Greetings from Apollo’s Praise, Wine Berserkers!
World class wines from a quirky Finger Lakes duo, and fresh off a tremendous set of reviews from James Suckling for our 2024 wines yesterday, Julia and I are thrilled to be participating in the first ever VinDependence Day!
We might not have ‘Vacationland’ on our license plates like Maine, but make no mistake this region is a road tripping destination every summer! Turns out these deep, cool, glacial lakes are equally as good for visitors looking to beat the heat as they are for vines: it’s a win-win.
So come with us as we take a road trip of the Finger Lakes with our wine styles at VinDependence Day only prices! Whether you plan on making it up here this summer or not, think of these mini-packs as the souvenirs you’ll be able to bring home and savor all autumn and winter long, a reminder of summer’s glory days in a beautiful bottle of Riesling (or Grüner, or Cab Franc, or, or, or…) 
Read our full package write-ups below (plus the local radio stations we’ll be blasting on each road trip) or shop all our offers here anytime!
Want to go off-road and create your own order? For VinDependence Days we’re doing 20% off automatically when you shop via our regular cart!
Wine and Glee Club Member? Make sure to sign into your account for an additional 10% off!
1. Dry Riesling Road Trip for $110!
aka WEOS 89.5fm, NPR
Listen, we love NPR (although Julia is the real champion here), but is there any more appropriate pairing for a Dry tour?
Have you come to the Finger Lakes to get some… Fresh Air? Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, you’re also here for the famous Rieslings? Well then you are in luck! We’ve put together a horizontal of the 2024 Dry Riesling bottlings that we make from our vineyard, Lahoma, each one based on a separate hilltop within the farm. All Things Considered, there may be no better way to understand the sandstone terroir that underpins Lahoma and makes it so unique within the region.
- 2024 Classic Dry Riesling: Hailing from the dead center of the farm on a long sloping hill, the block that makes up this bottling features the only east-west plantings on the vineyard. This row orientation lends itself to great air drainage and the cleanest fruit we grow. In Julia’s hands, it has made a tremendous Dry Riesling that expresses what we love about Lahoma Dry Riesling: ripe orchard fruit on the nose with a dense and opulent midpalate before a zippy finish.
- 2024 Pentecostal Block Dry Riesling: Sounds like it should be one of those radio stations in the 88.3 range, I know, but the hill this comes from earned its name agnostically: there is no more difficult parcel to farm and bring to full ripeness at Lahoma, but if you can taste the results you know it is worth the effort. The Pentecostal takes the ripe fruit character of our Dry Riesling and turns the exuberance up to 11, with a concentration of orange fruit and palate weight that is singular on the farm.
- 2024 The Knoll Dry Riesling: The grand champion, and the reason Lahoma Vineyard first broke through. Not a reference to the renowned Austrian producer - although we always are flattered by that thought - but rather a descriptor of the topography. This is the smallest hill on the farm, a small sandstone knoll that results in our most structured and tense Dry Riesling year-in and year-out. It has taken us around the world, but we’re glad for it to be in the car for this roadtrip!
2. Road Trip through the FLX Riesling Pradikat Levels for $125!
aka WXXI 91.5fm, classical:
When your winery is named after a song from the 1800s that you performed with a men’s choir in college, it isn’t exactly a surprise that our local classical station comes on the radio as we flip through. And what could be more appropriate for this trip through Lahoma terroirs by way of Riesling sweetness levels in 2024? I can hear Ein Deutsches Requiem coming over the hills now…
- 2024 Riesling ‘Kabinett’: This Riesling is sourced from the southernmost hill that makes up Lahoma Vineyard, where the sandstone begins to give way to some clay in the soil. The result is our most tropical fruited Riesling, which we fashion as a classic Kabinett style. Fruit-sweet, crisp, and refreshing, this is an underappreciated style we just can’t get enough of. It is also a bit of a specialty for Apollo’s Praise within the region, with our debut vintage landing on Decanter’s top 50 of the year list.
- 2024 Pentecostal Riesling ‘Spätlese’: While the Kabinett is a benchmark wine for us every vintage, the opportunity to make a block-designate Spätlese was a 2024 specialty that we relished. Richer and more lush than the Kabinett, the Pentecostal hill gives this a whipcrack of acidity that needed barrel fermenting and ten months on lees to tame.
- 2024 The Knoll Riesling Noble Select ‘TBA’: Up until now, The Knoll has always been ‘The Knoll:’ a structured, powerful, dry Riesling. In 2024, however, we had the perfect conditions for clean botrytis and decided to roll the dice. The result is something we likely will only be able to make once or twice per decade, and with no small amount of stress and work: 50 beautiful gallons of liquid gold TBA. As Brahms began and ended his requiem with: selig.
3. Tour de Cab Franc for $70
aka WBER 90.5fm, Alt Rock, ‘The Only Station That Matters’
Curious what all the hubbub about New York Cabernet Franc is? Why, in the FLX, Cabernet Franc is the only Cabernet that matters? Then get in as we crank up the tunes from this high school rock station on this summer roadtrip, because with this trio of expressions it is clear our Cabernet Franc’s have graduated!
- 2024 Dry Rosé, Nutt Road Vineyard: “Wait, are we starting in Tavel?” We take Dry Rosé seriously here in the Finger Lakes, as this recent write up of ours from Vinous makes plain. Why? Because we can make Dry Rosés from fully ripe fruit without sacrificing freshness, it is our forte in a cool climate. And Cabernet Franc excels as Dry Rosé; zippy, fruit forward, but still with the savory herbal character that we love.
- 2024 Cabernet Franc ‘Picardie’: Next stop on this tour a Parisian Bistro our house favorite style! Named after the glass tumblers used in French cafes, this is our ode to how beautiful a bistro red can be. Exuberant bramble fruit, but still with mineral-tinged structure; this wine is as great while you are cooking as it is to sit down at the table with.
- 2023 Cabernet Franc, Reserve Lahoma Vineyard: Last but not least is our most Loire-esque Cabernet Franc, our estate reserve bottling. Fermented in, and then aged in, a large French Oak tank, this bottling is our most elegant and savory expression of Cabernet Franc and is meant for the long haul.
4. Roadtrippin’ Across The Knoll for $80!
aka WDKX 103.9, Rap and R&B
If you are in the car with Julia and I, it is guaranteed that WDKX is going to get flipped on the moment we are close enough to pick up the signal. A legendary station that the two of us love equally, whether for their on-air DJs, eclectic rap programming, Old School Saturdays, or especially their dedication to the Quiet Storm format every evening.
No other station could accompany us on this trip across The Knoll, the heart and soul of our vineyard. And while we love the eponymous Dry Riesling made from this small sandstone hill, on this tour we wanted to feature the other cult-favorite wines that call it home:
- 1x 2024 bottle of the “wait, are we in Burgundy?” Chardonnay that Julia champions.
- 1x 2024 bottle of the “oh wait, we must be in the Kamptal” Grüner Veltliner that Kelby oversees.
- And then 1x 2024 bottle of the “I have no idea where we are, but at least everything is delicious” terroir-driven blend we call ‘Lovejoy’.
– Fun fact, ‘Lovejoy’ is the first wine we have ever made together - thanks to Berserker Day support we might add! - and for that we are forever thankful to this forum. Given that, how could we not wrap this offer up with our joint-favorite radio station?
The Full Tour for $375 and no checked bag fees (aka free shipping)!
On board for the complete road trip? Then buckle-up, hit ‘Scan’ on the radio dial, and get ready to blast the tunes! This tour includes one of each of the packages above, discounted even more for the full trip commitment, and we’ll even cover shipping as a thank you.
Shipping Deets:
- Shipments will begin in early September when the wine is in bottle and temperatures cool.
– If you have ordered wines that are good to go and want them to be shipped sooner, or to pick-up, just let us know and we’ll see what makes sense. - We ship to all states EXCEPT: AR, DE, MS, RI, SD, UT.
– If you get a message that the wine can’t be shipped to your state and you aren’t in the list above, please ping us and we’ll make sure you are all set!