Trip to the Finger Lakes part VIII - Seneca Shore Wine Cellars

On Friday morning, we drove over to Seneca Lake where our first stop was Seneca Shore Wine Cellars. Here we met David DeMarco, the owner, who happens to be a friend of D.

David was exuberant and charming and gave us a tour of the winery which was very entertaining. I enjoyed hearing about his business model. He sells most of his wine directly to his customers rather than going through the retail trade, and his branding suggests that the wines are medieval in approach i.e. small scale rather than made by some industrial conglomerate in a huge impersonal factory somewhere.

We tasted our way through twelve wines altogether. I was impressed by the Dry Riesling 2016 which had a lovely limey zinginess to it. The Chardonnay Balanced Barrel 2014 was was very good, but the barrel-fermented Chardonnay 2013 was even better, with a golden colour and buttery richness which reminded me of a Meursault. Given that it was $14.99, it was really very impressive.

The Pinot Noir 2012 was smooth, light, easy drinking with good acidity, and had only just been released, while the Cabernet Franc 2012 had oomph, with smoky, tarry notes and would be great with barbecue. There was no sign of stemminess here. Dave told us that cabernet franc is often overcropped and that's when it starts to develop those green pepper and green bean flavours which I can't stand.

But the jewel in the crown was undoubtedly the Kylix Cuvee, which is a cabernet franc from 2007. It was big and rich, with velvety tannins. I liked it very much and it retailed at $24.99, making it an absolute steal in my opinion.

No doubt the medieval angle plays well with your average tourist, but these are not novelty wines by any means. We put together a mixed box to take away with us and not only did Dave refuse to let us pay for them but he added a few more, which was really very generous. This tasting was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!