influence that has helped push the Finger Lakes onto the list of world class Rieslings.

Very dry, .4% R.S.

Score: 92

Price: $24

Alc: 11%

Elegant, sensual energy—that’s Brazilian Girls

Standing Stone Vineyards Saperavi Reserve Finger Lakes 2014

18 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Wine Reviews

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Saperavi-Reserve-2014-100x400The Republic of Georgia may be the oldest wine region in the world with evidence of wine being produced there 8000 years ago. The major grape in Georgia is Saperavi, a grape that makes very dark colored wines with high acidity. In addition to aging well, it thrives in cold temperatures which is why a few wineries in the Finger Lakes are growing it.

In tasting through hundreds of Finger Lakes wines only a few reds stood out and this was one of them. Aside from the occasional Pinot Noir or Cabernet Franc, red varietals are tough to ripen in their short growing season–if they survive the winter. There is lots of experimentation going on trying to find a red wine that will fill out their tasting menus next to the ubiquitous Riesling. I think Saperavi probably has the most potential of them all.  Mcgregor Vineyard makes a Saperavi/Sereksiya Charni blend called Black Russian which is quite good but I enjoyed the more restrained elegance of the Standing Stone Reserve a bit more.

It’s very inky in the glass  with complex, intriguing aromas of blackberry, toasted oak, damp leaves and eucalyptus prominent against subtle vanilla in the background. The concentrated dark fruit  on the palate gives way to steely minerality that is really more prominent than fruit. Firmly textured, sinewy rather than supple, the incisive acidity carries all the way through the medium-length finish, giving it a pleasing, lifted, slightly edgy quality. The tannins are fine-grained and already well-integrated.

This is a linear wine—the flavors and textures establish themselves early and relentlessly push all the way through the finish without much evolution.

With a gentle oak treatment burnishing any rustic edges, it comes across as polished yet resolute and insistent.

When I dialed up this oldie from Massive Attack the wine settled into a buoyant groove in sympathetic resonance with the polished vocals and relentlessly repeated baseline. The broken synth and piano fills seemed to bring out the eucalyptus notes on the nose—a really scintillating pairing of music and wine.

Score: 90

Price: $50

Alc: 13.3%

Wine Review: Lamoreaux Landing Gewurztraminer Finger Lakes 2015

20 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by in Wine Reviews

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

lamoreaux landingI love Gewurztraminer, a wine so flamboyant it’s the drag queen of the wine world. But it grows well only in cool climates. The California versions are so ripe they lack acidity or are made from grapes picked too early and so never deliver the over-the-top aromas Gewurz lovers love. The cool climate Finger Lakes on the other hand is Gewurztraminer heaven. Almost every winery makes one and they are usually dead on, with explosive flavors, a slightly oily, fat body and a finish so bitter it makes Planet of the Apes seem like a comedy. Well, Ok that’s an exaggeration.

Lamoreux Landing’s Gewurztraminer is representative.

The  perfumed nose unfolds to reveal hints of lychee supported by grapefruit and lime zest. In the mouth, the citrus spine is enlivened by tropical fruits and mineral notes that make the wine feel fresh despite the medium body and slight, glycerin texture. It finishes with that passionate bitter note that demands a tear in the eye despite all the joyous bouquet. With sugar, acidity, and bitterness in equipoise it’s heady without being rambunctious. The lanolin and alcohol are under control. Once you make peace with the bitter finish of a Gewurztraminer romance may commence.

Gewurztraminer can be a wonderful food wine if you’re serving something spicy with some heft. I served it with chicken braised in coconut milk, ginger and Mexican chorizo—Gewurz and coconut were made for each other.

Score: 88

Price: $15

Alc: 13.9%

Gewurztraminer is a Bjork wine—flamboyant but weighty with combustible melodies and the bittersweet lyric of “Hyperballad”