TasteNY: Finger Lakes Riesling Tasting a Success

(Pictured left to right: Eric Fry (Lenz), Kelly Urbanik (Bedell), Adam Suprenant (Osprey's Dominion), Miguel Martin (Palmer), Rich Olsen-Harbich (Raphael), Pascal Zugmeyer (Peconic Bay), Greg Gove (Peconic Bay) and Jim Silver (Peconic Bay).

By Lenn Thompson, Long Island Editor and Editor-in-Chief

I just got home from a riesling-filled evening with some of Long Island's best winemakers, tasting a total of 24 rieslings from a variety of regions -- the Finger Lakes, Long Island, Alsace, Washington, Mosel.

Tasting with a group of winemakers is always a fun exercise. Opinions were all over the map about the various wines, and I'll be compiling all of the scores and doing a little number crunching over the next couple of days.

In the meantime, I want to thank Jim, Pascal and the whole staff at Peconic Bay Winery for hosting the event, which went off without a hitch. Also, thanks to La Bonne Quiche for a delicious buffet dinner following the tasting. 

And finally, to the winemakers who took time out of their pre-harvest preparations to taste through these wines (and for bringing their own).

I hesitate to delcare any "winners" without looking at all the score sheets, but it seems as I glance through them that almost to a person, the Billsboro Winery 2008 Riesling scored well. Look for more on the scores and how they differed between the winemakers and non-winemakers as well. Fascinating sitting with men and women who seek out fault so intensely and accurately. It's a humbling experience, really.

And I always love how, the second the "wine work" is done, winemakers are looking for beer.

Comments

[jim]

Homefield advantage notwithstanding, I'm very happy the PBW wines (2003, 2007) showed so well. That said, I must say how impressed I am with the FLX Rieslings. Anthony Road showed everyone why it won the Gov Cup, while the big surprise for me was the very lovely Billsboro. Not every wine was a revalation, but clearly the terrior of the region and the talent of the winemakers, as well as house-styles were on display.

I'm glad that my assumptions about the style of NY State Rieslings seems to be solidified, that is, the upstate wines are "Mosel"-like and the downstate Rieslings are "Rhine"-like. That's an over-simplification, but one most winos understand.