New York Cork Report

7 Questions with....Regan Meador, Assistant Winemaker, Osprey's Dominion Winery

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

I have yet to meet Regan Meador, assistant winemaker at Osprey's Dominion Winery -- in person at least.

As is so common these days, he and I got acquainted via Twitter before he left his white collar job in Manhattan for good and moved to the North Fork to make wine. We keep saying that we're going to meet up for a glass or a pint or five, but it hasn't happened yet.

In the interim, I've asked him our standard set of seven questions...

What event/bottle/etc made you decide that you wanted to be in the wine industry?
It’s a collective of experiences that led me here. But the seminal moment came after days and years in finance, the music business and then advertising and marketing, one day I found myself monitoring a focus group for a client, a major beer brand, and I couldn’t help but notice how disinterested our group was with what we and everyone else in the business was selling. My own disinterest made this even worse. I was tired of selling people crappy beer. I was tired of selling people on something I had no hand in actually making. I was tired of just selling people. I wanted to get my hands dirty. That night I enrolled in courses at U.C. Davis, months later I quit my job and now here I am.

What (and where) was the first bottle of wine you remember drinking?
It was an unknown bottle of California Merlot in 1990 (which puts me at around 10 years old); a bottle that was stolen from my parents (sorry, Mom and Dad) along with a few cans of Miller Light (you’re welcome, Mom and Dad). My accomplice ended up drinking the beer and I couldn’t get enough of the wine. I still remember sitting in the middle of that field, the taste of that wine.

Which of your current wines is your favorite and why?
I’m digging through our few Carmeneres. It’s such a bastard varietal: a dream one year, only to turn around and give you the business the next, but one of my favorites.

What has surprised you most about being a member of the New York wine community?
First let me caveat that I’m new here, but for me it’s the dichotomy. On the one hand it’s incredibly gracious and collaborative, yet at the same time it can be quite competitive and cagey. I find this to be a beautiful thing… it can push a region forward, it makes things interesting, it’s healthy.

Other than your own wines, what wine/beer/liquor most often fills your glass?
I have a consistency problem when it comes to alcohol. I’ve been drinking/thinking/dreaming about Languedoc lately. I like its incongruity, the rough edges. Just had a bottle of Roanoke’s 07 Blend 2 that greatly saddened me once it was finished. As for not wine, a rare pleasure is Compass Box’s Peat Monster on cold nights.

Is there a 'classic' wine or wine and food pairing that you just can't make yourself enjoy?
Chardonnay... with anything.

Wine enjoyment is about more than just the wine itself. Describe the combination of wine, locations, food, company, etc. that would make (or has made) for the ultimate wine-drinking experience.
It’s that rare special crescendo during a dinner party, at a bar with a perfect stranger or just on the couch with a friend or loved one, that occurs right around the middle of the third glass. Where the conversation hits that perfect pitch, that moment of clarity, where world problems are solved, famine is cured, love is discovered. Where everything makes sense…. until we oblige that fourth glass and forget it all…

New York Cork Report Adds Trzaskos, Expands Coverage into Northern New York

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

The goal here on the NYCR is to cover every corner of the New York wine, beer and spirits world. While we don't have someone on the ground in every region -- most notably the Hudson River Region and Lake Erie wine country -- I think we do a pretty good job accomplishing our goal.

I'll be honest about it too -- I hadn't even considered Northern New York as a true wine region. Not yet, anyway. But after speaking with our new Northern New York Correspondent, Todd Trzaskos, a few times, I've gotten an education on the budding region.

There isn't a large number of commercial wineries up there yet, but from the sounds of it, there is plenty of passion to go around amongst those working in the nascent industry.

Todd, who is from upstate New York and lives just across the border in Vermont, is going to bring us those stories. He knows many of the players because, in some ways, he is one of them. He is a volunteer and test winemaker at the Cornell Baker Farm, a cold-hardy hybrid trial vineyard, in Willsboro, NY and you may also know him as the man behind Vermont Wine Media.

I've asked Todd to begin his work with us by writing a story that provides and overview about Northern New York viticulture and winemaking. Look for it soon.

 

Sheldrake Point at Seneca: What’s New for a Classic Finger Lakes Winery

By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent
Photos courtesy of Sheldrake Point winery

Mention Sheldrake Point Winery on Seneca Lake and, chances are, you’ll be corrected. “It’s on Cayuga Lake,” I heard a half-dozen times over the course of the last month from friends and Finger Lakes wine fans. They aren’t wrong, but neither am I. On September 26, 2011, Sheldrake Point opened a second tasting room on Route 414 along the southeast side of Seneca.

The tasting room has opened quietly, not for lack of marketing and outreach on their part, but because they were just getting started as the tourism season wound down. The lack of tasting room traffic in the winter months has given owner Bob Madill and tasting room manager Christine McAfee a few months to get their bottles in a row. In a phone conversation and visit to the tasting room, I spoke to them about Sheldrake’s two-lake presence.

Like all business decisions, the addition of a new location was made with profit in mind. Unlike many wineries in the area, Sheldrake’s original location on Cayuga grows all of their grapes in one vineyard. “Every wine we have is a single-vineyard wine, for all intents and purposes,” Madill said. “But we were selling just about half of our grapes.”

Sheldrake never entered into a long-term partnership with other wineries, choosing instead to sell grapes as needed, to places as far away as Pennsylvania. “If we made all of those grapes into wine, we’d never move it.” Ready for a challenge, Madill and his team figured that if they increased their presence in the area, they could very well sell enough wine to make up the difference.

The team began looking into remote locations out of the area but the cost and logistics of managing a tasting room or storefront far away didn’t seem to Madill to be a worthwhile gamble. Then they stumbled across Busca Books on Seneca Lake, a convenient location with lots of room to spare. Owner Michael Cooper agreed to sell 2,500 square feet, the majority of the space, to Sheldrake, moving his business to the back third of the store.

A deck with clear glass paneling was added to the front and trees were cleared from the property to open up the view of the lake. The result is a modern, clean space with clean lines and lots of natural light. To keep the room from looking minimalistic, Sheldrake is decorating the walls with work from local artists.

The bars where servers pour might look different on any given day – they’re on wheels and can be rearranged or removed to accommodate for parties and events. “We searched forever for those bars,” Madill said. “We visited other tasting rooms, measured to find the perfect height and looked for the best material.”

That attention to detail is apparent in more than the decor. McAfee told me that when Sheldrake opened, she wrote letters introducing herself to the surrounding neighbors. “They’ve been really supportive so far,” she said, adding that many of them don’t actually drink alcohol. This “hey, neighbor” mentality is reminiscent, says Madill, from over a decade ago when Sheldrake moved into their space on Cayuga.

“In both locations, we’re basically in the middle of a residential area. We try to keep that in mind,” Madill said, recalling with a laugh (and a bit of a groan) the large white fence that was constructed then taken down in the parking lot at Seneca, after realizing it obstructed a resident’s view.

At the heart of the decision to expand Sheldrake’s presence in the Finger Lakes was a desire to rework and revitalize the winery’s portfolio. “We’re going to focus more on distinguishing where in the Cayuga vineyard our grapes come from,” said Madill, recognizing that the climate and character in vineyards can be drastically different even just a few yards away. They currently cultivate 43 acres with the potential for planting more vines, providing the doubling of production goes well in the next few years.

Riesling and cabernet franc make up the largest percentage of the vineyard, with the 2011 vintage shaping up to include a Dry Riesling, Semi-Dry Riesling and an Ice Riesling. Madill also has hopes for a Reserve Riesling, as it is “developing nicely” but isn’t yet certain it will be up to Sheldrake’s standards.

Consumers will also see the disappearance of Sheldrake Point Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Winemaker Dave Breeden and vineyard manager Dave Weimann will continue to grow the varieties, but have decided to blend them with cabernet franc in a Meritage, a Bordeaux-style blend.

Oak-Aged Riesling? In the Finger Lakes, it's Starting to Happen. Here's Why

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor

Two producers do not make a trend, but in any region there are trend-setters and trailblazers. In the Finger Lakes, Ravines Wine Cellars has been producing some of the strongest rieslings for the past decade. And newcomer Forge Cellars comes with the high expectations attached to the wines of Louis Barruol, a renowned winemaker from Gigondas in France.

Both Ravines and Forge are now experimenting with old oak barrels when it comes to making riesling.

Ravines winemaker Morten Hallgren took the first step, selecting a portion of his 2010 Argetsinger Vineyard Riesling to be aged in old, neutral barrels. "It's primarily for texture," Hallgren recently explained. "The acidity is there. The flavors are there. The oak has nothing to do with flavors."

That's an important distinction, especially for Forge Cellars, which employs 100% old oak for its line of rieslings. 

"Louis and I had a conversation about this some three or four years ago while sitting in Gigondas," wrote Forge co-owner Rick Rainey in a recent blog post. "We were talking about cool climate wines, wines that are often coveted for their fresh, searing, laser-like acidity. We both were commenting how wonderful acid is and then he started to tell me about experiments he had done with high-acid whites in barrel and how wonderful they turned out. I thought it all made sense because if you look at all the cool climate regions of the world, using barrels of different sizes was the norm before the stainless steel manufacturers showed up."

Like his co-owner Justin Boyette, Rainey loves discussing the history of wine. That deference to precedent comes through when he writes about Forge's use of neutral barrels, as Rainey jokes that Forge should be considered anything but a "trend-setter." 

"Riesling being done in barrel has been around a heck of a lot longer than anyone at Forge Cellars," Rainey explains. "If anything we are rolling back the clock a bit."

Try as he might to downplay the freshness of this approach, the fact remains that in the Finger Lakes, riesling resides in stainless steel. Winemakers seek freshness in riesling without wanting to compromise the bracing edges, nor do they seek aromatics and flavors that oak can impart. 

"The idea of hammering helpless little white wines with new oak is, well, lets just say, not for us," Rainey says. "But the idea of letting a high-acid, fresh, laser-like riesling relax a bit in a nice aged barrel could make a whole bunch of sense."

Wine writer Oz Clarke has written about riesling aged in oak, noting that it remains rather common in Germany, where producers in the Pfalz even occasionally employ new oak. But most, Clarke explains, opt for old barrels. "The flavors are quite obviously different (in rieslings aged in wood)," Clarke wrote in his book Grapes and Wines: The Definitive Guide to the World's Great Grapes and the Wines They Make "The gentle oxygenation that occurs in old wooden barrels softens the edges of the wine and adds complexity. The choice is a stylistic one, with the steely style generally being seen as more modern."

Hallgren noted that for now, Finger Lakes winemakers would have to use old barrique. But he's trying to find a way to bring old casks to the states from Europe. "It's quite an undertaking," Hallgren said with a smile. "But we're not giving up."

What does that mean for consumers? For those who seek the electric, razor's edge style of Finger Lakes riesling, Forge Cellars will probably come off as too rich, or too mellow, to borrow a word from Rainey. Ravines' Argetsinger Riesling is likely to be more subtle and still quite cutting, considering its aging in both steel and wood. But for those who find many Finger Lakes rieslings to be too acidic, perhaps over-the-edge, this kind of treatment offers the potential to attract new palates. If the wood comes through too strongly, the wines will flop. If the wood imparts a richer texture while allowing the crisp acidity to remain fresh, it could be a significant regional step. And with more choices, consumers are likely to benefit. 

4 a.m. is the Right Time for Ice Wine

By Bryan Calandrelli, Niagara Region Editor

The landscape along the Lake Ontario shoreline-hugging roadway that stretches eastward to Orleans County – Route 18 – pretty much becomes desolate once you pass Olcott. And it only seems more desolate at four in the morning on the coldest day of the winter. Lyndonville’s distance from the center of the Niagara Wine Trail keeps me from making this journey as often as I’d like to, but on this morning there was no hesitation – it was Leonard Oakes Estate Winery’s annual ice wine harvest.

As I made my way through an apple orchard to the first few rows of grapevines in the dark of night, there wasn’t much that would indicate that this was one of the most important days of the year for winemaker Jonathan Oakes, who had been waiting for this day since bud break.

“I don’t feel relaxed until these grapes are off and we’re in with a long enough window to press it out and work with it,” said Oakes.

It was only after hearing the low rumbling tractor noise and following the faint glimmer of headlights at the opposite end of the pitch-black vineyard that I found the winemaker surrounded by a few winery staff and an army of volunteers.

“Can you see the look of relief in my face?” asked Oakes.

While many wineries have already celebrated the end of harvest with toasts and parties, a few Niagara region wineries don’t consider the season to be over until their vats are full of ultra-sweet vidal blanc juice.

With this winter’s unusually mild temperatures, the thought of a normal ice wine harvest seemed like wishful thinking. Yet Oakes reassured me that the weather window we were in was perfect, even going as far as to state that this was the easiest winter harvest for the winery since they started. The lack of snow accumulation in the vineyard made getting the tractors, equipment and people in easier and the huge amount of support they received from volunteers enabled them to get the grapes off the vine in record time.

“During the last couple of harvests, the idea of ice wine was new to our area and it was difficult to recruit people that would be willing to get out there and help,” said Oakes. This year things were different. “All the recent accolades and buzz about our ice wine has really helped to secure people that want to come out and participate,” he said.

It’s this excitement and interest, combined with the fact that the Niagara region has already proven it can consistently produce some of the world’s best ice wine, that leads Oakes to believe that the industry has a strong future in his backyard. 

“I look at the amount of plantable acres we have left, with a grape variety like vidal that can grow in a little more severe conditions, and I think there’s just unlimited potential in our area,” said Oakes.

Even in mild winters like this one. Mother Nature ends up delivering what local winemakers need. And while Niagara is certainly not the only region to produce this style of wine, it does benefit from the success of Ontario’s ice wine industry. Niagara USA needs only to look at their example across the river on how to distinguish itself from the rest.

“It’s going to rely heavily on who jumps out and makes a distinct claim as to what is what our region can be known for,” said Oakes.

Regional branding aside, it’s in the post-harvest moment where I’m standing around with the rest of the crew warming up appropriately enough with a glass of Canadian whisky celebrating an end to a frigid end of the season harvest where I get a feeling of how special ice wine is to have gotten so many people to brave the elements just to take part in its production.

As daylight broke leaving Lyndonville, my journey back home was not as isolated as the trip there. I noticed a few carloads of vineyard workers following me back to Burt, NY where Schulze Vineyards & Winery had just begun their own harvest.

Altamont Vineyard & Winery 2008 Leon Millot Reserve

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Because of my interest in New York and other northeast wines, I've tasted a great many red hybrids over the years, but never Leon Millot.

In fact, I had never even heard of Leon Millot learning that Keuka Lake Vineyards on Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes has a bit of a cult following for its rendition. I have yet to taste that wine, but was able to get my hands on a bottle from Altamont Vineyards & Winery in Altamont, NY -- which happens to just be 15 miles or so from my where my wife's family lives. I hope to visit in the spring sometime.

Not knowing much about the grape, I did a little online research and found this on Wikipedia:

"Léon Millot is a red variety of hybrid grape used for wine.^[1] It was created in 1911 in the Oberlin Institute in Colmar, Alsace, by the French viticulturist Eugène Kuhlmann (1858–1932) by crossing the hybrid grape Millardet et Grasset 101-14 O.P. (which is Vitis riparia × Vitis rupestris^[2]) with Goldriesling, which is Vitis vinifera. The variety was named after the winemaker and tree nusery owner Léon Millot.

Léon Millot ripens early, and has high resistance against fungal diseases. It is therefore suited for cultivation in colder climates. It gives powerful wine with some foxy aromas."

If you're a fan of of Leon Millot and are expecting "powerful" and "foxy" you may be let down by Altamont Vineyard & Winery 2008 Leon Millot Reserve ($17). I didn't find it to be either.

The nose isn't particularly effusive, but features black cherry and currant fruit with hints of woodsy spice, camphor, and coffee.

Fresh, bouncy acidity provides structure on a low-tanning palate that delivers a serious dose of oak -- coming through mostly as chocolate and chicory coffee -- over top of black cherry flavors. The mid-palate is a little dilute and the finish is a bit short with a mothball quality that I didn't love.

Producer: Altamont Vineyard &Winery
AVA: New York
ABV: 11.5%  
Price: $17

 

 

(2 out of 5 | Average)

(Ratings Guide)

 

 

The Finger Lakes 2011 Red Wines of the Year Finalists: Explaining the Diverse Selections

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor
Photos from our WoTY 2009 Tasting by Morgan Dawson

I'm happy to see that the NYCR selections for Finger Lakes red wines of the year have generated a fair amount of feedback and debate. There have been many questions: Why no cabernet franc? How come every wine is made from a different grape? 

Keep in mind that for a wine to be eligible, it has to have been released in 2011. Many of the red wines released in 2011 came from the uneven 2009 vintage. The glorious 2009 September produced strong conditions for Finger Lakes pinot noir, but otherwise, it was a down vintage for reds. Some of the wines released in 2011 were from 2008, a solid-if-not-spectacular vintage. Very few of the 2010s have been released yet. If the vintage conditions and barrel tastings are any indication, they will be very good.

Cabernet franc fans, no worries: I expect that variety will be back in force in future years. But this lineup makes a statement, which is this:

Continued exploration and experimentation with red grape varieties in the Finger Lakes should be welcomed and celebrated.

Unlike riesling, the clear viticultural star of the region, there is no clear dominant red variety. That does not mean that red varieties can't thrive. In fact, it means that with some hard work and inquiry, a range of red varieties can make impressive wines. Each wine on the list comes with further confirmation of this idea.

Red Tail Ridge Winery 2009 Teroldego

I confess that, having tasted the bottled 2009 and the still-in-barrel 2010, I am even more excited about the newer vintage. But that should not prevent anyone from checking out this wine.

Winemaker Nancy Irelan has a long background in research, and without divulging the secrets she's trying to keep under wraps in her lab, it's fair to say that she has even more ideas for cool-climate red grapes. Teroldgeo was one of her first experiments. It is paying off.

The first vintage of teroldego came in 2008, and Irelan took the grapes from those young vines and turned them into an unusual red sparkler. That rapidly gained a following, but I'm glad that Irelan has not diverted from her plan of making a still teroldego. The grape provides nice acidity but also a backbone of chewy tannins. The flavors are unusual, and it's already showing signs of complexity.

Teroldego is grown primarily in northeastern Italy. Want to get really geeky? It's also grown in parts of California, where it's occasionally compared to zinfandel. That's probably because there is an inherent spice to the grape, which is related to the dureza grape, the father of syrah.

See, don't you want to see what else Irelan will try?

Rooster Hill Vineyards 2008 Reserve Lemberger

This grape variety continues its slow but steady accumulation of fans in the Finger Lakes. You say lemberger, I say blaufrankisch, but whatever: Rooster Hill has turned out a very nice version. 

Some winemakers are choosing to blend lemberger with cabernet franc, aiming for a complex blend of flavors and aromatics. I understand that, but I also enjoy seeing what blaufrankisch can do as a varietal. 

In normal-to-ripe vintages, lemberger can produce structured reds with spicy and dark flavors. (Hosmer winemaker Aaron Roisen sees lemberger's future as more akin to the softer pinot noirs of the world, but he's the regional exception.) 

The first time I tasted this wine with Rooster HIll owner Amy Hoffman, she was obviously excited about it. And yet she patiently waited to bring it to market, confident that the wine's makeup will allow a long life. I think she made the right call. Is there too much oak? For me, no. But watch for the oak influence in other lembergers or blaufrankisches, which can be sensitive to wood.

McGregor Vineyard 2007 Black Russian Red 30-Month Barrel Reserve

Saperavi and Sereksiya Charni. Those two grapes alone make this wine interesting. 

Here's a wine with a celebrated history, an intensely devoted following, and yet owner John McGregor decided to do something he'd never done before: He held half the vintage back, keeping it in barrel for a full year longer than most vintages. 

What's the result? Thanks to a powerhouse vintage, the wine stands up very well. I go back and forth on the need to decant wines - and for how long - but certainly I would not hesitate to give this wine some air before drinking it.

It's unique, and it has the structure to age with grace. The McGregor family proves it with annual verticals and library tastings. This is one of the most expensive wines in the Finger Lakes, and yet it has no trouble selling. 

Billsboro Winery 2010 Syrah

Syrah is occasionally misunderstood as a warm-climate variety. Its history shows a grape highly adaptable to its climate; it can produce some big, powerful wines in California, and its sweet spot in Cote-Rotie is much cooler. Neither of those regions is as cool as the Finger Lakes, but a group of winemakers is giving this variety an extended shot to succeed.

No one knew the success would come so soon. Damiani is understandably proud of their version, as are a handful of others, including Lucas and Red Newt Cellars. But the Billsboro version is the most intriguing yet.

We should have seen it coming. Syrah needs time to ripen, and 2009 simply didn't provide the growing season that a winemaker wants. And yet Vinny Aliperti's '09 Syrah was relatively prodigious. He couldn't explain it, other than to credit the Seneca Lake growers: Sawmill Creek Vineyards, where Billsboro sources its fruit.

So if he could produce that kind of syrah in 2009, it's not a surprise that 2010 finds a truly broad-shouldered, layered version that could attract the admiration of syrah lovers. Our own Mark Grimaldi was floored by this wine. And if you know Mark, you know that he has very tough standards. 

Ravines Wine Cellars 2009 Pinot Noir

By now, we know that the Finger Lakes is capable of outstanding pinot noir. We also know that this is not easily achieved, and is being produced by only a small group of wineries.

Winemaker Morten Hallgren drinks a lot of Burgundy and has a deep appreciation for the cool-climate style for this grape. That does not mean he's trying to recreate France in the Finger Lakes. That does mean, however, that he's aiming for elegance. 

The 2005 Ravines Pinot Noir is one of the great examples of what the region is capable of. Hallgren expects the 2009 to stand alongside it. I think that's possible.

50 Years of Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars

Courtesy of Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars

Billsboro Winery 2010 Dry Riesling

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

My Finger Lakes-focused colleague Evan Dawson and I sometimes lament what sometimes happens to Finger Lakes riesling when it's fermented dry. Depending on the fruit and the winemaker, the wines can become shrill, hollow and overly austere. Casually, we refer to them as "lemon water riesling."

That's not a compliment.

It seems though that dry rieslings from longer and/or warmer growing seasons -- like the long 2010 one -- tend to avoid this problem more often.  

Billsboro Winery 2010 Dry Riesling ($16) is an fine example of that. Made from fruit grown at Sawmill Creek Vineyards, it has expressive, pretty aromas of river rock, lime and citrus blossom.

Driven by minerally, rocky flavors, the lithe body also delivers lime, kumquat and grapefruit citrus character with a bit of green apple. Staying just this side of austere, its dry (.3% rs) with a focusing beam of acidity and a medium-long, mouth-watering finish that shows hints of flint.

Producer: Billsboro Winery
AVA: Finger Lakes
ABV: 11.5%  
RS: .3%
Production: 175 cases
Price: $16*

(3.5 out of 5 | Very Good, Recommended to Outstanding and Delicious, Highly Recommended)

(Ratings Guide)