Spent several days in the Finger Lakes last week, so I thought I would issue a report. These probably shouldn't really be classified as tasting notes, but observations from memory about various wines. After arriving and taking a vigorous bike ride through some hills south of Ithaca, I checked into my B&B and went over to Just A Taste for some dinner. This is a long established "tapas" and wine bar, with well chosen wines by the glass, also available in themed flights. The Italian flight looked decent, so I started there:
2011 Vermentino di Sardegna "Costamolino", Argiolas: bright, lemony, fairly full bodied. Delightful and available for about $10 in my local shops. I will be picking some up. 2011 Erbaluce "Doranda", Tenute Sella, Coste della Sesia: Wow, this is good. Floral, mineral, lots going on. The reds from Sella have been on my "buy" list, and now need to add their Erbaluce. These wines come from northern Piedmont, right up near the Swiss border. Only problem is that not many shops carry this. 2007 Barolo, Silvio Grasso: Seems to toe the line between modern and traditional style Barolo. Pretty solid, but too young. Inexpensive for decent Barolo. 2010 Valpolicella Classico, Le Salette: Rather soft and fruity, I'm not sure I get non-Amarone Valpolicella. Ho-hum. 2008 Chianti Classico, Castello di Meleto: A producer I am not familiar with, but they operate out of a rather imposing castle in Gaiole. Sees some wood and is 10% Merlot. Wet latex paint, tomato skin. OK, but a bit tight, but I think I prefer a more traditional style
Still thirsty, I tried the "make your own flight" option to check out a few other wines of interest:
2011 Gruner Veltliner, Konstantin Frank, Finger Lakes: Finally, a local wine. The second vintage of GV from Dr. Frank: not as good as the first, which was clearly a peppery, greenish GV. But not bad. 2010 Muscadet "Expression d' Orthogneiss", Guy Bossard: What's this? Peachy, bright, and a bit soft, without much in the way of minerals? Not exactly what I was expecting from a top Muscadet producer. Not bad, but.... 2009 Agiorogitiko, Harlaftis, Nemea: Had a handful of Greek wines recently and most have been very good. This is no exception: cheap, but punches above its weight. Dark, fairly tannic and well balanced. Would be worth trying again. 2010 Morey St. Denis, Domaine Tortochot: Rather dark and purplish for Burgundy. Not much going on aroma-wise. Your basic black cherry, clean village Burgundy, but not much charm. MSD has never been my favorite Nuits village, and this doesn't do anything to change my mind. Edit: This last flight also had a 2010 Mencia, Guimaro, Ribeira Sacra, which I forgot, but it was eminently forgettable. I am trying to like/appreciate Mencia, but have recently had mixed experiences. This one was pretty dull, and I have liked other Guimaro wines in the past.
So the Sella was my top wine of the night. Next report will actually include visits to a few Finger Lakes wineries.