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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Tuesday Tasting: More Finger Lakes Rieslings


Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. This week we sample six more rieslings from the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York.

Those of you who know me or who are regular readers of Lyke2Drink know that I work for Eric Mower and Associates, a marketing communications agency (www.mower.com). You may also recall that we have done some work with the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, a voluntary association made up of about 100 wineries in the region and grape growers. I play host for the FLWA Vintners' Roundtable, a virtual tasting conducted via conference call that links winemakers and food and beverage journalists. A recent session that included writers from Gourmet and Restaurant Business focused on Finger Lakes Rieslings. My notes for this Tuesday tasting come from that session.

Ravines 2006 Dry Riesling ($17): Anyone who says that Finger Lakes rieslings are all sweet has never tried this creation by winemaker Morten Hallgran. At just 0.3 percent residual sugar this wine has a nice floral nose and a lime and mineral flavor bed.

Prejean 2006 Dry Riesling ($12): Floral nose, honeysuckle with melon flavor notes. Jim Zimar has built a well balanced wine with 0.9 percent residual sugar.

Swedish Hill 2006 Dry Riesling ($15): After 20 years of growing grapes for others, the Peterson family launched Swedish Hill and had its first crush in 1985. This wine has firm citrus and pear notes with a pleasant floral nose. This dry riesling has 0.5 percent residual sugar.

Heron Hill 2005 Ingle Vineyard Riesling ($25): Winemaker Thomas Laszlo has created a nice balanced riesling with a slate mineral nose, and pear and citrus flavor profile.

Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards 2006 Homestead Reserve Riesling ($18): This wine has 1.1 percent residual sugar. Six generations of the Hazlitt family have been growing grapes on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake. This riesling has pineapple and tropical notes in a semi-dry format.

Wagner 2006 Semi Dry Riesling ($13): This wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and has 2 percent residual sugar. It has a crisp peach and apricot aroma, with plenty of citrus and dried apricots in a long flavor profile.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great detailed information. There was a time that I could drink the best of the best under the table whilst enjoying the quest, but as you get older the pints decrease but not the hangover, so sacrifices were made, it is now pints of milk.

Anonymous said...

Rick - it's Mary Jo Hardy from EMA. Have you ever tried the Dry Riesling from Red Newt? It's great. Take care!

Rick Lyke said...

Mary Jo:
I have had the Red Newt. They have come along very nicely in the last few years. It is great to see how much the wineries in the Finger Lakes have progressed with riesling and other wines.
Rick

Anonymous said...

The 07s that have started to be released are really good. Of particular note are Standing Stone and Chateau LaFayette Reneau. Check out http://www.winesny.com for a fairly extensive review of available Rieslings from the Finger Lakes.