There are certainly stylistic differences, and those from terroir of course. The region has definitely evolved in its own way in recent years. When do we start calling other rieslings “FLX-style” 
A thousand years or so.
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We’ll have even more lakes by then!
In the Fall when articles are published about great Thanksgiving wines, I always think that Finger Lakes wines are conspicuously absent. Of course, Riesling is an excellent food wine, including for turkey and the fixings. But the FLX Cab Franc has elements of cranberry and a light body that make it perfect for Thanksgiving - not to mention, of course, that they are American wines for Thanksgiving.
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Thanks, everyone. I’m a fan of Mosel rieslings, which got me started on the whole idea of comparing their best from NY state, where I grew up and about which most of my CA wine peers know little. If most of the best FL riesling is dry, then I might switch to an Alsace comparison. And if the cab fr from the Finger Lakes is more dependable than from Long Island, then I can simply focus on the Finger Lakes region for both the white & red tastings. Should you have any other thoughts, they’re all much appreciated.
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In my experience, the FL dry rieslings are more like Germans, with more acid than typical Alsatians (unless you’re thinking GG-level Germans).
FYI, the store in Ithaca is Cellar d’Or (clever name!).
FLX Riesling rarely has the body of an Alsatian Riesling. Germany is definitely the better comparison.
I don’t know as much about Long Island but my understanding is that there is more varietal cab franc in FLX… Long Island will likely have more cab franc and merlot based blends. I like FLX a lot. If you go that way with the reds though, right bank bordeaux is not going to be a good comparison. I’d look at the Loire.
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Good thought. I had assumed that the cab franc from NY would be mostly blends. But if generally 100% varietal, then the Loire seems a more appropriate comparison.
Empire Wine (not to be confused with Empire State of Wine) probably has the largest selection of FLX wines in the country, although I’m not 100% sure they ship to CA.
Agree with @John_Morris that the better FLX rieslings tend to be the dry ones so if you want to compare against the German equivalents, I would look to trocken/GG. That said, Kemmeter is an excellent producer of kabinett/spatlesen style wines in the Finger Lakes. For TBA equivalent, Wiemer had the best ones I’ve tried.
You think? That’s one of my local shops and they do have 1-2 shelves of good stuff, but I’d have thought out in CNY there would be more. Cellar D’or seems to have a pretty huge selection, but strangely I always wind up buying non-FLX wine there.
I agree that the focus seems to be dry Riesling, but I think people are starting to open up more to kabinett styles and we’ll see more going forward.
I don’t know about their physical store. Their online inventory has almost 300 SKUs of FLX wines.
ETA: That said, not all of it is good stuff… may have been thinking of another store
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Ah, that they do. A lot of it is not what I’d call fine wine. Lots of Bully Hill and Hazlitt. No offense to either, I just don’t think they’re aiming for the same target as places like Forge, Weis, AP, etc. Still lots of good to great bottles otherwise though.
I have not had a Finger Lakes Riesling in many years and frankly have little interest in trying them.
I have a lot of German wines and love them. I really like Rieslings from Alsace but find that I don’t drink them very often as I almost always pull a German wine when I want to drink a Riesling.
I know that diversity in wines is fun, but I drink a lot of things like red and white Burgundies, Bordeaux, California Cabernet and Zinfandel, Sauternes, Piedmont wines, etc. If I want to diversity more it probably would be through something like more Brunello, not FLR. Sorry.
For what it’s worth, their online inventory does have the single vineyard wines from Forge, Wiemer, Apollo’s Praise and Ravines which I would consider in the top echelon of FLX.
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As someone who gets asked questions about FLX in comparison to [insert region] quite frequently, a few things I might point out to help guide your tasting @dave_f 
I am afraid that I tend to agree that FLX versus Mosel - while a popular point of comparison (especially in the 90s and 00s) - isn’t always the cleanest comparison. @David_Bu3ker comments on the Pfalz or Rheingau are good, although I feel like the Rheinhessen is the closest German match for the FLX in terms of Riesling style, topography, and agricultural history. This is not to dissuade you from the FLX/Mosel tasting, given the context you supplied, just an observation!
(There is a whole side conversation here as regards the FLX being told it was akin to, and then modeling itself on, the Mosel for a few decades. I think it allowed producers to accept lighter bodied wines as what our ‘natural destiny’ was, in terms of picking earlier etc., rather than putting in the risk and effort for pursuing ideal ripeness for the climate we have. But that is a hot take for a different day.)
Producer wise, I have nothing to add to the many thoughtful responses above! Most of the producers I would suggest are all mentioned - although I would note there is basically zero chance that Kemmeter will be found outside that tasting room - and you’ll be in good shape.
CF wise, I’m less sure what to say. It is the fastest growing category in the FLX, but the wine style here is not one that you can really map on to CF anywhere else in the world. I had mine blinded for a bunch of French Sommeliers in Paris and they split between Northern Rhone Syrah and old school Chianti. Compliments all the way around, but the idea that FLX = cool = Loire just doesn’t pan out.
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Good comments. I thought about Rheinhessen, but availability of reasonably priced options is not great.
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Ah, this is true. I am thrilled to see the Wechsler wines are now imported, but baffled someone like Stefan Winter isn’t.
I wonder if wines from someone like Weltner (Franken) might be a good option for comparison.
Thank you, Kelby. I’m mapping out my plans now. All of these insights have been valuable.
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