Finger Lakes Wine

[GordonCooks]

If you have several French wines that you don't like, you would say these are French wines I don't like. But a few tastes of New York wines that you don't like will eliminate the entire category from consideration.

My first trip to taste in the Finger Lakes was in 1977 and I had the please to spend an entire day with Dr. Frank. I did not have enough cash with me to buy wine so he gave me two cases and told me to send a check when I got home. I have been back over ten times since then.

CC - If you enjoy Dr. Frank - Hermann J. Weimer is right up your alley. His wines are comparable to Kabinetts and even Spatleses in some cases. I believe he's a Mosel native

[Auxerrois]

My first experience with Finger Lake wines was relatively recently. I was blind tasted and placed the wine as Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir. Needles to say I was impressed when I learned it was a fifteen dollar pinot from New York.

As a retailer in Chicago I carry two different Finger Lake products Lamoreaux and Fox Run and I eagerly await to get my hands on more quality producers. Even my customers are pretty excited about the region.

Other areas produce a lot of swill too, be it California, Michigan or Illinois, but I've been starting to see qaulity all over the place. For instance, any of you had a Norton from Missouri.

[larry07041]

If you have several French wines that you don't like, you would say these are French wines I don't like. But a few tastes of New York wines that you don't like will eliminate the entire category from consideration.

To compare the Finger Lakes to France is well ...

My first trip to taste in the Finger Lakes was in 1977 and I had the please to spend an entire day with Dr. Frank. I did not have enough cash with me to buy wine so he gave me two cases and told me to send a check when I got home. I have been back over ten times since then.

Yes there are occasionally very good rieslings that are produced there, but world class ones are the exception not the rule.

You say one of the problems with finger lakes wines is that there is a lot of crap being made there. In this regard they can join every winemaking region on the planet.

The point was not to compare the Finger Lakes to France but to make the point that the reputation of France is established, and that people taste a wine and either like it or not, but not liking a wine from a region without a solid reputation will taint the entire region.

While it is true that world-class wines from the Finger Lakes are not easy to find, they are not rare up there. It's just that because they don't sell, you can't usually find good ones locally, and what you usually can find (such as Bully Hill) is crap. (Apologies to those who like them.)

90% of French wine too is crap. But the other 10% is the best in the world. Nothing compares to the top wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy and the Northern Rhone. And you will pay top $$ for them.

But if you only want to spend $10-$20 for wine, you can find some gems in the Finger Lakes. And not just Riesling. There is top quality Cabernet Franc there, including Red Newt, Hazlitt, Shalestone. And Atwater Estates makes a remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon for $20. How their grapes ripen fully is a mystery to me, but in 2001 it sure did and it is glorious. And Atwater also makes a splendid Pinot Noir for less than $20.

Individual wines are worth seeking out, even if the region as a whole doesn't cut it. With 70 wineries, it may be a small percentage who make really good wine (perhaps 12 out of those 70), but as people recognize the quality that it can produce, that percentage (we can only hope) will change.

[babyluck]

I'm no wine expert, but I am gifted with exceptionally good taste.   I encourage anyone who hasn't tried it to do so with an open mind. 

Can you name some of your other favorite wines ?

Stag's Leap or Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay from Australia/NZ

Marc Brédit's Chinon & other Loire Valley wines

[babyluck]

My reaction to that totally depends on whether Love My Goat was one of them.

Goats Do Roam, no?

OK, I get it now...

[GordonCooks]

I'm no wine expert, but I am gifted with exceptionally good taste.     I encourage anyone who hasn't tried it to do so with an open mind. 

Can you name some of your other favorite wines ?

Stag's Leap or Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay from Australia/NZ

Marc Brédit's Chinon & other Loire Valley wines

Well, you've named some wines I consider good myself. I'll consider your recommendation of Bully Hill "Love My Goat" as credible and give it a try sometime.

[babyluck]

I'm no wine expert, but I am gifted with exceptionally good taste.     I encourage anyone who hasn't tried it to do so with an open mind. 

Can you name some of your other favorite wines ?

Stag's Leap or Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay from Australia/NZ

Marc Brédit's Chinon & other Loire Valley wines

Well, you've named some wines I consider good myself. I'll consider your recommendation of Bully Hill "Love My Goat" as credible and give it a try sometime.

Thanks! And if you have recommendations for me, I'm all ears. I'm just trying to build up a nice stable of wines I like -- the serious stuff I won't let myself tackle until I'm at least 35. I know it will become all-consuming.

Sorry, it's Marc Brédif with an F, not a T, everyone.

[babyluck]

This is embarrassing...

It seems Mr. Babyluck & I have both outgrown our taste for Love My Goat; we pretended to enjoy it till recently when we confessed to each other that it doesn't do what it used to for us. Where before it tasted fresh and grapey, now it is a bit cloying. I still have wonderful memories of drinking it with a friend while camping out at a bluegrass festival--maybe its place is outdoors with simple food.

[GordonCooks]

This is embarrassing...

It seems Mr. Babyluck & I have both outgrown our taste for Love My Goat; we pretended to enjoy it till recently when we confessed to each other that it doesn't do what it used to for us. Where before it tasted fresh and grapey, now it is a bit cloying. I still have wonderful memories of drinking it with a friend while camping out at a bluegrass festival--maybe its place is outdoors with simple food.

Make the switch to Goats du Roam - A south african value wine that is a decent drinker for about the same price. This will help you during your successful transition period.

[babyluck]

Make the switch to Goats du Roam - A south african value wine that is a decent drinker for about the same price. This will help you during your successful transition period.

Staying in the same species should make it less traumatic. I will pick up a bottle tonight if they have it.

Thanks for coming to the rescue--I've been addicted to $20 bottles of Ribera del Duero lately & I needed something a little cheaper for everyday.

[babyluck]

Tried the Goats do Roam--we both enjoyed it and Mr. Babyluck commented that it's a less sweet version of Love My Goat. I'm not so sure, but they do share a similarity that I can't put my finger on. It was a little tannic but otherwise very pleasant.

[GordonCooks]

Some of my choices under 10.00

Taurino Salice Salentino

D'Arenberg Stump Jump GSM

A.Mano Primitivo

[rlibkind]

California wine grape growers recognize opportunity when they see it: they're buying land in the Finger Lakes. Good land for grapes in the Finger Lakes sells for $3,000 an acre vs. $65,000 in Sonoma and $200,000 in Napa.

Here's an article about it.

[robyn]

I used to spend a lot of time in the Finger Lakes going to various functions at Cornell (in Ithaca). Most of the local restaurants serve a lot of the local wines - and Cornell serves them exclusively at the functions I attended. The reds aren't drinkable. Some of the whites are ok - decent - food-friendly - but I sure wouldn't pay more than about $10/bottle for any I tasted.

It is a very pretty area of the US though - and some of the winery tours are a lot of fun (didn't run across big mob scenes). I would recommend the area for a weekend trip for those of you who are relatively close more than I'd recommend efforts to get cases of wine shipped to California. If you get there - don't miss the glass museum in Corning (or the races in Watkins Glen if that kind of activity is more to your liking). Robyn