Following up on my day 0 post, I decided to stick to the east side of Seneca Lake (aka, the "Banana Belt", tounge-in-cheek) for my first day of visiting wineries. Based on visits over the last few years, Damiani has become a must stop producer.
Phil Davis (grower) and Lou Damiani (winemaker) started making wine under the Damiani label a few years ago and have quickly established a great reputation, particularly for their reds. At one time the tasting room was in a funky little house or in a shed on a side road attached to the production facility (amidst the vineyards, which I liked), but now they have moved to a very well done purpose built tasting room right on Rt. 414. Some other producers should make an educational visit to their tasting room, because the staff have always been affable and well informed about the wines. On this visit, they were tasting primarily 2010 whites and reds from 2008 to 2010. The 2010 just slightly off-dry and lively Gewurztraminer was probably my favorite of the whites, although the 2010 Semi-dry Riesling was a fine example of a Seneca Lake (peachy, tropical but crisp) Riesling. Their 2010 Sauvignon Blanc was also a decent example of this grape, which is showing up on an increasing number of FL wine lists. But the reds really were the stars here: the 2008 Barrel Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon the single best FL red I've tasted in recent memory. And, no I had not been drinking (much) at this point! Very intense and balanced, with just enough tobacco/green notes to let you know this isn't from some hot climate. And the regular 2009 CS and was no slouch either.
Another personal first was a FL Syrah which I actually enjoyed, the very competent 2010, with grapes sourced from Sawmill Creek Vineyards (very close to Damiani's own). In this region, Syrah is making inroads here and there, but without much promise, IMO. Can they do this every year? 2010 is supposed to be a great red year (as was 2007), so we shall see. The taster also poured, blind, two 2010 Pinot Noirs for me and asked for an opinion. Both quite good, one softer, polished and more new world and the other spicier and more structured. The first was Sawmill Creek fruit and the latter Estate. I usually wind up buying their estate PN when I visit, and this time was no exception. Wines like these are making a good case for PN in the FL.
A short distance north on Rt. 414 is the newish Hector Wine Company and I stopped to see what they are all about. Some very nice whites from the somewhat variable 2011 vintage were on offer: decent Riesling, very good Pinot Gris and Sauvingon Blanc (which I bought) and a slightly weird Chardonnay (the tasting note on the wine list suggests "poppy seed and licorice", which for once, was actually accurate). I don't remember much about the reds, including some Cabernet based blends and a Syrah. This winery is a project of Jason Hazlett, who is from Sawmill Creek Vineyards (lots of Hazletts around here), and Justin Boyette, the winemaker. Coming soon is a project called Forge Cellars, which is a sort of winery within a winery, which will specialize in small batches of Pinot Noir and Riesling. Besides Boyette, Forge partners are Rick Rainey and Louis Barruol, the later of Chateu St. Cosme in Gigondas! Sadly, I missed their first release, a 2011 Riesling, which will be coming soon.
Next was a very tasty locavore lunch at the Red Newt Bistro, followed by a tasting of their wines. One great thing about the Bistro is they also are great supporters of FL wine in general, and offer many other producers. I was happy to see the 2010 Heart & Hands Pinot Noir on their list and had a glass with my lunch. This is also becoming one of the must-purchase wines for me, and I was curious to see how they did in 2010 (it is an out of the way place to visit, on the north eastern shore of Cayuga Lake). Maybe I need to retaste, but it didn't seem up to their recent efforts in 2008 and 2009, the wine coming off as nuanced but a bit dilute and watery.
Moving to the Red Newt tasting room, the 2010 Dry Riesling Reserve was a highlight: concentrated and well structured, with lovely aromatics. Also good is the 2011 Circle Label Riesling, semi-dry and inexpensive ($12); think everyday type QbA. They have a variety of rather expensive single vineyard and reserve bottlings which, while usually competent, don't seem to justify the price premium over the regular bottlings. A case in point was the 2010 Viridescens, a Bordeaux blend, at around $50 (!) vs. the lovely 2010 Cabernet Franc at $22. The latter was not trying to be profound and impressive and instead was charming; it was my pick of the reds.
Hmm, this is getting long! Later in the day we visited Silver Thread, pioneering organic producer, recently passed to new owners Paul and Shannon Brock from the retiring Richard Feigiel. Shannon was behind the bar in the tasting room and I got some idea where they were planning to go. Sustainable, rather than organic, increase production somewhat to make the venture more viable and to use more grapes from selected outside growers. Richard's wines, while often interesting, were quirky and could be unpredictable due to low sulfur usage. The 2011 wines are the first made totally under the Brocks and were quite good. Comparing the 2010 (Feigiel's) and 2011 Pinots was interesting, with the '10 wine a bit wilder and funky but the '11 wine a solid effort for the year (some call it a 'winemaker's vintage'). I wish them the best.
Finally we concluded the day at Lamoreaux Landing. The whites were the stars here: a range of Rieslings from the 2010 and 2011 vintages were available and generally demonstrated the superiority of the 2010 wines. My favorite was the excellent single vineyard 2010 Yellow Dog Vineyard Riesling, which had lovely aromatics, coupled with grapefruit/tropical zest and nice length. But the regular dry and semi-dry bottlings from 2011 were quite good and keenly priced. And the 2011 Gewurztraminer showed excellently; this is usually a good source for Gewurz. Chardonnay here is done in a more oak impacted style (some barrel fermentation with malo) than I like, but is okay if you like that sort of thing. A new Gruner Veltliner from 2011 wasn't very varietal; of the small number being made in the Finger Lakes Dr. Frank's is better. Reds on offer didn't impress, but they were mostly from the lesser vintages pre 2010. A 2009 T23 Cabernet Franc (T23 being a stainless tank - no wood) is made in a fresh, bright style that is very gulpable, was my favorite of the reds on offer.
Next: a few on the west side of Seneca....