Showing posts with label Finger Lakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Finger Lakes. Show all posts

Friday, March 27, 2015

Ravines Finger Lakes Dry Riesling 2013

Ravines Wine Cellars Finger Lakes Dry Riesling 2013

We went out of our way and made a point to stop at Ravines Wine Cellars on the south east shore of Keuka Lake in Central New York's Finger Lakes wine region during our 2012 Finger Lakes Wine Experience.  It was a priority visit for us since its one of the few Finger Lake producers and wines available in Chicagoland.

Ravines Wine Cellars (left) is run by the husband wife team, Morten, viticulturalist and winemaker & Lisa Hallgren, self proclaimed 'foodie'. Morten was raised in Provence region of Southern France where the Hallgren family owned Domaine de Castel Roubine, a 270 acre estate with 170 acres of vineyards and where he spent years in the vineyards learning viticulture - tending to the vines.

After earning an advanced degree in Enology and Viticulture at the renowned winemaking school, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie in Montpellier, he spent time working at the classic Bordeaux producer, Chateau Cos d’Estournel, under the legendary Bruno Pratts.

He came to America working for a French negociant, then at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina before he was recruited by Willy Frank to be chief winemaker for Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellars on the opposite side of Keuka Lake, the early pioneer and most established brand, who is credited with establishing serious wine production in the Finger Lakes region.

After six years at Franks, the Hallgrens purchased the 17 acre Ravines estate in 2000, named for the ravines carved out of the glacier-sculpted hillside on the Eastern slope overlooking Keuka lake (left). They source grapes from three vineyards located on the East side of Seneca Lake.

While they offer a broad line of red and white wines, from many diverse varietals (shown left), like so many Finger Lakes producers, I feel too many Finger Lakes producers are over-extended with too many varietals and labels and should stick with what they do best, that which is most suited to their terroir - climate, soil, exposure, degree days, sun days, length of growing season, rainfall, and so on. Old World producers, after centuries of experimentation and refinements have perfected matching the most suitable wine grape varietals to their unique terroir or sense of place at their locale. Certainly, this is the case in France, Portugal, and Germany - (I don't know what to make of Italy with their 500+ grape varietals - perhaps this is a reason we don't collect and specialize in Italian wines). Several Finger Lakes producers offered more than two dozen different wines.

Several times, we walked into a Finger Lakes winery where they were serving a dozen plus different wines and I asked for simply their flagship signature wine, and they didn't have one, or didn't know which one to feature.

For most of the producer's we visited, they offered almost too broad a selection of as many as a dozen or more different wines, without a highlight or showcase feature label. Ravines seemed to be less guilty of this excess than most of the others. Even then, Ravines produce Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc and a properly licensed Meritage, as well as several white wines including Gewurtraminer and Chardonnay besides the Riesling.

From all the wines, we tasted during the several days traversing the area, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and perhaps Cabernet Franc for the reds, seemed to be the varietal (s) best suited to the cooler more moderate climate of the region. We continue to buy and enjoy Ravines Dry Riesling with each new vintage release.

Tonight, for snacking while watching NCAA March Madness, with crackers and chips, Linda prepared a creative, tasty artichoke dip with chopped spinach, jalapeno, parmigiana, Greek yogurt and garlic seasoned salt, when went very nicely with this tangy Dry Riesling. 

While not elegant or sophisticated, this is a pleasant easy drinking every day white that offers reasonable QPR - quality price ration - at under $14.

I've written a great deal in this blog about wine marketing and branding. I applaud Ravine in this area with their tasteful, creative and decorative label (label) depicting the chateau (pictured top) and terrain of the estate.

Straw colored, medium light bodied, full forward flavors of grapefruit and tones of lemon and mineral with a subtle note of garden hose rubber on the mid-palate through the tart tangy focused acidity on the citrus finish.

RM 86 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1820218

http://www.ravineswine.com/

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Syrah stand-off - top rated Ojai Presidio vs. 90+ Cellars Lot 101

Syrah stand-off - top rated Ojai Presidio vs. 90+ Cellars Lot 101 

Here is a classic stand-off comparison between two contrasting styles of American Syrah. I've been enjoying the Ninety Plus Cellars Lot 101 Syrah recent release as written here in my blogpost. So when son Ryan said he was bringing a highly rated Ojai Vineyard Central California Syrah to Christmas eve dinner, the challenge was on. Erin prepared a delicious beef tenderloin while Ryan prepared succulent lobster tails for a gala Christmas eve family dinner that included twice baked potatoes, Barb's green beans in bacon and herbs, and Alec's salad, followed by Baby Jesus' birthday cake and decadent dark chocolate mousse.


Ninety Plus Cellars Lot 101: Collectors Series Columbia Valley, Washington, Syrah, 2009


I reviewed this wine last week in my blogpost. I love this style as my preferred profile of a Syrah, thick, chewy with sweet forward fruits. Dark inky colored, medium to full bodied, this full throttled Syrah reveals layers of blackberry and black currants fruits with tones of sweet vanilla, caramel and spice with hints of black pepper on a lingering smooth silky tannin finish.
 

RM 93 points.
 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1742790

 

Ojai Presidio Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah 2008 

Since 1983 Ojai Vineyard have been producing central California wines in the French style of Burgundy and the Rhone valley. Adam Tolmach studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis and worked at Zaca Mesa in Santa Barbara County after graduating in 1976. He co-founded Au Bon Climat with Jim Clendenen in 1982. After nine years Adam sold out to Jim to focus on Ojai Vineyard where he planted Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc on the property his grandfather bought in the Ojai Valley in 1933. 

Today the team of Adam and Helen Tolmach and Fabien Castel source fruit from a dozen different vineyards from the coolest districts in Northern Santa Barbara County. They produce wines from Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier varietals. They produce about 6000 cases each year across about 15 different bottlings/labels, most of which are vineyard designated wines. This Syrah is another blockbuster in their recent lineup that received huge reviews and ratings. 

Black color, medium-full bodied, full aromatics of berry fruits, concentrated, complex, still a bit backwards and tight, a core of dark fruits is accented by creosote, licorice, tobacco and herbs with a hint of pepper. My preference is for the forward fruit filled style of the 90+ while the layers of tar and licorice detract of the Ojai from its appeal for my tastes, Robert Parker loves the Ojai and gives this 95 points. Ryan too favored the Ojai.


RM 89 points.

Parker's description - "Meaty and peppery, with green herbs, bacon fat, smoke, mineral and loads of dark fruit, this medium to full-bodied Syrah has superb purity and definition on the palate. Still backwards and tight, it needs another 2-3 years of bottle age and will thrill through 2024."

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1585477

http://www.ojaivineyard.com/

Ravines Wine Cellars Finger Lakes Dry Riesling 2012 

To accompany the lobster, I brought this recent release Dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes region in New York. We visited Ravines during our visit to the Finger Lakes Wine Region in 2012. This is one of the very few Finger Lakes region producers to reach the Chicago market. Their Cabernet Franc and this Riesling can be found currently.

As noted in my blog posts from the time, Riesling is the primary and most appropriate varital grape grown in the region. They should stick to what they do best and focus on Riesling and a select few other varietals that are best suited to the climate and terroir there. But unfortunately they stray from the tried and tested approach learned in the old world and produce a wide variety of wines from an extraordinary wide selection of varietals. The result if a lot of mediocre and uninspiring wines. Never-the-less, Wine Spectator recently included Ravines Wine Cellars’ 2012 Dry Riesling in its Top 100 Wines of 2013, ranking it 33rd on the list.

James Molesworth rated the 2012 Dry Riesling with a 91 point score in the October issue of Wine Spectator, citing its “good weight and drive, with Asian pear, fennel and Fuji apple notes carried by lively acidity. Delivers lots of cut on the finish.”

Did he say fennel? Yes, I'm afraid so and this tends to detract from the harmony of the fruit. The wine tends to have a subtle but noticeable tone of what some might describe as rubber or tennis ball aromas.

I gave it 86 points.

Ryan gave it a 85 in his Cellartracker note - "strange wine. overpowering new rubber aroma and flavor..".


https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1615267

http://ravineswine.com/