Martha Clara Vineyards recently received some huge press thanks to their Estate Reserve Riesling that won top prize at the Annual Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association Competition last month in Haymarket, VA.  The wine was the highest rated out of 560+ wines tasted at the competition.  The estate Reserve Riesling that won that award is made from the Riesling grapes that are from the Martha Clara Vineyard estate.  A review of that wine will appear here next week.

They also received a great deal of press about their regular offering of Riesling.  It won the Governor’s Cup at the recent NY Wine and Food Classic, which is the best wine out of all the wines tasted that day.  It was the best wine out of 740+ wines submitted from over 100 wineries across the state.  This wine that won top prize as the best wine in New York was made with Finger Lakes fruit from Dalrymple Farms on Seneca Lake.

With that being said, Martha Clara vineyards winemaking team of  Juan Micieli-Martinez and Robin Epperson-McCarthy wanted to offer a friendly wine competition at their 2011 Summer Concert Series at the Pavilion.

In honor of Riesling and Summer, Martha Clara Vineyards and Influence Wines will both offer their Riesling to taste side by side.  These Riesling are from the Dalrymple Farm on the Western Side of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes Region.  Erik Bilka, winemaker and owner of Influence Wines and Martha Clara Vineyards  wine making team of Juan Micieli-Martinez and Robin Epperson-McCarthy sourced their Riesling from Dalrymple Farm.

This is a unique opportunity to taste the wines, harvested the same day, pressed together but fermented and bottle in each winemakers style.  According to Juan, “This will highlight the influence that winemakers can have on a wine during production.”

All guests that attend the concert on August 26 will have the opportunity to taste these wine side by side and buy each of the Riesling as well.

Martha Clara Vineyards and Influence Wines have been doing this at all of their Summer Concert Series, I just have not been able to make any of the earlier ones.  With all the press surrounding the recent award-winning wine, this should be interesting.

Erik, Juan and Robin will be on hand to answer any questions you have that night.

I hope to see you all on August 26th

Related articles

• Martha Clara Vineyards Wins Governor’s Cup for 2010 Riesling; Lamoreaux Landing Named Winery of the Year (lenndevours.com)
• 2011 New York Wine & Food Classic Results (eastcoastwineries.blogspot.com)
• LI Riesling tops NY Wine Classic competition (timesunion.com)
• Martha Clara Riesling Wins Top Wine Award in Statewide Competition (riverhead.patch.com)