Finger Lakes Wine: Red Tail Ridge Whites and Reds

After my last experience tasting wine from New York's Finger Lakes region, one which was a disaster, I was approached by my friend and fellow wine blogger Lenn Thompson. Lenn is one of the wine blogging world's heavyweights, as the editor of the New York Cork Report. He saw my piece on the Finger Lakes Virtual Tasting and asked me if I was interested in participating in another tasting at some point in the future.

Despite my bad experience with the previous Finger Lakes wines, I told him I was interested but promptly forgot about it. Life has been crazy since February..or better yet, since I moved here in October of last year. When Lenn did reach out to me with a firm date, asking if I wanted to do another virtual tasting with a single producer's wines, I readily agreed and looked forward to another round with wines from the Finger Lakes.

This time, we were tasting the wines from Red Tail Ridge, a 32 acre vineyard and winery located close to Seneca Lake. Founded in 2004, Red Tail Ridge makes a lineup of wines using both common and uncommon varieties. Since the Finger Lakes region is un-constrained by the dogmatic adherence to cabernet, syrah, and chardonnay that Napa Valley is, the wine growers love to plant unique and sometimes crazy grape species.

Unfortunately, the day of the virtual tasting came and I still had no wine! It didn't show up until later in the afternoon, an hour or two before the tasting start. This seems to happen frequently in virtual tastings, and while I won't single out Red Tail Ridge, I'll say that it's almost worthless to send out wine samples and not allow at least two weeks for the wine to settle. PR and marketing people should take note, get your acts together and if you're going to send out samples for virtual tastings, do so sooner rather than later.

2010 Red Tail Ridge Dry Riesling: Notes of ripe apricot, white flowers, and tropical fruits are all nicely integrated into a fun, aromatic bouquet. The palate brings vibrant acidity that showcases flavors of lemon, summer melon, and baking spices. As far as rieslings go, this is utterly delicious, and one of those wines that is flat-out fun to drink. Only 12% alcohol too, and best enjoyed with a nice chill on it.







2010 Red Tail Ridge Pinot Noir Estate Grown: Notes of shoe leather, shoe polish, cranberry, raw peppercorn, and green herbs make up the bouquet. Some slight burning sensations come out too, can't figure out if it's unbalanced alcohol or ethyl acetate. An intriguing bouquet that's worlds better than the first night it was opened. On the palate this is somewhat rustic, with prickly acidity all over the place, a savory note, and more of the cranberries mixing with cherries. Vaguely reminiscent of a pinot noir from Alto Adige, yet retaining it's own fickle texture. Hardly any tannin and an evaporative, quick finish that's all angles and green herb flavor. I get the distinct sense that this pinot noir is very uncomfortable right now, but will settle with age. 13.8% abv.

2009 Red Tail Ridge Blaufrankisch: Aromas of soil, tar, spices, and lots of red berry fruit rush up out of the glass. At first, the tar scent dominates before giving way to the red berries and spices. I liked this even more on the second day. It's a zingy wine with nice acidity but hardly any tannin. Still, that works becasue there's enough spice and red fruit mixed with a smokey, salted meat flavor to keep things interesting. The finish is medium length, retaining enough of that savory-meat quality to make your palate thirst for the next sip. 12% abv.

NV Red Tail Ridge Dornfelder: I'll admit, this wine confused me. When I pulled the cork, I thought I smelled something akin to hot plastic, like one of those hospital oxygen masks left in the sun. Weird! As the wine sat in my glass though, it began to show lots of plum and spice notes, along with black cherry and wood. Sipping this wine was like eating a bowl full of mixed, red berry fruit with little pieces of smoked meat thrown in. There was also a pleasant minerality that I found very compelling, especially on the second day. Another thing that impressed me about this Dornfelder was the long finish, easily lasting about 30 seconds. 12% abv.




For my palate, Red Tail Ridge is producing some of the best red wines in New York. Unfortunately, I have to say that I haven't had many reds from my home state yet. Still, the wines I tasted were compelling and although young, showed great promise. I liked the Dornfelder, a blend of the 2009 and 2010 vintages, for its uniqueness. The pinot noir shows that good pinot can in fact come from the Finger Lakes, and the Blaufrankisch was absolutely delicious. Of course, the Riesling was a fun, friendly wine too.

Since the wines arrived on the day of the Twitter Tasting, I refused to open and taste them, save for the Pinot Noir, and therefore missed out on some insights from the winery's representatives whom were on hand to answer questions. I also forgot to get a good picture of the Pinot Noir. Hindsight being what it is, I am glad I waited several months for the wines to settle out, because they would have been tough to drink on that warm April night.

Thanks to Lenn Thompson and the people at Red Tail Ridge for putting this together and showing me some delicious wines from the Finger Lakes of New York.

Beau Carufel

Finger Lakes Red Wine, A Long Way To Go

Last month I was offered the chance to take part in a live, virtual tasting featuring the red wines of the Finger Lakes region in New York. I've done virtual tastings in the past and they've always been a great learning experience. Usually I get to explore a new (to me) region as well as further train my palate in wine evaluation. I jumped at the chance to participate in the Fingers Lakes Red Wines virtual tasting because I am intrigued by what is coming out of New York right now. The region is well known for its rieslings but less so for the reds.

There were eight of us from the media participating, along with a representative (usually the winemaker) from each winery also on hand to take questions. For an hour we media types were able to ask questions and learn about each wine while we tasted them one by one.

The wines we tasted are listed here:
2009 Lakewood Vineyards Lemberger
2009 Fox Run Vineyards Lemberger
2010 Anthony Road Wine Company Cabernet Franc/Lemberger
2010 Inspire Moore Winery Wisdom Cabernet Franc Reserve
2010 Damiani Wine Cellars Pinot Noir
2010 Three Brothers Wineries Barbera
2010 Billsboro Winery Syrah
2006 Shaw Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

We tasted in two flights, four wines a piece, with the first four listed above being in the first flight and the next four in the subsequent flight. I can see the reasoning behind this, since Lemberger is lighter than say syrah or cabernet sauvignon. Breaking up the eight wines also worked out for logistical reasons, but that's not really important to this blog.

At first I intended to post the tasting notes for each wine, but that was before the virtual tasting. Afterwards, I didn't really want to even write a post but feel obligated to do so.

Here's the problem: Out of those eight wines, one was enjoyable. The 2010 Billsboro Winery Syrah was pretty nice, and more importantly it was fault-free. Every other wine in the tasting had problems; volatile acidity, brettanomyces, baterial contamination, over-use of oak, and under-ripe flavors being chief among them. My impressions were echoed by other well known wine bloggers. Of course, there was the obligatory sample-whore praising every single wine, but those kinds of wine bloggers are in every tasting. Still, the fact that almost every wine was staggeringly difficult to drink really put a damper on the excitement.

Since I don't know much about New York wines, let alone the reds, I made some inquiries about why we got this lineup. One person I spoke to said: "The wines in this tasting don't necessarily represent the region's best reds. Not by a long shot.". Ouch. That's a strong indictment of the wines, said politely.

I tasted each wine over the course of three days and the Three Brothers Barbera improved a little bit. Therefore, along with the Billsboro Syrah, I found two (one and a half, really) in my first tasting experience of red wines from the Finger Lakes. To say that's an inauspicious start is an understatement.

There are many other producers in the Finger Lakes region and I am not drawing any conclusions as to the overall quality, because that would be unfair. Stylistically, I think I understand what the producers are going for, and in my opinion the flaws cover up what could be some very interesting flavor profiles. I also realize this article isn't going to win me any fans, but I feel compelled to write about my experience.

Beau Carufel

2007 True and Daring Riesling, Another Gem From the Kiwis

True & Daring is brand new to the American market, debuting here just this past May. I was sent a sample of the only wine they make, riesling, to taste and share with you. This 2007 riesling took a gold medal at the International Wine Challenge in 2010 and a trophy for Best New Zealand Riesling from the same event.

The wine is made by the Dobsons who also own Sandihurst Winery, which itself is relatively new to the New Zealand wine scene, at least in it's current iteration. I read through the website and really like the owner's story. Celia and Hennie Bosman bought the old Sandihurst property in 2005, apparently it was a dilapidated old wreck of a winery. They've set about rebuilding and renewing the entire property. Before moving to New Zealand, the couple and their children had been living in South Africa, which Hennie is a native of. His wife, Celia, is English born and the couple met in Portugal while she was a ballet dancer and he was in the Foreign Service.

I found it remarkable that after only two years, the Dobsons were producing such great wine. This is clear evidence of the meeting point between exceptional terroir and skilled, dedicated people. To make award winning wine in 2007 makes the True & Daring story that much more remarkable. Cold and wet conditions severely affected fruit-set. As a result, the harvest was smaller thank average. Luckily, a period of heat and low rainfall during the midst of the growing season did ensure the grape themselves reached optimum ripeness.

After the 2007 vintage was harvested, the grapes were divided into seven stainless steel tanks to begin fermentation. In each tank, a different strain of yeast was inoculated, with the objective being a final-assembly from each vat of a more complex wine. Fermentation temperatures were kept cool and stopped when the residual sugar levels reached a point so that the final wine would be off-dry, but only just. Since riesling does have a lot of natural acidity, this balance point is critical to a producing a complex, layered wine.

With fermentation complete, winemaker Kirk Bray combined the tanks into one lot, then blended them together on light lees, stirring the wine occasionally over about six months. True & Daring was fine but unfiltered and bottle-aged for 24 months before being released. In all, only 5,450 six packs were produced.

Sourced entirely from the Annabrook Vineyard in Nelson, New Zealand, the 2007 True & Daring comes in at 12.2% abv. The name comes from the philosophy that that the winery would stay true to one grape and be daring enough to take on only Riesling, as the wine they produce.

I poured the 2007 True & Daring into my glass with a high level of excitement. Of late, a lot of riesling has been gracing these pages. I wrote up the stellar 2009 Mt. Beautiful Cheviot Hills riesling last month, and also was able to taste through a superb lineup of Finger Lakes rieslings just a few weeks ago. I for one hope that this trend continues, bring on the Austrian and German rieslings next! Oh and more from New York and New Zealand too please!

The aromatics of the True & Daring were awesome, lots of ripe peach mixed with hints of petrol and a stony, hard burst of minerality. Citrus notes, like a diced up grapefruit also showed themselves, next to a bouquet of white flowers. The complexity of this wine is something to be marveled at, I kept sniffing my glass, putting off taking a sip. If you know me, you know that's a sure sign I am happy with what I'm drinking.

As young riesling goes, this True & Daring also ranks highly for it's complexity on the palate. Maybe those four years in the bottle really did a lot to enhance the wine, I believe that to be the case. An absolute joy to taste with ripe mandarin orange, white peach, and a laser beam of minerality through the mid palate. The acidity contributed the structure, I could feel it all over my palate. This wine is very sure of itself, is comfortable in it's own skin. I got the sense that the winemaker basically lets the fruit do the talking, with only minimal guidance. My favorite part might have been the finish, which had a crisp, dry quality that lent itself to pairing with food.

Next time I go out to sushi, I am going to have riesling and if a sushi place happens to have New Zealand riesling, I'll be incredibly happy. All in all, this is kick-ass wine. It's got great quality, complexity, and a cool story behind it. Since the 2007 True & Daring was just released, finding it is going to be a bit of a challenge but I would recommend contacting Gordon Palmateer and seeing where you can find it in your area. At a suggested retail price of $35, the price is spot on for what you get. Will a $35 New Zealand riesling sell in the United States? I wish I knew. Would I buy a bottle or two if I saw it for sale at my local wine store? Yes. Easily an A- and STRONG BUY recommendation. Cheers to awesome juice from the Kiwis.

This wine was a media sample for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

New York Riesling From the Finger Lakes, Wow!

Have you ever had wine from New York state? My experience is very limited (unfortunately), occasionally tasting a wine here or there through my near-decade in the wine business. With the advent of Twitter I've been able to connect with proponents of New York wine, which has helped my education on the area grow. Last month there was a live virtual-tasting of New York state rieslings, where bloggers around the country were sent samples to taste and tweet about. I wasn't able to participate because I was in Oregon but the Finger Lakes organizers of that tasting graciously sent me samples to taste through on my own time.

There are two well known regions within New York that produce wine, the Finger Lakes and Long Island AVA's. Of course there are other areas all throughout the state producing some truly excellent wines, but for now let's start small and work our way through the Finger Lakes rieslings I was sent.

img src http://www.newyorkvisitorsnetwork.com/winecountry/

These would be the Finger Lakes, shaped like hot dogs or rustic sausages, if you're a New Yorker, fingers. To get there you can fly, take the train, or even drive. If you have the time I highly recommend the drive or train ride because you get to travel through some truly spectacular parts

Why the Finger Lakes? In short, Dr. Konstanin Frank discovered that they had the right mix of temperature, soil, rainfall and geography to produce world class wines. That is, if the area was planted with the right grape varieties. As the saying goes: "Location, location, location!". This was back in the 1950's and 60's, since then the area has flourished with new plantings and now hosts over 100 wineries. It is notable that Dr. Frank needed years to convince people in the region that he had a point. Thank goodness he was persistent!




The kind people in Finger Lakes Wine Country sent me four different rieslings to try, the same four in the virtual tasting. I'll also note the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, another group doing a lot to promote and educate. In the realm of social media, I like what the Finger Lakes trade groups are doing to get their message out there. By engaging on Twitter and Facebook and actively hosting the "Taste Live" events, they're directly reaching out to bloggers who otherwise might not get the chance to experience wines from the state.

2009 Lakewood Vineyards Seneca Lake Riesling - First up during my flight of rieslings, I loved the way this had a light golden color with just a hint of green hue in my glass. The nose was wonderful, with pear, a hint of mineras (think freshly washed granite) and an alluring perfume note. Just the way I expect a young riesling to smell, and in a way reassuring, given my lack of experience with Finger Lakes examples. The mouthfeel was great, lots of bright acidity up front and a sweet peach note right after that. Something like wet river stones mixed with petrol was present too, enhancing the complexity. Balancing sweet and dry flavors can be tricky but the Lakewood riesling pulled if off very well. At all of $12.99 a bottle, this wine is simply wonderful and I wish it was distributed nationally. B, or 86 points.

2009 Red Newt "Circle" Riesling Medium Sweet - I wrote "Smells like peaches and pears in syrup" and that's what sticks with me as I type out these notes. There was a hint of a summer flower bouquet too, sweet nectar I'd call that it. Out of the four rieslings, I think the Red Newt had the lowest acidity and thereby perhaps the sweetest, creamiest mouthfeel. I loved the stone fruit and tangerine blossom right through the mid palate as well as a gorgeous wash of golden apple on the long, lingering finish. This is wonderful wine, incredibly easy to drink and only 11.7% alcohol. Easily a B, 85 points and a steal at only $11.99. Wine Spectator rated the 2009 Red Newt an 86 points in December 2010.

2009 Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling Finger Lakes - What a beautiful golden-straw hue! Out of the four, this had the nicest color in my glass. The aromatics were interesting, a mix of petrol and river rock with a dollop of citrus, like lemon zest. A couple of whiffs also brought aromas of flowers again, similar to the Lakewood riesling. The '09 Dr. Frank was also the most nuanced wine of the tasting, each flavor felt as if it were teased out of the wine with a deft touch. Hints of candied fruit, a streak of minerality and soft, elegant acid created a wonderful mouthfeel. I was particularly impressed with the balance between the crisp acid and residual sugar. Well executed! B+, 88 points. Also at 11.7% alcohol by volume. $14.99.

2009 Glenora Wine Cellars Seneca Lake Riesling - The lightest color of the night, a truly pale straw, reminiscent of some pinot grigios I've had. The nose was a different story though, with beautiful notes of nectarine, peach, and flowers. Another scent I found attractive was the gravelly aromas that came out after vigorous swirling. Though I looked like a wine uber-geek, swirling does allow us to find more aromas we might otherwise miss. Well balanced wine makes me smile, the '09 Glenora Cellars riesling is no exception. There's a bright, happy acid structure that fleshes out with some residual sugar that comes across as ripe tangerine and white peach. I thought this was the sweetest wine of the bunch but also so very pleasant and quaffable. Another B+, 87 points from me. I later found out that Wine Spectator gave this an 86 and "Pick of the Day" on September 14 of last year. 11.0% alcohol and only $15.99.

Each wine was very, very good and if this is what New York's Finger Lakes region is producing, we all need to drink more wine from there! Each wine was of impeccable quality and showed a wide range of flavor profiles all originating from a single grape. They were expressive of both terroir and their respective winemaker's philosophies. I could envision multiple pairings with each wine, ranging from citrus and white fish to a cheese platter, or fresh fruit salad. Even heavier foods like spicy Thai or Indian cuisine would be great with these rieslings. A true testament to the versatility of the grape and why it's so popular with sommeliers.

I know from experience that a lot of people still think of rieslings as sweet, overly sugary, headache inducing wine that's best avoided. I implore you to accept that riesling isn't always sweet and often retains a lot of natural acidity, keeping it light and non-headache-inducing! That same balance of sweet and dry helps riesling pair well with many different foods, and a smart wine drinker will always have a couple of bottles in their cellar.

Here are some links to learn more about New York wines and specifically, Finger Lakes riesling:
1. Finger Lakes Wine Country
2. Finger Lakes Wine Alliance
3. New YOrk Cork Report