Trip to the Finger Lakes part X - Red Newt and Damiani Wine Cellars

With the finish of that last sweet riesling we'd tried at Hermann J Wiemer still lingering on, we arrived at Red Newt Cellars and had a spot of lunch out on the terrace. For once, a pulled pork sandwich wasn't on the menu. I had the closest thing to it, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

Another beautiful sunny day in the Finger Lakes!

Then we went inside and had a tasting. We tried three rieslings to start with. The 2013 Riesling Tango Oaks Vineyard ($26) had remarkable acidity and was very zingy. The man pouring the wines told us it needed food. Even better was the 2013 Riesling "Knoll" Lahoma Vineyard ($35), which was a splendid bottle of serious riesling (I suspect I'm quoting G here) with great concentration and grip, off dry, with a good finish. We picked up a bottle to take away with us. Finally, the 2011 Riesling from the Bullhorn Creek Vineyard ($22) was fascinating, with some botrytis going on, and stone fruit with a nice core of acidity.

Of the reds, I found that the 2014 Cabernet Franc didn't quite do it for me, with a slightly bitter finish, and the 2013 Merlot Glacier Ridge Vineyards wasn't my thing either although possibly it just needed time. The 2012 Merlot ($22.50) was better and apparently 2012 was a very good year - we bought a bottle of this too. The 2012 Viridescens ($42) was their version of Meritage, with 67% merlot, 28% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc. This was very attractive and we thought it needed to be kept for 10 years.

Finally, we tried the Hellbender which was similar to port. With all due respect, I think I'll be sticking to port...

We moved on to Damiani Wine Cellars, where things were somewhat chaotic. I think we'd just happened to arrive at a busy time and they also told us they had a photo shoot going on. After hanging about for a few minutes the tasting eventually commenced with the Brut 2011 ($33.99) which we were told had been disgorged this summer. It was made in the style of champagne, mostly pinot noir but with some chardonnay and pinot meunier. This was impressive, toasty, with an excellent finish, and seemed like good value. We bought a bottle to take away with us.

Then we tried six reds. The Pinot Noir Reserve 2012 ($46.99) was from a single vineyard, unfined and unfiltered. It was a very pale colour and I found I wasn't getting much at all from it. The Merlot Reserve 2012 ($40.99) was more powerful, with a lot of tannin. We wondered if it would soften, given that it had already had five years. The Cabernet Franc 2013 was full-bodied, complex and interesting but had some way to go, while the Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and Syrah 2013 were both perfectly nice but overshadowed by the Meritage 2013 ($26.99) which was a blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon, 18% cabernet franc and 27% merlot. This was complex and serious and again, needed time.

This completed our trips to the various wineries on this trip - twelve altogether. Thanks so much to D for selecting these places for us to visit and for ferrying us about, it was a real education!