New York Cork Report

Brooklyn Oenology Joines the Wine Blogosphere

Alie Shaper, proprietor of Brooklyn Oenology one of a couple wineries popping up in Brooklyn, sent me an email over the weekend letting me know that she's joined the wine blogosphere and is even posting some video to her blog. The one above is from the New York Wine Expo a few weeks ago. 

By the way, Alie makes her wines out here in Mattituck at Premium Wine Group with fruit she buys from the North Fork. One of the coolest things about BOE is their wine labels, which feature artwork from Brooklyn artists and are printed as stickers that can be removed very easily from the bottles.

Welcome to the blog world, Alie.

Bottling Cabernet Franc-Lemberger at Anthony Road Winery

Just a quick video, compliments of assistant winemaker Peter Becraft, of the bottling line at Anthony Road Winery.

This is the bottling of their 2007 cabernet franc-Lemberger blend.

Beyond New York: Exploring Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

"Man, these California wines suck!"

Last fall at the 2008 Wine Bloggers Conference, that quote could be attributed to me regularly. It was something I said out loud, in an exaggerated manner -- mostly to make my fellow wine bloggers laugh. And it worked. Lots of laughs, eye rolls and comments about thin, underripe reds from New York.

I mean, they know me as the New York wine guy, so why not play that up by putting down those overripe, overoaked high-alcohol cocktail wines from California?

Oops, I did it again.

All jokes aside, not all California wines suck. They sell way too much of it -- some at incredibly high prices -- for that to be true. There must be something worth while. What is it about these wines that people love so much?

I don't know. But I want to at least attempt to find out.

And, I'm going with the King of all California wines, Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon. I'm soliciting recommendations from all of my bloggers/Twitter/wine friends for their favorite Napa cabs $50 and under. I know, this excludes the big boys that get the high-90s scores from the glossy publications, but hey, these are tough financial times for everyone.

So, if you have a favorite Napa cab that is $50 or less, let me know. Within the next few weeks, I'm going to get as many of these wines together as I can and host a blind tasting, throwing cabernet sauvignon from other regions into the mix as well.

Keep an eye out for a full tasting report when I'm done with this little experiment. And, if you have some suggestions for my next wine/AVA to explore, leave a comment.

McGregor Vineyard 2007 "Emery Vineyards" Seyval Blanc

I'm definitely not one of those wine writer-types who dismisses hybrid grapes. I've had some terrific wines made from Vidal. Have enjoyed several different styles of Vignoles. And, I even like Seyval Blanc when it's done well.

Some winemakers treat Seyval a bit too much like chardonnay for my liking, aging it in oak, which just isn't a good idea. Others leave a significant amount of residual sugar in the finished wine, trying to appeal to the white zinfandel set. Jeff Dencenburg, winemaker at McGregor, did a little of both with this McGregor Vineyard 2007 "Emery Vineyards" Seyval Blanc ($16), but he didn't overdue either.

This wine was partially fermented in French oak barrels, was blended with 20% chardonnay, and has 1.25% residual sugar.

So pale that its nearly colorless in the glass (all of the McGregor whites I've had recently were like this), the nose is rather neutral with overripe pear and subtle hints of oak-spice.

There is a bit more flavor on a medium-bodied palate, still led by pear and apple flavors. There's a bit of citrus here too and some definite spice that comes from that barrel fermentation. That residual sugar is balanced fairly well by acidity -- only really peeking through on the mid-palate -- and the wine finishes citrusy and clean, if a bit short. I've had far worse Seyval, but I've had better too.

Grapes: 80% Seyval Blanc, 20% chardonnay
Producer: McGregor Vineyard
AVA: Finger Lakes
Price: $16
ABV: 11.6%
RS: 1.25%
Rating:    (2 out of 5 | Average)

(Ratings Guide)

Hosmer Winery 2007 Riesling

Is there anything better than driving through wine country, stopping off at a winery that you hadn't planned to visit, and discovering a gem? It's one of the wine world's great joys and it happened to me and Nena on our last day in the Finger Lakes a few weeks ago.

As we drove up the western side of Cayuga Lake, we spotted a sign for Hosmer Winery. The winery we had planned to visit wasn't open yet, so we stopped in at Hosmer... and we're glad that we did. The wines impressed almost across the board. This was one of the wines that we liked best, so we bought a few bottles and I included one in my weekly tasting on Sunday.

In my experience, Cayuga rieslings are richer in their fruit profile and less minerally than those grown on Seneca or Keuka Lakes. This Hosmer Winery 2007 Riesling ($12) is a great example of that. The nose is ripe with big peach, candied lemon peel, overripe pear and somewhat tropical aromas most prominent with subtle floral-herbal and pencil eraser notes.

This is a medium-light bodied riesling with intense peach, melon and candied, almost honeyed citrus flavors. The mid-palate is fruity, round, lightly sweet and the finish is medium-long with a gentle dryness brought about by well-balanced, well integrated acidity.

And for $12? I wish more wineries brought this sort of quality at that price point. This is a killer value.

Producer: Hosmer Winery
AVA: Cayuga Lake
Price: $12
ABV: 11.2%
RS: 2.5%
Rating: (3 out of 5 | Recommended)

(Ratings Guide)

Book Review: The House of Mondavi

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Correspondent

The other day I had a conversation with a friend and we tried to answer this question: If a winemaker can truly say that he or she focuses on quality, and carefully tends the grapes and makes the wine, how many cases (in terms of production) is realistic? Five thousand annually? Seven thousand? Ten thousand? Twenty? We went back and forth, as there isn't a concrete answer. But I can say without hesitation that 1.2 million cases of wine was not in the ballpark of "quality."

All of which is to say, reading the life story of the Mondavi family is like reading about a sect of aliens making wine on Saturn (which, if you listen to Michael Mondavi, might happen sooner than later at his family's urging). As a Finger Lakes wine writer, it is hard to imagine one operation making millions of cases of wine each year, and it is ludicrous to hear the Mondavis talk about making millions of cases of wine while still focusing on quality. But such is the story of an American wine dynasty in Julia Flynn Siler's "The House of Mondavi" (Gotham Books, New York).

At nearly 400 pages, the book reads surprisingly quickly thanks to Siler's deft handling of a wide range of subjects. She captures the drama of a self-destructive family, and she uses her skills as a Wall Street Journal reporter to convert banal financial details into a riveting plot. While occasionally lacking in her prose, Siler delivers the necessary pace to keep the reader hungry for the next plot turn. And there are a myriad of twists and turns, as the Mondavi family takes the brakes off their avarice-laced wine freight train.

The forced sale of Mondavi to Finger Lakes-based Constellation Brands is instructive. Siler writes that before acquiring Mondavi, Constellation was known for making "gutter wines" and used the sale to raise their profile in the fine wine business. Then, immediately after the sale goes through, we learn (or perhaps I should say our suspicions are confirmed) that Constellation immediately cuts staff and makes decisions aimed at improving the bottom line at the assumed expense of quality. Fine wine, indeed.

Given Siler's description of Constellation, consumers of New York state wines should be relieved that Constellation has declined to pursue the best producers in the local industry. And, given production volumes, why would they?

My biggest complaint is that Siler fails to capture the true desires of each Mondavi family member, with the exception of Timothy, who was the only one fighting for smaller production and higher quality. We're left to assume that Robert and Michael loved the venal thrill of global wine dominance, but we're never allowed to find out if they truly love wine. I kept waiting to hear Michael explain what kinds of wine inspired him, what individual wine experiences stayed with him. Perhaps there is not much to say in this regard; Siler portrays Michael as a narcissistic businessman who eschews quality for dollars, and I just wonder if he were always that way.

Cheers to Julia Flynn Siler for a thorough and enjoyable read. And cheers to our small producers who can say with straight faces that quality remains a driving force.

First Social Media Basics Workshop Held in Finger Lakes Wine Country

 

By Melissa Dobson, Finger Lakes News Correspondent

What exactly are Facebook and Twitter? Do these platforms offer benefits to small businesses like wineries? 

These are questions that are asked of the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing team quite frequently. And after I also noticed a swell of interest in social media from businesses here, Morgen McLaughlin and I presented a full-day workshop to provide an overview of the most popular social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. 

Of the 60 attendees, more than half represented local wineries, and several others were in the tourism business. Our goal was to familiarize attendees with the platforms and their ability to help attract eyeballs and online word of mouth in a cost-effective medium that is seen as an equalizer for small businesses and a great way to keep on the radar of customers.

After leading with facts and figures of the social media landscape, I showed a video from a recent Fox Business News report highlighting Ford Motor Company's use of social media conversations to engage their customers, ran through what social media is vs. what it isn't, showed videos of Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk demonstrating social media best practices, and presented worst practices to avoid. 

During the interactive workshop, we talked through the platforms and demonstrated a live Twitter  conversation with several wine "tweeps" (people on Twitter). We set up a new Twitter profile live for one of the participants and many others in the room followed along on their laptops and set up their own new profiles.

The afternoon was devoted primarily to Facebook. Morgen McLaughlin presented Facebook metrics relating to the Finger Lakes Wine Country fan pages and group pages. We demonstrated how to set up pages, share information to promote others (one of my favorite features) and how to link to other business pages within Facebook. 

Another key topic was the wine blogosphere and how to best engage with bloggers. We concluded with my assessment of where the wineries and businesses of the Finger Lakes region currently stand in terms of social media adoption. We understand that our region is taking initial steps and has some catching up to do but I've already noticed that many of our workshop attendees really are excited and jumping into the social media pool. 

I had several people approach me after the workshop with enthusiasm about getting their social media presence established to engage their fans and create "raving fans" and "tribes" of their own.

McGregor Vineyard 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay

I've been vocal in my appreciation for winemakers who eschew the overblown use of oak in their chardonnays. I can appreciate well-made barrel-fermented chardonnay, but it's not a style I drink a lot of. Maybe it's the riesling lover in me, but I tend to like a purer expression of fruit and the vineyard in my whites.

That doesn't mean that I love every no-oak chardonnay that I come across.

This McGregor Vineyard 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay ($17) is not one of the better examples I've had.

Such a pale green-tinted yellow that it's nearly colorless, the nose is similarly light and austere with primary green apple aromas and hints of wet gravel. The palate, which has flavors identical to the nose, is medium-light bodied and very acidic, almost harshly so. I love acidity in white wines, but the malic acid, just-bite-into-an-underripe-green apple tartness is too much here, throwing the wine off balance.

My friend Loisa Hargrave, the founding mother of Long Island wine, once told me that the prefers unoaked chardonnays with a bit of bottle age. This might be a wine with which to test her theory that they age well in the short term. I'd like to try this again in 18 months or so.

Producer: McGregor Vineyard
AVA: Finger Lakes
Price: $16
ABV: 12.1%
Rating:    (2 out of 5 | Average)

(Ratings Guide)

Napa Winemakers + Long Island Fruit = I'm Not Sure Yet.

The view from inside Mark Snyder's new winery in Red Hook, Brooklyn

By Sasha Smith, New York City Correspondent

Technically, Brooklyn is part of Long Island, so it’s fair to call Red Hook home to one of Long Island’s newest wineries. The as-yet-unnamed winery is a joint project between distributor Mark Snyder, Napa winemakers Robert Foley and Abe Schoener, Michael Cinque from Amagansett Wines and Max Loubiere, a long-time friend of Snyder’s and Billy Joel’s tour director. (Snyder is a veteran of the music industry.) The project sources fruit from a number of Long Island growers/vineyards, including Macari Vineyards, Jamesport Vineayrds, Split Rock Vineyard, Ackerly Pond Vineyards and Anderson Vineyard.

Snyder kindly invited me to the winery last month where we tasted through the wines, still in barrel, and he told me about the philosophy behind the winery. He said that he had largely been disappointed with the quality of Long Island wines he had tasted, citing a “lack of style” for the entire region. For Snyder, Long Island producers too often try to emulate a particular style – taking either a typically New World or Bordeaux approach – rather than letting the vineyard speak for itself. Snyder also believes that because it’s relatively easy for wineries to sell most of their product straight from the cellar door, there’s little incentive to improve and try to compete in the global marketplace.

The winery’s goal is to bring some serious ambition to the region, largely at the hands of consulting winemakers Bob Foley and Abe Schoener. (On-site winemaker Christopher Nicolson, formerly of Littorai in Sonoma, does the day-to-day heavy lifting.) Foley, the former winemaker at Pride Mountain and now at his own eponymous winery, specializes in powerful reds, particularly those made with cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Schoener is the philosopher/winemaker behind The Scholium Project, a collection of iconoclastic wines (eg, Sauvignon Blanc fermented on its skins).

Snyder characterizes Foley as a fairly traditional, “clean” winemaker, whereas Schoener takes a more experimental approach – intentional oxidation of some whites, leaving the wine on its lees until bottling, and minimal use of sulfites. Working with the same batch of fruit, Foley and Schoener create two very different wines.

For example, in Foley’s hands, merlot from Bruce Schneider’s Anderson vineyard is coffee bean, smoke, chocolate and black fruit, whereas Abe Schoener’s interpretation has much more pronounced tannins and red fruit characteristics. When these wines are bottled, beginning this spring for the whites, they’ll provide an edifying experience for anyone who wants to understand how winemaking techniques affect the characteristics of the final product.

As for the work in the vineyard, the team advocates what Snyder calls “extreme farming.” They scouted promising plots and worked with the growers/producers to ensure that they’d have a big say in farming decisions. Most notably, they insisted on extensive hang time, in some cases picking long after most everyone else on Long Island. In the poor, rain-plagued 2008 vintage, this decision was not for the faint of heart. One of their blocks at Macari, which usually yields anywhere between 8-10 tons of fruit, ended up producing 1.1 tons of fruit after the rains (and birds) took their share.

Fulkerson Winery 2007 Riesling Reserve

One of the wineries we were disappointed not to have to visit during our recent trip to Seneca Lake was Fulkerson Winery. They are a large producer in the region, making more than 50,000 cases annually. They are also one of the larger growers in the region and sell a significant amount of fruit and juice to home winemakers.

Their portfolio is large and varied. In addition to the expected varieties (riesling, Gewurztraminer, etc.) they also grow and bottle things like Vincent, Dornfelder, Delaware, Diamond and Noiret.

Some wineries struggled to make balanced, lively riesling from the hot 2007 vintage, and Fulkerson Winery's 2007 Riesling Reserve ($16) shows a bit of that difficulty. The nose is fruity and ripe, with apricot, pear and lime aromas along with a distinct lychee note that makes me wonder if some Traminette or Gewurztraminer wasn't part of the final blend.

The broad, soft, medium-bodied palate is very fruity with peach and pear flavors dominating and citrusy edge. The finish is dry but a bit flat. That clean vein of minerally acidity found in many Finger Lakes rieslings is less prominent here, resulting in a perhaps more approachable wine that is a near-miss for me. I'm left wanting a bit more structure and a little less weight on the palate.

Producer: Fulkerson Winery
AVA: Finger Lakes
ABV: 12%
RS: 0%
Price: $16.50
Rating:  (2.5 out of 5 | Average-to-Very Good)

(Ratings Guide)

LENNDEVOURS Wins "Best Single-Subject Wine Blog" Award

I just received word that LENNDEVOURS has been named the winner as "Best Single-Subject Wine Blog" in the 2009 American Wine Blog awards.

This is obviously an honor and I'd like to thank each and every one of you reading this post for reading LENNDEVOURS. We'e coming up on the 5-year anniversary of its creation and I never expected my blog to become what it has today, but I'm certainly glad that is has. I've met so many great people, tasted so many great wines and had so many great experiences because of LENNDEVOURS that it is more than worth the time I put into it.

I'd also like to thank my contributors: Bryan Callandrelli, Jason Feulner, Sasha Smith, Evan Dawson, and Melissa Dobson for all of their important contributions to this blog, and for helping me shape the future of LENNDEVOURS.

To my patient, loving wife Nena -- thank you for always pushing me to follow my passion for wine and writing.

And to the members of the New York wine industry -- this wouldn't be possible without the great wines that you're crafting right in my own backyard. So thank you too.

I guess what I'm saying is that this isn't an award just for me. It's one for anyone who has read, written for or been written about in these pages. That community of folks is really what blogging is about after all, isn't it? Without all of those people, it's just boring mainstream media.

The rest of the winners haven't been posted yet, but keep an eye out for them over at Fermentation.

Introducing 'Sonis Cellars 2008 Watercolor White

That didn't take long. Not even a week, in fact. The white wine that I bottled last weekend at Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard not only has a name, it also has a label, which you can see by looking just a few inches to your right.

By the way, if you don't know what 'Sonis Cellars is, you can learn about it in a previous post.

Back to the label, this is truly a family affair. The watercolor that adorns the label was painted by our little Picasso, Jackson sometime in the fall. When Nena brought it home with her from his school, I liked it enough that she framed it for me for Christmas. Fatherly pride? You've got that right.

I wanted to use it for a wine label too, but wasn't sure what to call the wine. Then Nena, the LENNDEVOURS resident muse, came through with a simple but terrific name: Watercolor White.

I still have four different red wines from the 2007 vintage sitting in my cellar, unlabeled and unnamed, but that can wait. I don't really want to start drinking those for at least another six-to-twelve months. You can bet that Jackson and Nena will be involved in the naming and artwork, however. They are my inspiration is most everything that I do.

A Trip to Anthony Road Wine Company

Two weeks ago, when Nena and I were in the Finger Lakes region to take part in the PALATE 2009 festivities, I wanted to keep our visits to tasting rooms casual and mostly as 'civilians' so we could taste at our leisure like we did years ago before LENNDEVOURS became what it is today.

There was one exception, however -- our visit to Anthony Road Wine Company the morning of our arrival. 

I don't remember when I first learned about Anthony Road, but assistant winemaker, Peter Becraft, used to live in Brooklyn and work at Greene Grape (the shop I partner with on the New York Cork Club) so there was a connection there. I also know that I've tasted winemaker Johannes Reinhardt's rieslings before and enjoyed them without exception. Anyway, I got in touch with Peter and set an appointment for us to meet in person and taste.

I'm glad that I did. The wines we tasted were terrific, but the real pleasure was meeting and talking with Peter (left) and Johannes (right). There is a certain realness, a down-to-earthness about people in the Finger Lakes that is palpable and infectious. Everyone is so passionate about what they are doing and they want nothing more than to share that passion with you. The folks at Anthony Road epitomize that attitude. These are real people with real passion doing real work.

We also met John and Ann Martini, who welcomed us with open arms and told us a bit about the history of the property, how the sub-zero temperatures affected their vineyard and about John's weekly trek to New York City to sell wine at the green market. The Martinis planted the first vines on the site in 1973. The vignoles vines planted way back then are still viable and have attained "honorary vinifera" status as Peter put it.

For more than 20 years, the grapes they grew were sold to wineries throughout the Finger Lakes and New York, but with the 1989 vintage, they decided to produce their own wines. In 2000, Johannes, a native of Franconia, Germany, joined Anthony Road as its new winemaker.

His winemaking philosophy comes through clearly in his wines. He makes his wines based on what Mother Nature gives him in the vineyard (a cliche, but true in this case) and there is a consistent minerally-citrusy freshness to his whites that we really enjoyed. He also only uses Finger Lakes fruit in his winemaking, something that seems obvious but can not be assumed in the region.

Johannes is also refreshingly honest and straight forward. That is no more apparent then when we talked about cabernet franc, one of my favorite grapes. He has clear lukewarm (or colder) feelings towards it, disliking the "dusty" aromas and flavors it can have in the Finger Lakes. Instead, he prefers to use it for rose or blend it with Lemberger -- a unique blend Anthony Road pioneered on Seneca Lake that has been since been adopted by a handful of local wineries. Johannes dislikes cab franc so much that he wants to reduce the percentage of it in this blend down to around 50% going forward.

He's also upfront about vineyard management in the region, saying that they unfortunately many growers "grow all grapes the same way."

We didn't taste the entire portfolio during our visit, skipping the "Tony's" line of entry-level blends with 3+% residual sugar. But we did taste much of the rest of the Anthony Road line.

Some quick notes straight from my notebook:

Voting in the 2009 American Wine Blog Awards Ends Tonight

I truly hate mucking up my blog with posts like this one, so I'll keep it short. Today is the last day of voting for the 2009 American Wine Blog Awards.

So please go vote for LENNDEVOURS and your other favorite wine blogs. Wouldn't it be great to see a non-pro from the East Coast win a couple of these things? I think it would.

Vote today!

Castello di Borghese 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Estate

It seems that just about everyone interested in Long Island wine knows Castello di Borghese, located on Route 48 in Cutchogue. You see, before the property was bought by Marco Borghese (an Italian prince) it was Hargrave Vineyard, where Alex and Louisa Hargrave founded the Long Island wine world back in 1973.

If you're visiting Long Island wine country, you really should stop by Borghese to get a taste of that history. Focus on the pinot noir and cabernet franc when you're there.

This Castello di Borghese 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Estate ($20) is a pale straw-yellow in the glass and while a little timid on the nose, offers candied lemon peel, honeyed citrus, jalapeno pepper and herbs aromas.

The medium-to-full bodied palate it citrusy, with more of that honey-fruity character up front with a field filled with herbs and jalapeno as well. The mid-palate is lush and fills the mouth with just barely enough acidity. The finish, which lingers nicely, is dry and features a lemon pith note.

Producer: Castello di Borghese
AVA: North Fork of Long ISland
ABV: 12.5%
Price: $20
Rating:  (2.5 out of 5 | Average-to-Very Good)

(Ratings Guide)

Wolffer Estate 2005 Estate Selection Chardonnay

Roman Roth, winemaker at Wolffer Estate (along with Roanoke Vineyards and his own label, Grapes of Roth) makes some of my favorite Long Island chardonnay. His Wolffer Estate 2003 Estate Selection is one of my all-time favorites.

Though a bit less refined than the stellar 2003 bottling, the current release -- Wolffer Estate’s 2005 Estate Selection Chardonnay ($29) is still a fine example of barrel fermented chardonnay.

Extremely toasty on the nose, oak and vanilla scents dominate with juicy-ripe pear aromas peeking through.

Medium-to-full bodied with extremely lively acidity, the palate shows rich peach and pear fruit character with butterscotch, vanilla and oak. The finish is long, tongue-tingly with maybe a bit too much acidity (only 25% ML) and finishes on a citrusy note.

There was a lot of flabby chardonnay made in the unusually hot 2005 vintage. This isn't one of them. Still, I think this wine’s best days might be ahead of it. The acidity will integrate better and the flavors will even out a bit.

Producer: Wolffer Estate
AVA: The Hamptons, Long Island
ABV: 13.3%
Price: $29
Rating:  (2.5 out of 5 | Average-to-Very Good)

(Ratings Guide)

Video: PALATE 2009 Comparative Tasting -- 2008 Rieslings

The last in the short series of videos I have from my PALATE 2009 Comparative Tasting at Atwater Estate Vineyards, co-hosted by winemaker Vinny Aliperti.

In this one, Vinny and assistant winemaker Justin Boyette pour two tank samples of 2008 dry riesling, talk a bit a out the sourcing and also the growing season.

Don't Forget to Vote For LENNDEVOURS

Just a quick reminder that this blog is a finalist in two categories in the American Wine Blog Awards:"Best Single-Subject Wine Blog" and "Best Overall Wine Blog."

So, if you enjoy what read here on LENNDEVOURS, I'd encourage you to vote for us. Voting ends at the end of the day on March 4. And it appears that you can vote more than once (not sure if that's intended or not)

Vote today.

'Sonis Cellars 2008 UNNAMED White is in Bottle

Saturday morning, 19 cases of 'Sonis Cellars 2008 white wine were bottled by yours truly and a small band of futures buyers. And by "futures buyers" I mean friends a family who went in on the batch with me. Fact is, I only came home with 3 cases to keep for myself.

The final blend is 60% viognier and 40% chardonnay, without a trace of oak or malolactic fermentation.

Right now, it's very citrusy with grapefruits and lemons the predominant aromas and flavors right now with some citrus zest there too. It's light, fresh and pretty tasty.

The labels remain un-labeled in the cellar because I haven't even come up with a name for this wine yet.  That's one of my goals for the week though.

Freedom Run Winery 2005 Chardonnay

Freedom Run Winery is a winery in Lockport, NY that you have no-doubt heard of if you're a long-time reader of this blog. Our man on the ground in the Niagara Escarpment has written about them a few times and has even helped out at harvest, in the winery and in the tasting room there.

I, on the other hand, know much less about them. But, as we expand our reach to encompass all of the wines being made in New York, it's important that we include a region that shows such great promise. Maybe we'll even be able to convince Bryan to write more. Maybe?

Anyway, this Freedom Run Winery 2005 Chardonnay ($15) is labeled under the New York State AVA because it is made with fruit sourced from the Chautaqua Lake area in the Lake Erie AVA. As you've read before on this blog, the Escarpment is such a young region that many producers are still waitng for their vines to mature enough to make wine with estate-grown fruit.

The medium golden color of this wine tells you right away that it has spent some time in oak and the nose backs that up with aromas of roasted pear and apple, butter and vanilla.

This medium-bodied wine has nice spice flavors -- think baking spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. There is some of that pear-apple character, but not quite enough to stand up to the significant barrel-born flavors of vanilla, oak and buttered corn. The finish is medium-long and dry, with a light tingle of acidity, but also a raw oak note that was a bit off-putting.

Lovers of barrel chardonnay could do far worse because of this wine's acidity and delicious spice component, but it also shows many of the characteristics that card-carrying members of Anything But Chardonnay dislike so much.

Producer: Freedom Run Winery
AVA: New York
Price: $15
ABV: 12.4%
Rating:    (2 out of 5 | Average)

(Ratings Guide)