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1 Wine Dude

Not Just Riesling Country: The Finger Lakes’ Case for Cool Climate Reds4 min read

Posted on May 13, 2010May 4, 2011 by 1WineDude

in on the road, wine tasting

“They already got themselves a woodchuck today.”

Sam Argetsinger was leading a slow but determined downhill walking pace, flanked by his two dogs who had done the woodchuck hunting before we’d arrived. He is stout, and affable, and his wide smile accentuates a face of weathered features. Sam’s vineyard is small, relatively steep, and on the morning of May 8 it was playing host to a series of alternating bursts of warming sunshine from above, and strong cold breezes off of New York’s Seneca Lake.

A group of thirty-odd wine writers and bloggers descended onto the area as part of TasteCamp East; I was part of a dozen-or-so who were taking a morning tour of Sam’s vineyard on the second day of our trip. We had already, in a mere half-day, tasted dozens and dozens of Finger Lakes wines, some of which have been sourced from Sam’s vineyard.

“The other thing about woodchucks,” added Sam, stopping briefly and turning to face a small number of our group walking closest to him, and uttering the words without a modicum of sarcasm, “is that they’re delicious.”  We laugh, of course – most of us aren’t farmers and none of us has ever tasted woodchuck.

“Must taste like chicken!” one of us says.  Sam’s response – again without hesitation and appearing completely genuine: “Naw – it tastes like muskrat, mostly.”  Sam then briefly explains how woodchuck gut can be employed to create a fine-sounding drum skin.

Welcome to the Finger Lakes, folks, where the water – carved out of the land like the claw marks of angry gods by retreating glaciers eons ago – runs long, narrow, and deep, like the traditions and views of the region’s people.

It would have been easy to joke that a Fingers Lake red is the best thing to pair with that woodchuck (or muskrat), given the past history of red wines from the region.  And there certainly is nothing about Sam’s vineyard that would suggest anything other than the belief that This Is Riesling Country: from the steep plantings facing the water, to the heightened amplification of every nuance of viticulture – aspect, elevation, light exposure, ripening… we might as well be in the Mosel, right?

Exactly what you’d expect of the Finger Lakes.

That is, until you taste the wines that aren’t Riesling.  Until you taste the region’s new reds…

Times are (slowly) changing in the Finer Lakes, and red wines lovers need to pay more attention to the region now, especially if their tastes run towards the European style of balanced, high(ish)-acid reds.

Seeing red in the Finger Lakes?  Are we crazy?

You probably won’t think it’s such an insane idea once you try the wines. And you need to bear in mind that the logic behind making fully ripe and balanced red wines in a cool-climate area has hundreds of years of practical evidence behind it.

“It’s only in the U.S. that the situation seems reversed,” Morten Hallgren, winemaker at Ravines Wine Cellars (and customer of Sam Argetsinger, whose Riesling Hallgren uses in a promising single-vineyard bottling) told us during a portfolio tasting at Ravines’ lakeside tasting room. “In the rest of the world, it’s the cooler climates that are known for excellent fine wines, and only in the warmer climates where fruit-driven, everyday drinking wines are made.”

In a bit of balanced, high-acid counterpoint to the West Coast’s low-acid, bombastic reds, Hallgren offers an earthy, spicy Pinot Noir that doesn’t lack in mouthwatering fruit or mouthwatering acidity, the latter coming from the cool climate ripening, the former from lyre-trained trellising that increases the surface area of light exposure for the grapes by about fifty percent.  His Cabernet Franc is lush without being plush, fruit-driven without losing a touch of elegance.

There are, for sure, still some bad, bad, gawd-awful, pour-them-down-the-drain reds being made in the Finger Lakes, many ruined by an oak treatment that obliterates the lovely fruit characteristics and potential with a blitzkrieg of smoke.  Others handle things in a more balanced way – and if balance is what you’re after, you’d do well to check out the reds on offer from Shaw (a focused and structured Cabernet Sauvignon), Red Newt (full and rich Cabernet Francs) and Red Tail Ridge (a surprising and lively Pinot Noir that could pass for Oregon in a blind tasting).

The reds of the Finger Lakes are still the icing on the cake of their Riesling, but just as it’s folly to write off the region’s reds, it’s also not a smart play to assume all of its whites are superb.  Even the region’s premier and most consistently good producer, Hermann Wiemer, is capable of the oddball white among the majority of its lineup of clean, intensely focused and lovely Riesling bottlings.

Few whites where as bad as the worst reds, but many of the best reds were just as good as the best whites – and that is not a situation that most wine lovers would be expecting to find themselves in when touring the producers who call this beautiful area home.

Among the whites, several producers showed well in the Riesling department, such as Wiemer (especially the single vineyard offerings), Anthony Road (their “MRS” Berry Selection late harvest is a beauty), Heron Hill (Ingle vineyard Late Harvest), and and Lamoreaux Landing (whose `09 Red Oak vineyard offering was one of the most balanced I’d ever tasted from the Lakes).

You might think that giving a cursory view to Finger lakes whites, while waxing (sort of) poetic on its reds sounds as crazy as eating woodchuck (or muscrat).  But let’s see you try some of the finer examples before you pass too much judgment.

I’ll forgive you if you still pass on trying the muscrat.

Cheers!

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16 thoughts on “Not Just Riesling Country: The Finger Lakes’ Case for Cool Climate Reds4 min read”

  1. Mark Cochard says:
    May 13, 2010 at 4:59 pm

    Dude, I assume you were tasting 2007 reds, 2007 is probably the best red wine vntage in the past 30 years for the East coast; so you might as well say "ever". Vintage variation in cool climate regions is a big deal on the east coast of the US as well as in cool climates like Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piedmont, Oregon, etc.

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 14, 2010 at 11:38 am

      Thanks, Mark – most were 2007s. Does show some of the potential though.

  2. sipwithme says:
    May 13, 2010 at 5:11 pm

    Your words really bring the piece to life and I felt like I was right there with you!! Fantastic overview of this "unknown to me" region!! It makes perfect sense to be growing cool climate reds in this region and I really hope to make it out there one day to see and taste for myself, maybe I'll even try the muscrat!

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 14, 2010 at 11:39 am

      Thanks – I hear muscrat goes great with Riesling OR red wine. Just sayin'…

  3. Arthur says:
    May 13, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    I'll be trying some McGregor Saperavi blends this weekend. Looking forward to the experience.

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 14, 2010 at 11:39 am

      Thanks, Arthur – let me know what you think!

  4. Montebello Dentist says:
    May 13, 2010 at 10:23 pm

    God, i wish i cud be there. And Mark, i agree with you completely

  5. clay harpending says:
    May 14, 2010 at 12:33 am

    did you get a chance to try shalestone (makes only reds)….?

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 14, 2010 at 11:39 am

      Hi Clay – nope, didn't get to the Shalestone.

      1. @LarryTheWineGuy says:
        May 17, 2010 at 3:20 pm

        Shalestone is worth a visit. They were making reds only for many years. I was last there almost 10 years ago and the reds they did then were terrific.

  6. Lenn Thompson says:
    May 13, 2010 at 8:40 pm

    Clay,

    Joe, thanks for coming to TasteCamp. Even if you're a punk, it's always a pleasure having you attend….you're one of our repeat customers :)

    First, Mark is absolutely right. 2007 may go down as the hottest vintage in the east…but let's not confuse "hottest" with "best" when it comes to all reds. I've had some very VERY good East Coast reds from 08 and (from barrel) 09 too. Are they in a different style? Sure. They are less "bombastic" but these producers wouldn't be producing reds only to hope for years like 2007.

    In the Finger Lakes, with pinot noir in particular, you're going to see some killer 08s. Trust me.
    Unfortunately, we weren't able to get Shalestone on board for TasteCamp this go-round…their cabernet franc absolutely would have impressed the group, I'm sure. They are a little quirky there and despite being invited to pour, we never heard back from them!

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 14, 2010 at 11:40 am

      Thanks, Lenn – except for the punk reference, I mean – if Shalestone is as quirky as Sam, then I can't wait to meet 'em! :)

  7. Sasha says:
    May 14, 2010 at 1:49 am

    Great call on the Red Tail Ridge — thought that was one of the real sleepers of the weekend. One important point though is $. One of my takeaways from the weekend is that there's some good quality to be had on the red front, but if you're looking for leaner, more austere reds, I think you can find better quality/price ratios elsewhere. Big contrast for me compared to the Rieslings, many of which I think offer really nice value.

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 14, 2010 at 11:42 am

      Thanks, Sasha – great finally meeting you, btw – I agree, price points were on the high side for the reds, but I didn't think it was as large a disparity as in LI, and some of the reds to me seemed fairly priced (even if pricey). Cheers!

  8. 1WineDude says:
    May 14, 2010 at 7:04 pm

    Lenn over at NYCR is putting together a collection of the TCE blogger coverage, check it all out athttp://tastecamp.newyorkcorkreport.com/2010/05/12… .

  9. Wineontheway.com says:
    May 21, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    The only red that was even approachabl, notice I did not say drinkable, was a Pinot Noir from the Finger Lakes region. Call me a purist, but I'll stick with NY State whites instead.

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