Sunday, May 27, 2012

Ravines Wine Cellars 2006 Riesling (New York)

A number of years ago I went down to see how a real wine festival was run when I attended the Finger Lakes Wine Festival in New York state ... being from a province with an all powerful monopoly and alcohol rules that date back to prohibition era, it was nice to see how things could run if you trusted your populace with the booze they consume and your organizers to get it right ... but I digress.  While there I found a winemaker who was doing the right thing in a sweet wine loving state - and that was making serious dry wines.  The next day I went out to his property in Hammondsport on Keuka Lake and was further impressed by the wines he was making.  So impressed in fact that I bought two bottles from him, a Cabernet Franc, which I recently reviewed, and this bottle of Riesling - which I opened tonight with some Chinese food that the wife and I thought would be a nice romantic dinner before I headed off to Germany for a week of wine tasting.  This bottle has stood up very nicely: citrus rind, lemon / lime pith, peach pit and hints of petrol (and I do mean only a hint) on the nose.  The palate pulls things off a little better.  Where the Nose seemed to be aging the palate still seemed young and vibrant: peach pit, lime acidity and a nice chalkiness with a dry finish.  Wonderfully complex and deliciously satisfying ... I do still hope they are making them this way at Ravines.


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