United States

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  • Finger Lakes
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  • Columbia Valley
  • Horse Heaven Hills
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  • Walla Walla
  • Yakima Valley

This is one of the priciest Finger Lakes region Rieslings.  It is a nice wine, but there isn't really any value here.  Light silvery gold in color.  The nose is lemony with nice fruit.  It is holding onto its youth quite nicely.  On the palate, this has a candied quality that is nice.  While it is dry, there is a feeling of sweetness and perhaps just a hint of it on the palate.  The finish has a bit of a bitter grapefruit note that was noted in a few of the Finger Lakes Rieslings.  Food friendly.  This should be good for ten years or so but its unclear if it will improve or just hold.  

10.5% ABV.  Light green gold in color.  The nose is already showing some light diesel along with a bit of peach.  On the palate, this has a nice oily texture.  It is better on the palate with a lemon candy note.  Slightly bitter on the finish.  This has good acidity and is off dry.  The two seem to balance each other out well.  It will work with a wide variety of foods but certainly Thai would be at the top of the list.    

Back in the days before Prohibition, the wines from the Lake Erie Islands far outsold the wines from Sonoma.  Peruse and older text and you will see that these islands produced some of the top wines this country produced.  Nowadays, the islands mostly serve as a summer weekend destination for fun and cheap beer, but there is still some wine being made in the area.  No doubt most of the wine is better enjoyed on a hit summer's day, listening to music in a bar.  Still, it is good to try the wines and see what is being produced.  This is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Vidal Blanc.  It is uncle

Pretty cool to be able to try a Finger Lakes Albariño.  Unfortunately, this bottle seemed very off.  That said, a couple of people (with respected palates) at the tasting quite enjoyed the wine.  Light green/gold in color.  The nose has wet rocks, hay and plenty of plastic band-aid notes.  Typically, that is a sign of a brettanomyces yeast infection.  That is not always a bad thing, but it is a bit rare to be found in a white wine.  On the palate, the plastic note continues along with a bitter grapefruit juice finish.  I am curious if this was an off bottle or typical from the winery.  It w

198 refers to the clone type that was used for this wine.  8.3% Alcohol.  It is very much in the Spatlese style of Riesling and at a tasting, was my favorite wine.  Pale, silvery gold in color.  The nose is nice with petrol and minerals.  It is curious why it shows petrol a such a young age but the wine is otherwise young and fresh.  On the palate, this is sweet and approaches cloying but falls short of that.  A pineapple juice quality to it.  Enough acidity to carry it off.  Long finish.  This would be great with Thai or other spicy Asian cuisines.  It is fairly priced and is likely to dri

Light golden in color.  The nose has a crushed shell aspect to it along with some slight lemon peel.  Interesting.  On the palate, this is light bodied and a bit thin.  It has a tart lemon candy aspect.  A bit sweet and a bit sour.  Short finish.  It is solid and fairly priced.  It will work with lighter foods and salads.  Tasted as apart of my tasting group's exploration of this area, in general, the group liked this one a bit more than I did.  

What an interesting wine.  This is basically a Finger Lakes take on a Fino Sherry or Fortified Jura, France wine.  It comes in a squat bottle.  Although first made in 2008 (the only vintage so far), it was just released in January, 2019.  It is a fortified and oxidized style of wine.  It is very dry.  Deep golden in color with a slight orange hue.  The nose shows oxidation along with a nuttiness (almonds?) and slight orange/citrus.  On the palate, this is tart in a way that Fino Sherry is not.  It is dry and oxidized but a much fatter wine than its Euro counterparts.  The orange notes carry

2007 in Oregon was a love it or hate it vintage.  The wines tended to be thinner and less ripe.  Whether this is good is up to the taster.  While I have had some lovely wines from that vintage, for the most part, it is not one of my favorite vintages.  Sineann tends to make bigger styled Pinots (on an Oregon scale), so it was interesting to see how this was drinking at 12 years from vintage.  For my tastes, this was not up to the usual level of enjoyment.  Ruby in color.  The nose has some cherry juice, a bit of spice and slight herbaceous quality.  On the palate, this is light bodied.  Lig

To my knowledge, no one uses this vineyard any longer which is a shame as it produced some outstanding Pinots.  Deep ruby in color.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, macerated cherries with a nice funky earthiness.  Gorgeous texture.  Deep and complex but still youthful.  Ripe cherry and black cherry fruit with slight tannins.  Long finish.  Just a gorgeous Pinot that at age 10 still has some upside.  Drink now with air or hold for at least a decade.  Worked well with pizza!

Another Washington wine that was nice to try.  97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petite Verdot.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is nice with cassis, some chocolate, a bit of blueberries and spice.  On the palate, this has a lush texture.  It is tight but with air opens in the glass.  Cassis and blueberry fruit with spice and oak.  It needs a few years and will probably improve by a point or two.  Nice finish.  It is concentrated but a big wine and will need bigger foods or great on its own.