Wine expert assesses 2009 vintage in Finger Lakes
James Molesworth of Wine Spectator magazine reported Wednesday that the 2009 Finger Lakes wine vintages will be quite varied because of the intermittently cool and wet growing season.
Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer handled the variable weather best, but red-wine grapes had more difficulty, he wrote.
“This will be a vintage of extraordinary variation from site to site,” Morten Hallgren, owner and winemaker of Ravines Winery, told him during a two-day visit to the region.
Molesworth also quoted officials at Red Newt Cellars, Anthony Road Wine Co. and Fox Run Vineyards in that article, and he reported on the grape harvest in other areas of the country.
In his blog on the magazine’s Web site, which requires a subscription, he gave more information about his visit to the Finger Lakes. He also visited Hermann J. Wiemar Vineyards, Shalestone Vineyards (“an all red winery hiding out in Riesling country”), Damiani Wine Cellars and Lakewood Vineyards.
On Nov. 18, he visited Rooster Hill Vineyards. “At Rooster Hill, Amy, Barry and the team aim high,” Molesworth said in his post on Twitter. “Low yields. Vinifera. And they prove it can work in the FLX.” Amy Hoffman is co-owner and Barry Tortolon is the winemaker at Rooster Hill.
“I was pleasantly surprised that our Chardonnay scored as well as it did because it had been bottled much later in the year than in past vintages,” said Tortolon, who added that he “learned a great deal (during Molesworth’s visit) as to how our wines are judged against worldwide benchmarks, as his scores are not given lightly.”
More Finger Lakes wine ratings are likely soon. On Wednesday, Molesworth tweeted, “In the tasting room again: A few Finger Lakes Rieslings followed by some Arizona whites…talk about yin and yang…”
In other notes on Twitter, he commented:
Nov. 18: “At Lakewood, a nice visit with Dave, Chris and Liz. Third generation now handling the family winery. And their Rieslings age nicely…”
Nov. 19: “Just played ‘surprise’ on Deb and Dave at Red Newt. Went in for coffee, got 5 Rieslings instead. ’09s look super jazzy.
Nov. 21: “In the glass: Hermann J. Wiemer Riesling Finger Lakes Dry Magdalena Vineyard 2007…has opened nicely over last 6 mnths; plump, anise, peach.”
In addition to the Finger Lakes region, Molesworth¹s “tasting beat” includes Argentina, Chile, the Loire Valley and Rhone Valley, and South Africa. He has been with Wine Spectator since 1997 and a senior editor since 2004.
Hoffman said Molesworth contacted her about a month ago and said he would like to visit Rooster Hill.
“It was an honor to have someone of his caliber in the wine world pay us a personal visit,” Hoffman said. “His goal was to meet the people behind the wine and see for himself that we are doing what we say we are doing. He is not going to buy into smoke and mirrors, which I like.”
Molesworth also has cautioned that a Finger Lakes winery’s newsletter claimed “90 point scores for wines I didn’t review.” The winery told him that “someone named ‘Marc Bernstein’ claimed to be writing for WS and got three separate VIP tastings at winery. Trust me folks - no one named Marc Bernstein is covering wines for us. CHECK YOUR SOURCE always!”