WTN: '06 Hart Cellars Dry White

Popped this one open this evening. It's a blend of Vidal, Vignoles, and Cayuga.

Color is a fairly dark yellow with a slight orange tint to it. I initially thought I might have waited too long on this one and that it had gotten a bit oxidized but this was not the case. The nose is fresh and somewhat restrained with floral and citrus in it. Flavors are also citrusy. The wine has a nice body to it that's countered by very firm acidity. The finish is clean and chalky-dry.

Very nice wine. I'm not at all familiar with any of the three varieties that went into this one, so I don't really have a frame of reference for it. I guess it's probably closer to a good aged semillon than anything else I've had.

Question for Howie: How long do you tend to hold this one? It's drinking well now but it seems to me that it could go a while longer without any problems.

...Question for Howie: How long do you tend to hold this one? It's drinking well now but it seems to me that it could go a while longer without any problems.

Wow, I forgot about that wine. Glad you liked it. Unfortunately, I don't have any of that particular wine left. Vignoles, which is probably my favorite white hybrid, is not grown much in my area, so it is hard to get my hands on without making a 150 mile round trip. Semillon would be a good analogy for the grape as it has produced highly acclaimed dessert wines, both ice wines and botrycized versions. Alan Wolfe of Jones Cabin Run winery in WV brought a vertical of Vignoles late harvest and ice wines to NiagaraCOOL a few years ago and they were very impressive. I have some growing in my yard now and am crossing my fingers to get a small harvest this year. I've made 2 version of dry white since, without the Vignoles, using 50% Cayuga - 50% Vidal (the 2009 version was awarded a silver medal at the Niagara County Fair yesterday).

Congratulations Howie!!
I see you and Dan also did very well at the NYS Fair Home Wine Competition!

Salute

Congrats to both Howie and Dan for their award winning wines at NYS Fair 2010!!!!

Salute

Thanks for noting Victor. Dan won medals for '08 Iona (a wine I've never had), an '08 50/50 blend of Catawba and Dutchess and an '09 Gewurtz, which I happen to have a bottle of and plan on sipping during tonight's chat session. It's interesting how you can enter the same wine in two different competitions and get very different results. My awards were for two Rieslings ('09 Dry and Semi-Dry), '09 Lemberger and '06 Cayuga.