Willy Frank, Proselytizer for New York State Wines

[Gifted Gourmet]

obituary from the NYTimes

Willy Frank, a tireless promoter of New York wines who transformed Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars into one of the Finger Lakes' best known and most respected wine producers, died on Tuesday ... In the 1980's, when New York wine was often sneered at, he relentlessly talked up the virtues of the Finger Lakes wines...  One thing Willy Frank did not change was his father's vineyards, other than to focus on the grapes that grew best. Dr. Konstantin Frank now makes some of the best rieslings in the United States, along with pinot noir, cabernet franc, chardonnay and a less-expensive line of wines under the Salmon Run label. It also produces small quantities of some special wines, like rkatsiteli, a fresh, lively, complex white wine made from a grape native to the Caucasus.

Have you ever had the good fortune to try these wines?

How do they compare with European or Australian wines?

What are your favorite New York state wines?

[rlibkind]

obituary from the NYTimes

Willy Frank, a tireless promoter of New York wines who transformed Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars into one of the Finger Lakes' best known and most respected wine producers, died on Tuesday ...

Have you ever had the good fortune to try these wines?

How do they compare with European or Australian wines?

What are your favorite New York state wines?

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The rieslings I've tried are excellent. The other premiere NY producer of rieslings (and my fav) is Hermann J. Wiemer. His Dry Johannisberg Riesling is my "go to" white, and the reserve is even better. I'm fortunate that I obtained, during a winery trip six years ago a 375ml bottle of trockenbeernauslese, which hasn't been produced since then, though he has produced an ice wine consistently.

As for a comparison with European and Australian rieslings, I'm rather indiscriminant -- I've yet to meet a riesling I didn't like. But, the Wiemer in particular, most resembles a Moselle, and I find the best of the NY State rieslings superior to those from the Pacific NW and the very few Australians I've tasted (I'm quite ready and open to trying more from Oz, however). The shores of Keuka and Seneca (and even Cauyga) offer a most compatible terrain for grapes favoring cooler climes.

[philadining]

The Frank Rieslings have long been favorites of mine, and stand up well against German, Austrian and Alsatian versions. I'm not as well-versed in the European wines as I should be, but I've poured Frank Riesling and Gewurtz for German wine snobs, and they've liked them quite a lot.

(And I'll agree with Bob's post, I have become equally fond of Wiemer Rieslings, perhaps even preferring them, and between those two wineries, I'd stay pretty well-set for those German-style wines... thanks yet again to Bob for opening my eyes to the Wiemer. And I'll agree too that so far, I've preferred Frank and Weimer to West-coast and Aussie rieslings.)

There's an amazing amount of good-to-very good Rieslings coming out of other wineries in the finger lakes region of NY as well, I've recently enjoyed some from Ravines and Heron Hill in particular.

And the very existence of those wines can be credited almost entirely to Konstantin Frank, a true pioneer in New World winemaking in general, upstate New York in particular, proving, against many doubters, that fine vinifera wines could be grown outside of the traditional areas.

And Willy Frank was almost as influential through his energetic promotion of the wines of not only his winery, but of NY state wines overall. All the winemakers in the area, and those of us that enjoy their products, owe Willy a real debt of gratitude for his hard work.

It's sad to hear that Willy Frank has passed, the wine world is poorer for it. I'd certainly like to abstractly thank him, and his family, for their good work that didn't merely promote their own business, but improved the whole wine scene.

[docsconz]

While I can't say that I have ever been blown away by NYS wines, I do enjoy them, especially the reislings with Dr. Konstantin Frank's amongst the very best of them. The NYS wine scene is now poorer for the loss of Willy Frank.

[Jmahl]

In the 70's we lived in Bath NY. We know the Wheelers in Hammandsport, great people, and one day Walter Taylor come to their dock in his boat. That was the year that Taylor Wine was sold to the big cola operation and Walter Taylor could not put his name on his Bully Hill label. It was very small and very one know very one. We probably ran into Mr. Frank without knowing it. It was a place in transition and would be nice to go back. Good times and good memories there though.

[Gifted Gourmet]

more discussion on Dr. Konstantin Frank wines

and the website itself

[alamut]

I actually just came home with a bottle of Dr. Frank's dry Riesling this afternoon. We live just a bit south of the finger lakes and have enjoyed a number of their wines. The finger lakes does a number of cool weather grapes quite well, but also produces loads of lower quality, super sweet schlock.

I am also a big fan of the Hermann J. Wiemer that rlibkind mentioned as well as the Standing Stone, Ravines and McGregor labels.

A note of caution for anybody thinking to try a Finger Lakes wine for the 1st time: The last couple winters have been very very cold, and have really pummeled the vines with several consecutive weeks of sub zero temperatures. Consequently wines from last couple vintages tend to be of both lesser quality and quality. This past winter has been unseasonably warm (New York warm) so the vines should recover, and this coming 2006 harvest should be much better than the 2004 or 2005. As to how they compare to European wines, most of them don’t stack up well, but a handful of them do. A couple of wines from Long Island and the Hudson river valley (Wolffer Rose & Millbrook Tocai Friulano to name a couple).

My personal favorite NY wine is the McGregor "Black Russian Red" a blend of 2 totally unpronounceable grapes from the Black Sea area. They are they only vineyard in the country that grows these grapes (or so they claim). It’s a big powerful, kick in the teeth, Nebbiolo meets Malbec kind of dark inky wine. About $30.00 a bottle.