A Touch of Europe or Local Terroir?

The Hermann J Wiemer vineyard & winery

This was one of my favourite winery visits of my recent trip to New York. The Hermann J Wiemer winery made wines that really thrilled and spoke to me, as their literature states ‘wines in the finest European tradition from the heart of the Finger Lakes’.

I am not convinced that their wines are made entirely in the European tradition, but they do have a delicacy and a finesse that is very attractive. In my opinion though these are Finger Lake wines rather than European and I think that is how it should be.

I’m back…

Well I am finally back from the New York Finger Lakes and the Niagara Peninsula in Canada. I had a great time, saw some amazing sights and met many wonderful people. After my last piece I visited the Finger Lakes Wine Festival at Watkins Glen where I experienced the American wine consumer up close.

It was great fun with lots of wines to try as well as interesting foods, local beers and some terrific music.

Finger Lakes New York – part 5, Seneca Lake

Seneca Lake from Château Lafayette Reneau

What a day it was, action packed to such a degree that I have run out of time.

I visited some wineries in a tight area around Seneca Lake, which at almost 650 feet is the deepest of the Finger Lakes. As a consequence the conditions are that little bit warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, as the water below the surface stays pretty much the same temperature all year round.

This enables the growers around here to put a greater emphasise on red varietals than their neighbours around the other Finger Lakes, as long as the vines can actually see the water, these conditions are very localised. So, I was able to taste a couple of really fascinating examples of Cabernet Sauvignon blends as well as the local signature grape, Cabernet Franc and the newly emerging local star – Lemburger/Blaufrankish.

The best wines, to my mind continue to be the whites, especially the Rieslings and I tasted some terrific examples – they tend to be a little richer and softer than German, Alsace or Austrian Rieslings, which is great as they seem to have something of their own style over here and the grape really suits the conditions.

My stand out wines of the day were:

2008 Tierce Dry Riesling
Tierce is made as a joint venture by three local wineries as a joint project: Fox Run, Anthony Road & Red Newt.
Stony and limey with some richer feel bringing an apricot quality – this makes it softer and richer than I expected.
It has a nice clean cut of mandarin acidity and a slightly oily texture to the palate leading to a rich acidic citrus texture to the finish, very interesting and very good and also amongst the driest of the local Rieslings – 90/100.

2008 Lamoreaux Landing T23 (tank 23)
Unoaked Cabernet Franc

This was a lovely, unassuming red from the lovely Lamoreaux Landing estate which is the winery created by Mark Wagner, whose family also own the neighbouring Wagner Winery, which is one of the pioneers of the region.

The colour was a pale translucent light red cherry colour.
The nose offered a lovely waft of red cherry and rose hip syrup, together with a slight touch of earthy notes.
The palate was soft, juicy and very pleasurable with good balance and real delicacy.
Very nice to drink, soft tannins and a touch of acidity keeping it bright – nice texture with red fruit, it would be lovely chilled as a big rosé too- 87/100.

2007 Tierce Dry Red
Another impressive wine made as a joint venture by Fox Run, Anthony Road & Red Newt
The blend was unusual: 33% Merlot, 33% Lemberger, 12% Syrah, 11% Cabernet Franc & 11% Cabernet Sauvignon
The nose was fragrant and attractive offering plums, black cherry and nice oak – cedar spice, a hint of chocolate and something savoury/smoky from the oak.
The palate had a lovely fresh texture and bright black fruit, soft, smooth ripe tannins and a hint of smoky oak. Lovely pleasurable and drinkable, perfect concentration and not trying too hard to impress, which meant that it did – 91/100.

Anyway that is all I have time for right now as another day beckons – remember, if you want to follow my journey you can refer to my piece about the region here, Uncork New York and my two maps – New York’s wine regions and the Finger Lakes region. Check back for more soon

Finger Lakes New York – part 4, Keuka Lake

Keuka Lake

It was another wonderful day in the beautiful Finger Lake region of New York and I had a packed itinerary, visiting four of the important wineries around Keuka Lake. This is actually a Y shaped lake and has beautiful scenery on its shores as well as some attractive little towns that would repay a leisurely visit. Hammondsport, in particular, looked a lovely place to spend a little time.

Finger Lakes New York – part 3, Senaca & Cayuga

This is a great trip, the countryside of the Finger Lakes region is lovely, I keep passing the most perfect looking American white clapperboard houses with rocking chairs on their porches. It is a very agricultural area of farms punctuated by incredibly attractive little towns with wide streets of grand houses, some larger versions of the white clapperboard and some looking for all the world like Georgian mansions. I think the area would make a super holiday destination.

Yesterday was a day packed with exciting experiences on my trip, so I will grab a few minutes to share some of them with you.

My first port of call was Swedish Hill Vineyard in Romulus near Cayuga Lake, where I was given a tasting by Ian Barry, the head winemaker. This was fascinating as this winery grows native grapes and hybrids as well as Vitis Vinifera, so I was able to try some things that so far had eluded me.

Finger Lakes New York – part 2, Canandaigua to Geneva

It was a great day yesterday, very interesting and full of information that I will have to assess properly before I pass it on.

I spent the morning in Canandaigua at the lovely New York Wine & Culinary Centre where I enjoyed a presenttion and tasting of wines from the other regions of New York: Hudson River, Long Island, the Niagra Escarpment and Lake Eirie.

Remember, if you want to follow my journey you can refer to my piece about the region here, Uncork New York and my two maps – New York’s wine regions and the Finger Lakes region.

Finger Lakes New York – part 1, Canandaigua

Well, I arrived in Canandaigua early Saturday morning or late Friday depending on your point of view and am looking forward to getting to know the wine regions of New York State and in particular the Finger Lakes AVA.

Canandaigua is a very beautiful place, very peaceful and easygoing. The lake is lovely to look at and it is very relaxing to watch all the boat activity, while the surrounding countryside is idyllic – do visit this far flung corner of the state, you will like it.

It all kicks off properly tomorrow with a seminar at the New York Wine & Culinary Centre in Canandaigua, followed by a visit to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva where they have an experimental winery and grape growing programme.

So, I will have lots to report back tomorrow. In the meantime here are some photographs:

New York here I come…

The day is finally here, well, tomorrow actually, when I fly out to New York State to experience the Finger Lakes wine region. I am looking forward to it, this area could really be a great cool climate wine producer and it will very interesting to taste the wines and to see the landscape from which they come.

Just the journey is quite exciting, I fly into Toronto and then hop across Lake Ontario in a 12 seater plane to Rochester on the southern shore and then head 25 miles inland to Canandaigua.

The wine trip starts on Sunday evening with winery visits from Monday 12 July 2010 and I will try and blog about my experiences everyday.

If you want to follow my journey you can refer to my piece about the region here, Uncork New York and my two maps – New York’s wine regions and the Finger Lakes region.

In the meantime, if you want more of my writing, go to catavino.net, which is a great website covering almost every aspect of Iberian food, wine and culture – you must have a look at my article on one of Spain’s best white grapes – Verdejo and my piece about Toro – a Spanish wine region that I love.

Check back from time to time, you never know what you might find.

Red wines for summer – I rethink Beaujolais

In the heat my thoughts hardly ever turn to red wine, I normally seek refreshment in the summer.

What happens when you want something a little more, well red, on a summer’s day? Well a rosé can work, or there are some lighter reds, some Pinot Noir, Valpolicella perhaps, or something from the Loire?

The absolute classic of its kind though is something that I, for one, hardly ever think of drinking – Beaujolais. For quite some time now I have wondered if perhaps I do Beaujolais an injustice and should have another look at this wine that fashion has left behind.

Carmenère and Curry

If curry is our national dish in Britain, as some maintain, then the traditional drink to partner it is lager – although perhaps for authenticity it ought to be India Pale Ale. For most people even the suggestion of something other than beer with a curry often produces incredulity.

However, I regularly tell my students that red wines are much better at meeting and matching the flavours of a curry than any thing else.