With this one, you are getting my last summer “easy drinking” wine. Although I have paired this particular type of wine with appetizers & other food on previous posts. For the “Dog Days” of August, I have chosen Hermann J. Wiemer’s Riesling (2020). It is a dry, classic German style Riesling, grown on the east side of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. It is my #2 best NY Riesling and is by far the most exported of all the top quality Finger Lake Rieslings. Clinton Wine & Spirits, like many restaurants & other wine stores, sells it at the low to mid level of Steve’s range.
My personal top 4 NY State Reislings, in order, are Forge Cellars, HJ Wiemer, Ravines, and Dr. Konstantin Frank. Of those, Forge Cellars and Ravines are boutique wines (small production, usually only available at the wineries). Of the remaining two, HJ Wiemer has won by far the most awards in the last 5 years. There are almost 150 wineries in the Finger Lakes region and several are getting “better” at producing European quality Estate wines. But currently, these 4 are the best, in my opinion. Both the Wiemers and the Franks originally came from the Mosul region of Germany and settled in upstate NY, farming and eventually growing grapes when they found the “right soil”. Reislings are grown/ produced in many countries, but none comes as close as the Germans, in my opinion, as the Finger Lake Rieslings. Another benefit is the price, they usually cost 1/2 or less than the top German Mosuls (no import fees). The Wine Spectator (WS) usually rates several of their single vineyard, estate Rieslings in the low 90’s.
As far tasting notes goes, both mine and theirs (specifically on the Josef), it has a light to golden yellow color with low viscosity. On the nose, you will get an aroma of citrus and stone fruit, perhaps a bit of wet rock minerality, with just a hint of floral and petrol scents. It is a very tart, light bodied wine with a textured mouthfeel. It has a crisp and clean finish with a hint of apricot at the end. This is an easy drinking wine that sells young (’22s now), but can be cellared for 3-5 years. HJ Weimer’s 2022 Josef was a WS Top 100 Wine for 2023 and was rated a 97 by James Suckling (JS). So, if you’re interested in this one, either at a wine store or a restaurant, that’s the year I would go for. You won’t be disappointed.
That will do it for this one. Next time will be my One Year Anniversary. So, I have a “special” post in mind. Be sure to come back and check it out. Cheers!