I ❤ NY! Ravines Finger Lakes Riesling and Gewurz, with respect
October 31, 2012 § 2 Comments
The column I wrote for today’s Portland Press Herald had a line about New York State’s “Cracker Barrel-like” marketing for the wines of the Finger Lakes. The line got cut during the editing, but I still think that obsolete, 1982-ish, c’mon-down-to-our-Cayuga-and-Riesling-tank approach is partially responsible for the failure of Finger Lakes wines to capture more people’s attention.
Another thing that’s partially responsible: there’s a lot of crummy wine from the Finger Lakes. But the quality in the quality-wines sector keeps going up. Which is nowhere more evident than at Ravines Wine Cellars and Hermann Wiemer, two Finger Lakes wineries with impeccable Old-World pedigree and unique, fascinating, delicious wines.
It’s mostly about the whites these days — Riesling and Gewürztraminer — but keep any eye out, too, for Cabernet Franc and (maybe) Pinot Noir. The Ravines Riesling is truly, thrillingly dry. Wiemer’s Riesling has a touch of residual sugar (which is why I love it). The Ravines Gewurz is restrained but still exuberant. The three of them would make a spectacular line-up for Thanksgiving.
(From today’s column) “Gewurztraminer is the most aromatic, florid and floral grape I know. Wine from Gewurz can be shockingly, flamboyantly, thrillingly sexy, or it can jump the proverbial shark, taking its natural passion fruit aspects to corny extremes to play out as flatly pornographic.” Joe, are we still talking about wines, here? Or are you trying to tell us something else? Just wonderin’.
It’s always (also) about something else.