Revisiting the 2011 Ventosa Vineyards Estate Lemberger

In August 2015 the annual Wine Bloggers Conference was held in New York's Finger Lakes and consisted of a pre-conference excursion to the Seneca Lake AVA. I participated in this trip which included a visit to Ventosa Vineyards - located on the Northeast shore of the lake. At this winery, we tasted their 2011 Estate Lemberger. Now as readers know, we are immediately drawn to this grape varietal whether named Lemberger, Blaufränkisch, or Kekfrankos. And we particularly gravitated to this wine when we learned that it had just been awarded the 2015 New York Governors Cup. That day winemaker Jenna Lavita (co-owner of Lake Drum Brewing) mentioned that the "blue" grape is planted on warmer sites because of its early budding nature, although it ripens later - translating to longer maturity time. My tasting notes refer to a dark black cherry wine, with subtle spice and tobacco, decent tannins, and generous acids. Naturally, I purchased a bottle to bring home and four and a half years later I pulled the cork. The acids have kept the wine fresh, with similar dark cherry fruit, textured, with more leather and spice instead of tobacco. The wine finishes with chewy tannins and still decent acidity. Nicely done Jenna.

The #FLXWine Alliance celebrates the release of 2013 #FLXRiesling

This past Saturday was the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance celebrated the release of 2013 Finger Lakes Riesling by hosting a #FLXRiesling twitter tasting. In total fifty-five media representatives received wine from a pool of nineteen wineries. In case you are not familiar with New York's Finger Lakes, it is a cool climate region specializing in many grape varieties; but Riesling is King. The region also follows the International Riesling  Foundation (IRF) Riesling Taste Profile which is designed to make it easier for consumers to predicate the taste they can expect from a particular bottle of Riesling. Below are a few facts on Finger Lakes Reisling as well as my notes and tweets as well as the winery's theCompass Winery Brewery Distillery Locator profile. Cheers.

@DrFrankWine: If we had to describe #flxriesling in three words: "sunshine, stone, fruit"
@FulkersonWinery We prefer higher butterfat content cheeses with dry rieslings. Sharp cheddars with semi-dry
@flxhosmer The west side of Cayuga Lake tends to produce more tropical fruit flavor profiles.
@LakewoodWines we had an unusually cool summer but an unusually dry fall so far. Could be one for the ages but to early to call.

Finger Lakes Riesling Quick Facts

• 850 acres of Riesling
• 220,000 cases of Riesling
• Strong, regional aromatic whites with a focus on Riesling.
• The average producer makes 2-3 styles of Riesling wine a year.
• The Finger Lakes is home to over 200 Riesling brands

Heron Hill Winery  2013 Classic Dry Riesling ($14)
.23% R.S.; 12% alcohol

• @HeronHillWinery 2013 Classic Dry Riesling .23% R.S.; 12% alcohol; grapes from 4 lots  #FLXRiesling
• @HeronHillWinery 2013 Classic Dry Riesling spiced pear aroma, silky creaminess kiwi lychee flavor, citrus finish #FLXRiesling
• @HeronHillWinery operating for 35 years on Keuka Lake @ KLWT; winemaker Bernard Cannac from Languedoc, France #FLXRiesling

Sheldrake Point Winery 2013 Dry Riesling ($16)
0.7% R.S.; 11.4% alcohol

• @SheldrakePoint 2013 Dry Riesling - soft peach & lemon aroma leads to citrus cream, minerals, and nice acids #FLXRiesling
• @SheldrakePoint Home location on @cayugawinetrail with satellite tasting room on @senecalakewine #FLXRiesling
• @SheldrakePoint 2013 Dry Riesling 0.7% R.S. 11.4% alcohol #FLXRiesling
• @SheldrakePoint 15 years of operation; 44 acres on @cayugawinetrail #FLXRiesling

Knapp Vineyards & Winery 2013 Dry Riesling ($17)
1.1% R.S.; 12% alcohol

• I spy a #Nomacorc with the @Knappwinefan 2013 Dry Riesling #FLXRiesling
• @Knappwinefan 2013 Dry Riesling 1.1% R.S.; 12% alcohol #FLXRiesling
• @Knappwinefan 2013 Dry Riesling peaches and lemon, fruit driven, nice acids #FLXRiesling
• @Knappwinefan located in @senecalakewine with vineyard in @cayugawinetrail #FLXRiesling

Boundary Breaks Vineyard 2013 Dry Riesling #239 ($20)
0.9% R.S.; 11.6% alcohol

•  @bndrybrx seems the most Germanic of the Rieslings: elegant - cream and acids mingle nicely #FLXRiesling
• @bndrybrx 2013 Dry Riesling #239 0.9% R.S.; 11.6% alcohol; Geisenheim clone #239 #FLXRiesling
• @bndrybrx 2013 Dry Riesling made by Peter Bell of @foxrunvineyards; estate located on @senecalakewine #FLXRiesling