WTN: '07 Knapp Finger Lakes Riesling

2007 Knapp, Finger Lakes, Riesling ($14.95). Alcohol level: 11%.

The wine offers citrus and apples on the nose and upfront. It has excellent structure with more fruit including ripe peaches, a touch of sweetness, and crisp acidity in the middle; and it finishes very nicely.

We matched it with roast boneless loin of pork in gravy, cooked and sautéed mushroom ravioli with fresh sage, and glazed carrots. The wine was more than a match for all this. A great meal.

have never tasted any Knapp wines, will keep an eye out for this one, Carl
thanks for te post

Maybe 10 years ago (or earlier) the Knapp winery was the up and coming place on Cayuga. They were one of the first FL wineries with a good restaurant, too. Then it seemed like the Knapp family lost interest, wines became thin and unbalanced and the place eventually passed into new ownership (involving some of the same people as Glenora). Nothing much improved in the aftermath, so I stopped following them. Perhaps Carl's note is a sign of progress?

Things do seem to have improved gradually since Gene & Co took over. In addition to the Riesling we have also recently enjoyed their Finger Lakes Chardonnay (oak free), and their New York Merlot! They are closed lips, but methinks some or most of the Merlot grapes come from L.I. The complaint we have is that entire line is quite ambitious. Admittedly this is normal for most East Coast wineries, but they would certainly do better if they concentrated on doing a handful of things well.

We moved to upstate NY back in 1983 and have been visitng the FL wineries ever since, not a long drive from Manlius, just southeast of Siberacuse..
It has been my experience that the best FL Merlots that I have tasted were all sourced from LI grapes
Admittedly that does not constitute a whole lot of Merlot but most of the FL reds I have tasted were kind of weak and green, Damiani being a notable exception..I preferred their Cab Franc to their Cab Sauv but that is just my 2 cents, your mileage may vary

Certain places can do a good job with Merlot - the problem in the FL is getting the vines through the colder winters. Some decent ones have been made by Standing Stone, Shalestone, Lamoreaux Landing - all coincidentally in the 'banana belt' of SE Seneca Lake. A few other places often do well with the grape, e.g. Prejan (whose wines I generally don't enjoy).I can't really understand bringing it in from LI - if I want LI wines I will buy them from LI producers. But during the Merlot craze of the late '90s the punters were clamoring for the stuff and producers wanted to oblige. Now that Cab Franc is becoming more known in the area I think Merlot can go back to its rightful role as a bit player.

Joe..there may not be a Merlot craze these days but Merlot is still an easier sell than Cab Franc

We're also fans of FL Cab Franc. Particularly like those from Fox Run as well as their Lemburger. The Knapp Merlot is sort of an ugly duckling. Drink it with an open mind and find that it is a swan!

Carl: Knapp used to grow the full complement of Bordeaux grapes plus Pinot Noir and even Sangiovese along the road that connects Rt. 89 with the winery (the different blocks were labled). I think that vineyard had a big kill off during a cold winter several years back, don't know what they have planted now. Reds were never their strong point in the past - the Sangio and PN being particularly thin and acidic. Maybe overcropped?

Jon: I don't know. On my last trip to the FL it seems like the more experienced people in the tasting rooms were actually seeking out Cab Francs. This should be contrasted to the year 2000 when I was working in a tasting room. We had run out of Merlot (it used to sell out very quickly then) and a guy comes in, asks for Merlot, finds we have none, turns around walks out and drives away. This despite our attempts to get him to taste the CS/CF/Merlot blend, which was the best red we had, much more nuanced than the plain Merlot.

Joe..I wdn't doubt that wine geeks like us wd look for Cab Franc in FLtasting rooms..BUT , IMHO at least, the majority of tasters at FL wineries are weekend tourists and more likely to ask for Merlot than cab franc

The '07 Merlot drinking better and better as we go along. Enjoyed one last with Bev before gang arrives today, with grilled tenderloin steak, crusty bread, and salad. Mmmmm.

Enjoyed an '08 Riesling tonight with roast boneless pork, red potatoes, gravy, and salad. It was even better than the '07. Wonderful Monday night.

Carl -

Thank you for the note. I had a couple of wines from Knapp about four years ago, and was not impressed, although I have never actually visited the winery. One of those was a "novelty" wine that Knapp made as part of a fundraiser to preserve some historic buildings, and I am most certainly not against that goal. Anyway, I hope that your positive impression of this wine is a sign that Knapp is ready to compete with the top Finger Lakes wineries in terms of quality.

As for Finger Lakes reds - In general, I have not been especially impressed with them so far, although I have had some elegant, nicely balanced lighter-weight reds from Ravines, Hermann Wiemer, and Bloomer Creek. Regrettably, I never made it over to Shalestone during my two years living/studying in Syracuse - I have heard very good things about their red wines. Anyway, it has now been over three years since I have been in the Finger Lakes region, and I'll have to go back there one of these days.

Carl -

Thank you for the note. I had a couple of wines from Knapp about four years ago, and was not impressed, although I have never actually visited the winery. One of those was a "novelty" wine that Knapp made as part of a fundraiser to preserve some historic buildings, and I am most certainly not against that goal. Anyway, I hope that your positive impression of this wine is a sign that Knapp is ready to compete with the top Finger Lakes wineries in terms of quality.

As for Finger Lakes reds - In general, I have not been especially impressed with them so far, although I have had some elegant, nicely balanced lighter-weight reds from Ravines, Hermann Wiemer, and Bloomer Creek. Regrettably, I never made it over to Shalestone during my two years living/studying in Syracuse - I have heard very good things about their red wines. Anyway, it has now been over three years since I have been in the Finger Lakes region, and I'll have to go back there one of these days.

We like the last two bottlings of Knapp's Merlot very much. It is a nice full bodied red with low alcohol. The other FL operations that make good reds in our opinion are Fox Run and Heron Hill.