Thanks Claire Sliver

On Saturday, at Empire State Cellars, in Riverhead, nearly 30 people came down to taste Riesling from the Finger Lakes Region of New York.  The event was put on by the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance and Finger Lakes Wine Country.

Riesling is the signature grape of the Finger Lakes region and it is the grape that has garnered the region 90+ point scores in various wine publications from multiple vineyards and wineries.  The region takes pride in their Riesling and this effort by them shows how much they believe in it.

Across the country various wine bloggers, writers and media outlets received samples to coincide with their official launch of the 2011 Riesling.  Lenn Thompson of The New York Cork Report and I were on hand as the group assembled around 6PM to taste the 2011 Riesling.

I am not going to go line by line and list all the Riesling tasted, we tasted about a dozen or so.  I am going to give you my top five of the night.  There was a clear-cut winner in my opinion and from those who tasted there as well thought this was a very good Riesling.

Herman J. Wiemer 2011 Semi-Dry Riesling ($17): Stone and some pome fruit with hits of citrus.  Bright acidity with focus.  Delicious stone and pome fruits with a mineral core.  Tremendous balance, which is what made this the winner in my book.

Lamoureux Landing 2011 Dry Riesling ($14): Mineral driven with notes of stone fruit and lemon pulp.  Clean, crisp and refreshing.  Vibrant acidity. Lengthy finish.

Sheldrake Point 2011 Dry Riesling ($16): grapefruit and citrus dominated with hints of tree and pome fruit.  Floral aroma was intriguing.

Ravines 2011 Dry Riesling ($17): Most mineral driven wine of the night.  Riesling lovers Riesling.  Citrus and Floral notes with some stone fruit.  Bright clean acidity.  I was picking up a hint of sulfur at first but it soon blew off.

Red Newt Cellars 2011 Semi Dry Riesling: Stone fruits with tropical aromas.  Bright acidity.  Stone and pome fruits on the palate with lingering honey like flavor on the finish.

These were my favorite Riesling from that night.  These are Riesling that I will seek out in the future and make sure they are on my table in the future.  I urge you to take a look at them.  They all are under $20 and at these price points you can’t go wrong.

Thank you to the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance for organizing this and getting the samples out to all.  Thank you to the vineyards and wineries who supported this event by offering their wines to us.  Thank you to all who attended, I hope you learned something and found something you enjoyed.  Thanks to Empire State Cellars who opened the door for us for Riesling Hour.  Thank you to Lenn Thompson who organized the event and handled the logistics for us on Long Island.

Thanks Claire Sliver

Related articles

• Riesling Hour: Saturday, Septermber 22, 2012 – The Offical Launch and Release of Riesling from the 2011 Vintage in the Finger Lakes (undertakingwine.com)