The New York Cork Report 2011 Wines of the Year Finalists

The winners from our 2010 Wines of the Year tasting (Photo by Morgan Dawson Photography) 

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

This is the third year of our New York Cork Report "Wines of the Year" program and over the past several weeks, my colleagues Bryan Calandrelli and Evan Dawson, and I have been tasting, re-tasting and re-re-tasting dozens of wines to , narrow and hone our lists of finalists 2011 Wines of the Year.

We don't pretend that we've tasted every single wine released during the 2011 calendar year, but we feel that we've tasted a more-than-representative sampling from each region. Each of these finalists was hand-picked by the regional editor for each region -- Evan Dawson (Finger Lakes), Bryan Calandrelli (Niagara) and myself (Long Island and Hudson River Region) -- and will be blind tasted by most of the  NYCR team in mid-February to determine the winners. While the team will attend and take part in the tasting, only wine editors will vote.

You will notice some variations in terms of categories and wines per category. Those decisions are left up to the regional editors.

Finger Lakes Region

Red Wines
Billsboro Winery 2010 Syrah
McGregor Vineyard 2007 30-Month Barrel Black Russian Red
Ravines Wine Cellars 2009 Pinot Noir
Red Tail Ridge Winery 2009 Teroldego
Rooster Hill Vineyards 2008 Lemberger Reserve

Riesling Wines
Anthony Road Wine Company 2009 Art Series Riesling
Bloomer Creek Vineyard 2010 uten Vineyard First Harves Dry Riesling
Hermann J. Wiemer 2010 Dry Riesling Reserve
Keuka Lake Vineyards 2010 Semi-Dry Riesling
Tierce 2009 Riesling
Standing Stone Vineyards 2010 Riesling

Sparkling Wines
Chateau Frank 2006 Blanc de Noir
Hermann J. Wiemer 2006 Blanc de Noir
 

Dessert Wines
Atwater Estate Vineyards 2010 Celsius
Ravines Wine Cellars 2007 Appasionata
Standing Stone 2010 Riesling Ice

Hudson River Valley Region

Red Wines
Hudson-Chatham Winery 2010 Casscles Vineyard Reserve Baco Noir
Oak Summit Vineyard 2010 Pinot Noir
Tousey Winery 2010 Cabernet Franc

White Wines
Hudson-Chatham Winery 2010 Estate Seyval Blanc
Millbrook Vineyards 2010 Tocai Friulano
Oak Summit 2010 Chardonnay

Long Island Region

Merlot Wines
Clovis Point 2007 Vintner's Reserve Merlot
Grapes of Roth 2005 Merlot
Lenz Winery 2007 Estate Merlot
Paumanok Vineyards 2007 Merlot
Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2007 Christian's Cuvee Merlot

Non-Merlot Red Wines
Jamesport Vineyards 2007 Sidor Reserve Syrah
Leo Family 2007 Red
Peconic Bay Winery 2007 Lowerre Family Estate
Roanoke Vineyards 2007 Blend 2
Roanoke Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

White Wines
Bedell Cellars 2010 Viognier
Channing Daughters Winery 2010 Mudd Vineyard West Sauvignon Blanc
Grapes of Roth 2009 Riesling
Palmer Vineyards 2010 Sauvignon Blanc
Paumanok Vineyards 2010 Sauvignon Blanc

Sparkling Wines
Bedell Cellars 2007 Blanc de Blancs
Lenz Winery 1999 Cuvee RD
Lenz Winery 2005 Cuvee
Sparkling Pointe 2001 Brut Seduction
Sparkling Pointe 2007 Brut

Dessert Wines
Jamesport Vineyards 2010 Late Harvest Riesling
Grapes of Roth 2009 Noble Roth Late Harvest Riesling
Paumanok Vineyards 2010 Late Harvest Riesling
Shinn Estate Vineyards 2009 Veil
Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2009 Laica

Niagara Region

Reds Wines
Arrowhead Spring Vineyards 2010 Pinot Noir
Arrowhead Spring 2010 Estate Syrah
Eveningside Vineyards 2009 Cabernet Franc
Freedom Run Winery 2010 Reserve Pinot Noir
Long Cliff Winery 2010 Pinot Noir

White Wines
Arrowhead Spring 2009 Reserve Chardonnay
Eveningside Vineyards 2010 Reserve Chardonnay
Freedom Run Winery 2010 Estate Chardonnay
Leonard Oakes 2010 Reserve Riesling
Schulze Vineyards 2010 Vidal Blanc 

 

Congratulations to all of the finalists. Keep an eye on this site for more information and results in a few weeks.

Comments

[Dana Estep]

I look forward to reading the results in Feb. Somehow the Standing Stone riesling has made it to the Pittsburgh area. I'll pick some up and try it.

I'd love to try some of the nominees from outside the Finger Lakes, but unfortunately, almost nothing from NY outside of the Finger Lakes makes it to the Pittsburgh area. And it's not like a lot of FLX wines turn up either.

[Brian]

Looks like the Long Island region was a little more hand picked.......not sure why as the Finger Lakes has the greatest concentration of wineries in the state.

[Art Kaye]

Nothing from the Lake Erie area? Sad.

[Lenn Thompson]

Dana: I share your frustration with lack of NY wines in Pittsburgh, but I'm actually involved in a small effort to work on getting at least a few more in...stay tuned.

Brian: I'm not sure what you mean by "more hand picked" but I'd love to hear more. Not sure that sheer number of wineries has anything to do with it though.

Art: I've tried for years to either find someone in Erie-Chautauqua or get my hands on wines from that part of New York. I've had next to no luck with those ideas. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

[Art Kaye]

Tough question. When I find myself in the area - only twice in the last three years after a hiatus of about a decade, I try to schedule a day of visits to the wineries. When I said "sad," I was thinking that the wines I tasted last summer and two summers before weren't as good as I remembered from ten years earlier. All I can think of is send a letter to the wineries and see who responds.

[Steve]

I think you did a great job on the Long Island section with the groupings and the selections. Almost every memorable wine I had is on the list. I guess for diversity sake I could quibble and would have liked either Bedell or Lenz's great gwertraminers, perhaps a red from Macari (merlot or Bergen Rd if they were qualified), or maybe even Mattabella Old World (if qualified), but then again, what to take off?

[Evan Dawson]

Art - A couple of years ago, I attended a tasting arranged by producers in that region. It was extremely educational and we selected a range of wines for our WOTY tasting. I also wrote an extended piece about the region's development. Unfortunately, I was later informed that my constructive critique (it was not a hit piece at all) made NYCR personae non grata in some of the wineries. That's their decision, if it's true, and we're always happy to taste wines from all parts of NY state.

[Ryan Love]

Evan,

I noticed that this year, the white FLX nominees only include the riesling category. The separate category still makes sense to me, but I was wondering about the rationale of eliminating the "Non-Riesling White" category. Last year, I rather enjoyed the attention the category paid to the less-heralded whites of the FLX. Is this year's omission of non-riesling whites a comment upon their quality relative to the previous vintage? Or was some other thought process at work?
As always, interesting picks--particularly with the absence of cab franc from the red list. Your picks strike me as further evidence that it remains far too early to determine which red varietals have the most potential for the region.

[Evan Dawson]

Ryan - Astute observations as usual. I'll start with the reds... Next week I'll have a piece explaining the choices, and you've nailed it: it's a statement on diversity. The outstanding 2010 vintage is largely unreleased, so most of the reds hitting the market in 2011 were from what are generally considered lesser vintages. (That's not true for all varieties and all sites, but I think you know what I mean.) To me, this presented the ideal opportunity to lay out the regional exploration of red varieties. Each selection on this list is different. It was tough to exclude Cab Franc this year, but I have no doubt it will return next year. This list demonstrates that open-minded winemakers and hard-working growers are doing impressive things with a range of cool climate-dominant varieties. Teroldego!

Regarding whites, Lenn and I are adamant about not forcing a list for the sake of having one. That does not mean that there aren't high-quality non-Riesling whites released in 2011. However, most releases came from 2010, and many winemakers reported challenges keeping natural acidity and sugar in balance in flagship varieties like Gewürztraminer. On top of that, I confess to having wanted to taste more widely than I did in this category.

[Lenn Thompson]

Steve: Funny you should mention those two wines -- they were two of my last cuts when I was paring down the list. A third gewurztraminer -- Anthony Nappa's Spezia -- also nearly made the list.

Fact is, there are always deserving wines that end up not making it because there are so many great wines in New York.

I like what Evan has done this year as well and it's important to remind everyone that our WoTY program is an ever-evolving endeavor. Categories and the like are fluid.

[Steve]

Surprising no pure Cab Franc's from Long Island (or Finger Lakes) are on this list.

[Evan Dawson]

Steve - I'm guessing it's a function of released vintages in 2011, and will be a rare occasion.

[Lenn Thompson]

Steve: Evan is absolutely right. There were some cab francs on the short list, but ultimately, I thought the blends stood out most from the non-merlots released in 2011. You may never see a syrah or cabernet sauvignon on the list again -- at least until the 2010s are released.

As you well know, I'm a franc fanatic.

[Steve]

You should post your honorable mentions at some point.