Finger Lakes Whites Beyond Riesling

The Finger Lakes region in New York has become known as producing some fantastic Rieslings.  Yes, they are great, but they also produce some great whites besides Riesling.

I recently took part in a twitter tasting of 5 of those "other whites".  The varietals tasted were Pinot Gris, Gruner Veltliner and Gewurztraminer.  Gruner Veltliner is new to the Finger Lakes and it taking quite well to the region. Yes I am impressed!

When seeking out other white wines from the Finger Lakes, you might want to give these a try.

Thirsty Owl Wine Company 2012 Pinot Gris - While I am not a big fan of Pinot Gris, I was quite impressed with this wine.  I have to admit, I cheated as Thirsty Owl table was next to mine (Happy Bitch) at a trade show that week and I tasted the Pinot Gris.  Looking forward to more than an ounce in my glass, I embraced this wine at the tasting.  All estate grown fruit in this dry Pinot Gris that was very light in color.  It showed beautiful aromas of honeysuckle, pear, apple, citrus and some minerality.  Flavors of pear was dominate but had some lime mid palate and minerality towards the finish with very nice acidity. (yes that's my daughter in the picture being silly)

Three Brothers Winery Stony Lonesome Estates 2011 Gruner Veltliner is all estate grown and stainless steel fermented. This is the second vintage for them.   The initial aroma I got with this wine was stinky feet.  After a few swirls the aroma dissipated that brought on a nice floral smell. There were soft flavors of pear and melon.  Even though the technical sheet says 0% residual sugar I thought it was sweet.  My residual sugar taste buds would give it a 1.2% and others taking part in the tasting thought the same. There were 300 cases of this wine produced and it retails for $14

Fulkerson Winery 2012 Gruner Veltliner - here's another confession. I received a media sample from the winery and didn't realize it would be one of the wines featured in this tasting.  I had reviewed this wine the week before giving it it's own post.  You can read about it here. 

Knapp Winery 2011 Dry Gewurztraminer was a happening wine. After the grapes were harvested they sat on the skins overnight before they were pressed. Nice nose of jasmine, tangerine and some floral notes.  On the palate we saw some soft pineapple and lemon with some white spice. As a dry Gewurztraminer it did have .95% of residual sugar which balanced out the acidity nicely.   There were 116 cases of this wine produced and it retails for $14.95

Dr Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars 2012 Gewurztraminer had a beautiful nose.  Aromas of soft jasmine, wet stone and citrus with a hint of floral filled the glass.  This very nicely balanced wine had flavors of orange blossom with a slight spice on the finish.  Even thought this had 1.1% residual sugar it wasn't a "sweet" wine.  The sugar balanced out the acidity to make it a very nice wine.  Discussions during the chat were what to pair this wine with.  Cheese Master Wendy Crispell suggested a "goey stinky washed rind cows milk cheese"  This wine retails for $14.99

Disclaimer:  I received these wines as a media sample from the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance.

New York Gruner Veltliner by Fulkerson Winery

When you hear Gruner Veltliner you think of a Austria.  Well it's only natural because Gruner is the most dominant grape planted throughout the country. But where else can you find wine made with the same grape outside Austria. We don't have to look to far, just to the Finger Lakes region of New York.

Fulkerson Winery is one of a few wineries in the Finger Lakes region producing Gruner Veltliner.  Planting their Gruner in 2010, the 2012 vintage is their inaugural release.

The wine is all estate grown and was harvested at 20.8 brix.  The alcohol level clocked in at 12%.

The nose is crisp and clean, quite floral with hints of apple and peach.

The palate is full of tart green apple, peach, citrus and finishes with a soft spice.

The retail price for this wine is $12.99

Disclaimer:  I received this wine as a media sample from the winery.




                  

2011 Fulkerson Winery Traminette

It's getting warmer out and I'm getting out the whites.  Traminette whose daddy is Gewurztraminer and that lovely lycheeness and floral notes the wine brings to the palate.

With seven generations of farming behind them, the Fulkerson Family began selling juice in 1979. In 1989 they joined in with the other Finger Lakes wineries and offered 3 varieties of wine for a total of 1000 cases.  Today showcasing over 25 varities the winery the winery continues to grow.

The 2011 Estate Grown Traminette had a beautiful floral nose that followed through with some lychee and peach aromas.

The palate was minerally, as it exhibited some slate notes that bursted out to bright lime and peach flavors.  The finish was lead by grapefruit that tapered into grapefruit rind.

There were 293 cases of this Traminette made and retails for $11.99

I paired this Traminette with a homemade seafood pizza on a whole wheat crust.

Other Wines in the House - 2009 Fulkerson Lemberger

I have to admit, Lemberger isn't my favorite grape.  My first experience with wine made from this particular grape was B-O-L-O-G-N-A.  Yes it tasted like something from Oscar Mayer . I have now seen a new light.  On a recent trip to the Finger Lakes I began stepping out of my comfort zone and going towards wines I normally wouldn't pick up. It's called opening your mind and your palate. I have to convince my husband of this.

Lemberger is a grape that originated in Austria where it is called Blaufrankisch.  This 2009 Fulkerson Lemberer had a deep cherry garnet color that twinkled in the light.

Aromas of clove, black cherry and plum fill the glass.  Nice body on the palate, not to heavy with hints of oak as soft spice filling your mouth with nuisances of cherry lingering in the background.

This wine was quite enjoyable and would pair nicely with a leg of lamb. It is also reasonably prices at $15.99.