Finger Lakes Tasting Lineup
Several months ago I posted about a wine tasting I was leading featuring wines from the finger lakes. Y’all helpfully provided a list of wineries to visit (some of which I was familiar with, and some that were new to me).
I took a weekend in December to taste across nine wineries (Heart & Hand, Ravines, Dr. Frank, Hermann Wiemer, Weis Vineyard, Boundary Breaks, Red Tail Ridge, Hillock and Hobbs, and Hickory Hollow.) I enjoyed my time at all of the wineries, and would go back to eight of them (Boundary Breaks wasn’t my favorite, but maybe I didn’t try the right wines).
I ended up serving the following five wines at the tasting:
2023 Heart & Hand Dry Riesling - great singing acid, lots of green apple and lime.
2023 Weis Vineyard Riesling K - kabinett style with slightly more residual sugar than the previous Riesling, perfectly balanced with the acid to drink just slightly off dry. The minerality in this wine is a delight.
2021 Nathan K Cab Franc - fruit forward, subtle oak, and the throughline of great acid. I’ve spent 20 years saying I don’t drink red wine - and this bottle changed my mind.
2019 Dr. Frank Blanc de Noirs - 100% Pinot noir, methode champenoise, 42 months on the lees. This bottle is my favorite traditional sparkling wine coming out of the finger lakes.
2023 Red Tail Ridge Pinot Noir Rose Pet Nat - this off-dry pet nat is a show stopper, and was the most interesting wine I tried across the weekend. Lots of raspberry and cherry in this one.
The tasting went really well, and at least two of my colleagues are now planning trips to the finger lakes. All of the wines were a hit, and the pet nat blew people’s minds. It was a ton of fun serving two sparkling Pinot noirs back to back that were so completely different.
Several months ago I posted about a wine tasting I was leading featuring wines from the finger lakes. Y’all helpfully provided a list of wineries to visit (some of which I was familiar with, and some that were new to me).
I took a weekend in December to taste across nine wineries (Heart & Hand, Ravines, Dr. Frank, Hermann Wiemer, Weis Vineyard, Boundary Breaks, Red Tail Ridge, Hillock and Hobbs, and Hickory Hollow.) I enjoyed my time at all of the wineries, and would go back to eight of them (Boundary Breaks wasn’t my favorite, but maybe I didn’t try the right wines).
I ended up serving the following five wines at the tasting:
2023 Heart & Hand Dry Riesling - great singing acid, lots of green apple and lime.
2023 Weis Vineyard Riesling K - kabinett style with slightly more residual sugar than the previous Riesling, perfectly balanced with the acid to drink just slightly off dry. The minerality in this wine is a delight.
2021 Nathan K Cab Franc - fruit forward, subtle oak, and the throughline of great acid. I’ve spent 20 years saying I don’t drink red wine - and this bottle changed my mind.
2019 Dr. Frank Blanc de Noirs - 100% Pinot noir, methode champenoise, 42 months on the lees. This bottle is my favorite traditional sparkling wine coming out of the finger lakes.
2023 Red Tail Ridge Pinot Noir Rose Pet Nat - this off-dry pet nat is a show stopper, and was the most interesting wine I tried across the weekend. Lots of raspberry and cherry in this one.
The tasting went really well, and at least two of my colleagues are now planning trips to the finger lakes. All of the wines were a hit, and the pet nat blew people’s minds. It was a ton of fun serving two sparkling Pinot noirs back to back that were so completely different.