Celebrating Finger Lakes Wine Month – Aromatic White Wines

May is Finger Lakes Wine Month, a month-long celebration of the wines and wineries of the Finger Lakes AVA (American Viticultural Area) in New York state. As part of the promotion of this celebration, the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance organized an online tasting of wine from five Finger Lakes wineries. The five wines were provided to us as tasting samples.

A series of virtual tastings and well as tasting room events will be happening during the month of May. You can find a listing of the events, featured wineries and information about the Finger Lakes AVA on the Finger Lakes Wine Month website.

We participated in an online tasting of Finger Lakes red wines earlier this year, in February, and wrote about that tasting in a prior post. You can find more detailed information about the Finger Lakes AVA there.

The Finger Lakes AVA has become well known for cool weather white wines: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Grüner Veltliner to name a few. These are the varietal wines we tasted as part of this online tasting.

2012 Thirsty Owl Wine Company Pinot Gris $14.95 This wine has a very floral, jasmine and orange blossom, nose along with mineral and citrus flavors. The acidity is on point for a clean, rather long finish. There is no lack of flavor in this wine. Not like some flavorless, watery Pinot Gris. The juice had overnight skin contact before fermentation and is a bit round in the mouth. 12% ABV.

Thirsty Owl Wine Company is located on the western shore of Cayuga Lake with 150 acres and 2000 feet of lake frontage. Their production is 12,000 cases annually and they have 37 acres under vines. A bit over 22 acres are planted with white varieties: Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürtztraminer. The oldest Riesling vines were planted in the early 1980s and there are plans for additional Pinot Gris.

2011 Stony Lonesome Estates Estate Grüner Veltliner $14. A subtle steely nose is followed by slightly sweet citrus flavors and juicy acidity. Understated, but complex. This wine gains complexity as it sits in the glass. ABV 11%.

“Passion, Pleasure, Adventure” followed by “Three unique wineries and a microbrewery. All one estate” are the lead statements on the Three Brothers Wineries & Estates website. Their three winery labels include Stony Lonesome Estates…”for those who enjoy the finer things in life”, Passion Feet…”for those who live life with laughter and abandon” and Bagg Dare…”for those who have a lot more fun in a dive bar”. Also on the list is Four Degrees of Riesling which is a series of four Rieslings which are fermented to varying degrees of sweetness. There is something for everyone from Three Brothers Wineries & Estates.

The Brothers clearly have a sense of humor, but take winemaking very seriously. The vineyards are located on the northeast end of Seneca Lake. The Grüner Veltliner was planted in 2006 and are some of the first plantings of the grape variety in the Finger Lakes AVA. These two acres are planted in Cazenovia silt loam soil on a 6% slope toward Seneca Lake. They chose to plant Grüner Veltliner because it is such a good food wine.

Their Riesling plantings cover eleven acres. Four acres were planted in 1980 and seven more in 2006. Trellising in the vineyard is managed to produce the best quality fruit possible.

2012 Fulkerson Winery Grüner Veltliner $13.99 This GrüVe has a complex floral nose with flavors of red apples and minerals. It is a bit round in the mouth. The finish is very clean and fairly long. ABV 12%.

In 1805 Caleb Fulkerson, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, settled the acreage still farmed by the Fulkerson family today. Fulkerson Winery is located on the west side of Seneca Lake. Grapes were first planted in the 1830s. Wine production steadily increased over the years and in 2005 they celebrated their bicentennial by opening a new tasting room.

Riesling accounts for the largest percentage of of white grape plantings, 22 acres, and is produced is a variety of styles from dry to sweet. Other whites include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Grüner Veltliner. Hybrid grape varieties include Cayuga White and Traminette along with natives such as Niagra and Diamond.

Red wine production includes Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Dornfelder, Merlot and Lemberger. They are one of only three wineries to produce Vincent, a hybrid developed in Canada, as a varietal wine.

2011 Knapp Winery Dry Gewürztraminer $14.95 An obvious nose of honeysuckle and pineapple is followed by slightly sweet melon flavors with bright acidity for good balance. The finish in fairly long and clean thanks to the acidity. The nose is reminiscent of a Riesling. 11.5%.

Knapp Winery is located on the west side of Cayuga Lake. It was established in 1984 and Knapp Winery was the first to plant and vinify Cabernet Franc in the Finger Lakes AVA. Currently 40 acres are planted in vines for the production of estate wines. The Sunrise Hill vineyard is the source for this flavorful Gewürztraminer.

2012 Dr. Konstantin Frank Gewürztraminer $14.99 A fragrant nose of citrus blossom is followed by complex flavors of citrus and green apple. There is a touch of sweetness, good acidity and once again, a very clean finish. ABV 13.2%.

The name Konstantin Frank is closely linked to the history of successful wine production in the Finger Lakes AVA. Dr. Frank earned a Ph.D. in viticulture from Odessa Polytechnic Institute and immigrated to the US in 1951. He settled with his family in the Finger Lakes region and put his knowledge growing European wine varieties, Vitis vinifera, in cold weather to good use. Prior attempts by others to do so had been unsuccessful. He successfully demonstrated growing European grape varieties was possible, with the proper rootstock, setting the stage for wine production in the Finger Lakes AVA.

Two things stand out to me after tasting these wines: aromatics and acidity. These wines are so pleasingly scented – like springtime. Some are a bit sweeter than others, but all have great acidity for a clean finish. Great acidity is one of the benefits of wine produced is a cool weather climate.

These wines will be great summer wines and will pair well with fish, rich creamy pasta dishes, spicy food or just to sip on a hot afternoon. And they are very affordable.

Serve these wines chilled, but not too cold. The delicate aromatics and flavors in these wines come alive as they warm in your glass.

Thank you to the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance for organizing the tasting and all of the wineries for providing us with the tasting samples.

Cheers!