Continuing on from my day 0 and 1 notes, I had planned to visit along the west side of Seneca Lake and then cut over to Keuka for Ravines and maybe some others on the east shore of Keuka. Alas, rain made me reroute some of my cycling, and I wound up on Friday at midday on the east side of Seneca, having a great pulled pork BBQ sandwich at Derick's Diner. This is a little, unpretentious, joint on Tichenor Rd., between Rt. 414 and Red Newt, becoming very highly regarded for its BBQ. A good change from the winery based restaurants in the area. I've been driving by for years without ever noticing it.
On my drive over to the other side of the lake, I passed by Bloomer Creek, a place that is doing interesting work. No "open" sign, but I stick my head in the door and am greeted by Kim Engle, who informs me that they are only open on weekends, but we get chatting and he offers me some pours of what he has open. In this instance, it was the Edelzwickers, one white and another rose, plus the Bloomer Creek 2008 Pinot Noir. The first two are inexpensive, everyday wines and are very well done, especially the rose, which nicely dry and refreshing, mostly CF, IIRC. The white is mostly Cayuga with some Gewurztraminer to make it interesting. But the PN really grabbed my attention, very well structured and lively, pushing all the right buttons. I promise to come back some other time when they are properly open, especially to try some of the Rieslings and the CF, which continue to improve from vintage to vintage. Kim is taking more risks that a lot of FL producers, bottling some of the whites unfined/unfiltered after extended, slow fermentations with ambient yeast.
First stop on the other side of the lake is one of the southernmost Seneca wineries, Lakewood. The Stamp family gets a lot of respect from others in the business, and it is easy to see why when visiting. They have a well run tasting room and try to provide a wide range of wines, from Labrusca sweeties to more enthusiast oriented bottles, all at attractive prices. I tasted through a handful of whites, with the standouts being the 2010 Lakewood Dry Riesling and the 2011 Lakewood Vignoles. The Riesling may have been the best one of my trip, very citrusy (lime) and slatey but still succulent and aromatic. The superiority of the 2010 vintage over 2011 is starting to become obvious. And the Vignoles, was just bursting with tropical aromas and flavors, fairly sweet, but balanced delightfully with the acidity that is usually present with this grape. A great bargain at $10. Otherwise there was a decent Pinot Gris, an somewhat over-wooded (for my taste) Chardonnay. In the reds, the wines were less sucessful but still good, with a lightish 2008 Pinot Noir, a typical FL CF also from 2008 and a very dark-berried and peppery Lemberger from 2009. It would be interesting to try some of these from a better red wine vintage like 2010.
Heading north, the next stop is Hermann Wiemer. A limited number of wines were available for tasting, mostly leaving out the limited production, single-vineyard Rieslings. The regular dry and semi-dry Rieslings are usually amongst the best of their types in the Finger Lakes, but the 2011 vintages on offer are a distinct step down from the 2010 versions. The dry seemed less concentrated and softer than usual, with the semi-dry being slightly more successful due to what seemed like a touch of peachy botrytis. The 2011 Gewurz was OK, but I would try to track down the 2010 version in the shops. I was given a taste of the 2010 Dry Riesling Reserve: now we are talking - bright citrus (tangerine?) with lots of spicy minerality on the finish. A wine that was allowed to ferment 6+ months at low temperature. Oh, there was a nice table wine, the 2011 Frost Cuvee, one of those mix of everything white blends, which would be a great everyday white. And I am finally able to recommend the reds here, with very well done 2008 Pinot being my favorite. The taster told me that they have been making an effort to manage the PN differently for sparkling wine vs. still, and it appears to be paying off. On a previous visit, the 2008 CF Reserve was very solid
Wiemer also runs a vine nursery. Wandering around the grounds I came across a number of labeled vines ready for sale. It is surprising the things that I find in the mix: last visit it was Petit Manseng, while this time there was some Albarino. A passing worker explained that these were excess vines from larger orders which were available to the public. He didn't really know who was planting the Albarino, since they sell to places all over the US; wonder if it can be grown in the FL?
The original plan was to head over to Keuka and Ravines, but making a wrong turn on some backroads put me well south of my goal, and I went to take up my room near Hammondsport, leaving Ravines for another time. Next: concluding with a couple from the west side of Keuka Lake.