With this post I will begin to explore wine regions in various countries. Since I live in the US, I figure it’s a good place to start. Every single state now makes its own wine, even Alaska & Hawaii! According to the National Wine School (NWS) and the Wine Spectator (WS), there are only 4 states at the international level of wine making: California, Oregon, Washington state, and the Finger Lakes region of New York state. Today, I will focus on the last one and specifically talk about 4 excellent wineries found there. If you go to these wineries, you will find that almost all of their wines can be bought in Billy’s price range.
According to Wikipedia, “The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the Finger Lakes region in New York, in the United States.” For the purposes of this blog, I will be focusing on 2 of them: Keuka and Seneca. Given the climate and the primary soil types, there are 3 varietals that will grow well here: Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. It is the Riesling, made mostly in the dry German style, that rate at the international level of wines. If you go to a wine/ liquor store to buy these wines, you will most likely be paying at the low end of Steve’s price range (but occasionally one can be found in Billy’s range).
The only one of the 4 on Keuka Lake is the founder of NY State wine, Dr. Konstantin Frank. This German family has been at it since 1958 and has basically taught everyone else how it’s done. The other 3 are all on the shores of Seneca Lake. The best known and most exported is Hermann J. Wiemer. This family hails from the Mosel region of Germany, where the world’s best Rieslings come from. This winery has been winning major awards for the last 5-7 years and consistently rates 90-93 for both WS and James Suckling. If you go to Clinton Wine & Spirits, this is what you will find. The other 2 wineries are “artisan” or boutique wineries who make small lots that are hard to find in stores. They both are newer and have direct ties to France, one has a French co-owner. Forge Cellars and Ravines have been getting a lot of notice in the last 3-4 years. In fact, WS really LOVES Forge Cellars! If I had to rank order them, I would put Forge Cellars as #1, either Ravines or H.J. Wiemer as #2 & #3, and Dr. Konstantin Frank as #4. Most wine/liquor stores will carry Wiemer or Dr. Frank’s wines. A 2-3 year old Riesling from any of these 4 wineries would compete well with a German Mosel and be MUCH cheaper. There are several other Finger Lake wineries that do an OK job. But, in my opinion, these four are the best! If you get a chance make a trip out to Seneca and/ or Keuka Lakes in the summer and check out any of these wineries, you will not be disappointed.
That’s it for Blog Post #5. Next week, I will go back to Food & Wine. Cheers!