Trip to the Finger Lakes, August 2023

Now on to the following weekend. My wife D and I drove up to other D’s house in upstate New York which I last visited in 2017. G and H were already there, having taken the train from New York City a couple of days earlier.

D shared many amazing bottles from his cellar with us as can be seen from the photos.

He also introduced me to Zaya 16 year old rum, which it turns out I can get in the local booze store at a very advantageous price, hurrah!

My wife isn't really into wine, so on the Saturday she and I went for a hike on the Finger Lakes trail, starting at Sugar Hill State Forest. We got slightly lost but otherwise it was an enjoyable trail, not too muddy and with the occasional mushroom and some little frogs.

On Saturday evening, we had a wonderful dinner party with the five of us, and D’s friends Bob, David and Charlene. This included a trio of wonderful Californian cabernets from 1973: Beaulieu Vineyard, Freemark Abbey and Sterling Vineyards, followed by a pair of Sauternes from 1983 - Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey and Rieussec. The hardship! I don't think my wife had ever seen a dining table laden with so many wine glasses and antique silver cutlery.

On the Sunday, we went out to a few wineries for tastings. Things seem to have changed a lot in the six years since I was there last, and everything seemed more touristy and commercial. Where previously the tastings were around $5 if memory serves, now the standard charge seemed to be $15.

We started off at Domaine LeSeurre, where I particularly enjoyed the semi-dry Riesling from 2020 and had visions of sipping it on our deck. Since our deck is currently under construction, that’s unlikely to happen this year, but I did buy three bottles and have consumed two of them already, so can confirm it’s a lovely wine to drink well-chilled in hot weather, and only 12% alcohol. I was hoping to buy a bottle of their sparkling wine too, but was told that I’d have to join the wine club, which was a little offputting, so that didn’t happen.

Next up was a winery I hadn’t visited before, called Weis. As the name suggests, this is run by somebody from Germany. I really enjoyed this tasting. They had an interesting white called “Heart of the Lake” which is made from a new grape variety called aravelle. There was also a nice light fizz which contained this grape. The pinot noir was light and pretty, and the cabernet franc was also in the lighter style. I seriously thought about joining the wine club, but have since discovered that I can order some of their wines from the booze store here in PA, so may just do that some time!

Then it was on to Ravines. As in 2017, the wines here continue to impress and though they’re perhaps a bit more expensive than the local competition, they are built to last. I absolutely loved the pinot noir which was really interesting and a little wild, and the late harvest vignoles was a must.

We had lunch at the café/pub in Hammondsport and in the afternoon attempted to visit Dr Konstantin Frank, but it turned out that the tasting offerings here were too touristy and/or outdoors for our liking, so in the end we abandoned them and moved on to McGregor. This was nice because we got to sit at a table inside and our flights of wines were brought to us, along with a few nibbles, so we could sit and discuss amongst ourselves more easily without having someone hanging around waiting to pour the next glass. As on my previous visit, the star of the show was the Russian River Red, which has now been renamed Saperavi Grand Reserve. We tasted the 2017 vintage which was quite a tannic monster and needs at least another ten years, I’d say.

Enormous thanks to D for driving us around, having us to stay over the weekend and sharing so many treasures from the cellar. We had a wonderful time!

SPNS dinner, Thursday 12th March

Sitting up here in AduV Towers, looking out on deserted city streets below, it's hard to believe that it was only ten days ago that we were convening in the bar at the Savile Club, getting ready for another excellent evening of vinous discoveries. On this occasion there were only four of us - me, G, D and ACC.

We began with this Hermann J Wiemer Riesling 2017 from the Finger Lakes, specifically the HJW vineyard. This made a very pleasant aperitif, slightly off-dry in style and with a nice weight. Most of us found it grapey but D detected apricots and peaches. It had a great finish.

Some of us had had a bad day so we didn't linger downstairs but moved up to the dining room where ACC produced this "white", a Bourgogne Aligote 1993 from Les Caves de l'Abbaye. It was clearly heavily oxidised but clean. Viewed as a dry sherry, it wasn't at all bad.

According to the back label, this wine is golden yellow with hints of green 🤣

ACC had wisely brought a back-up, this Bourgone Hautes Cotes de Beaune 1972 from Marinot-Verdun. This was another clearly elderly wine, and slightly cloudy, but had a big burst of berries on the palate and a hint of the sugar bag. G made comments about old socks and old saddle and forest floors, but appears to have enjoyed it and D admired its light fruit and good acid. ACC then revealed, to nobody's surprise, that these two bottles had come from a flea market at an advantageous price. Very much in the spirit of the SPNS!

My own primary contribution was this 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Firestone Vineyard in California, which was part of a mixed lot at auction some time ago. Everything in that lot to date has been impeccable so I was hoping for a good result. It turned out to be still going strong, dark and powerful, almost archetypal cabernet. G got mint and raspberry, while D considered it ready to drink but not in decline. ACC's comments appeared to be favourable too, although we were approaching the scrawly stage of the evening in the Chronicles, which are rapidly running out of space.

D had brought along this McGregor Vineyards 2017 reserve Cabernet Franc from the Finger Lakes. This was a vibrant colour and very classic cab franc with a lot of mint and chewy tannins. Most of us felt it was on the young side and would age well.

For pudding, I'd brought along this Canadian maple wine which I was given a long time ago by a friend who had visited the vineyard. It sat in the cupboard for several years, which was clearly a mistake on my part. As G said, it "created less reaction than anything ever produced at this tasting." There was just nothing going on. Oh well!

Fortunately, G had brought along a half of Gould Campbell 1980 to go with the cheese. I found it a little spirity on the nose but otherwise it was very enjoyable drinking, with figgy fruit. D particularly rated the finish. A good way to round off the evening!

Who knows how long it will be till the next SPNS? However, the blog will be back in the near future as I got some wine out of storage on Friday. Important to have something to look forward to!

Trip to Finger Lakes part II - McGregor Vineyard

We got back in the truck and drove back to Hammondsport for lunch. It was incredibly enjoyable being driven around by D in this awesome vehicle and every time I had to haul myself up into the back seat I felt very rugged and adventurous.

We ended up eating at the Village Tavern Restaurant & Inn which proved to be just the job.

The pulled pork sandwich can only be described as epic and was absolutely what we needed. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms just looking at the photo.

Then it was off to McGregor Vineyard for the second tasting of the day. This was a more conventional affair. We sat at one of the tables in the tasting room and had the opportunity to taste five wines from the list for a trivial fee, five or six dollars, I can't remember.

Of the two whites which we tried, I liked the 2016 gewurztraminer reserve, which was very Alsatian in style with ginger, melon and pear. It was spicy and had a great finish, and we thought it would go well with Chinese food. It costs $25 and if I lived locally I'd consider buying it. The other white was a 2014 Muscat, which had nothing wrong with it but didn't really do much for us. 

Then we moved on to three red wines. First, a 2011 pinot noir reserve, which was a pale colour and had good fruit. It was relatively light with brisk acidity. We felt it might not have much of a future ahead of it, and $35 was possibly a bit steep. This was followed by a 2015 cabernet franc, which was perfectly fine, tight and well-balanced, but again I didn't find it particularly exciting.

We saved the best for last. The jewel in the crown at McGregors is the Black Russian Red which is made from a blend of grapes from Georgia - more about that here. We tried the 2013 which is a 36 month barrel reserve. This was powerful, complex and intense with a lot going on. It had black fruit and a great finish and was altogether a very superior bottle of wine. We thought it would be one to come back to in 10 years, and we know it's built to last as we had some older vintages with D. It costs $70 but it's worth it. This is really the one to go for at this particular winery and their pride in it is entirely justified.