May is Finger Lakes Wine Month and to celebrate, this episode is all about Finger Lakes!
Keuka Lake Wine Trail. Photo by Finger Lakes Wine Country
New York state makes more wine than any other US state after California, and it’s centered around the Finger Lakes AVA, which was established in 1982 and includes 11,000 acres of vineyards. It’s the largest wine-producing region in New York State, located in Upstate New York, south of Lake Ontario and is home to 130 wineries producing about 90% of the state’s wine.
This week we discuss:
- The History of Finger Lakes wine region
- Climate and Geography of Finger Lakes
- Diversity of wine grapes in the Finger Lakes
Wine Recommendations:
Wagner Vineyards Finger Lakes Riesling Dry 2015 – priced around $15. This wine smells like a rubber ball upon opening the bottle but fades into aromas of steel and honey. It’s dry and light bodied, with high acidity, and flavors of lemon pith and green apple with a little bitterness on the finish. The flavors are clean, fresh tasting, and it’s not as fruity as I expected for a Riesling. If you are looking for a different expression of Riesling this is worth a try. Thanks to it’s acidity it really needs to be paired with food, so pair with seafood, chicken or lighter dishes.
Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli 2015 – priced around $17. This wine is pale with aromas of flowers and a hint of tea leaf and minerals. It’s dry with a good amount of acidity and medium body. This wine is crisp and clean tasting with flavors of white grapefruit, pear and tea. We thought this wine has a lot of finesse and a subtle balance of flavors and would pair well with feta stuffed olives, sushi or seafood stir fry.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode. Now that you know more about Finger Lakes you can impress your friends and enjoy Finger Wine Month in style with a couple of fabulous wine recommendations.
Sources:
- Wikipedia
- Finger Lakes Wine Alliance
- Finger Lakes Wine Country
- The Wine Bible
- The Oxford Companion to Wine (Oxford Companions)
- The History of Wine in 100 Bottles: From Bacchus to Bordeaux and Beyond
