I’m starting to check and see how my 2020s are coming along- it was a benchmark vintage here in FLX.
Sourced from a Cayuga Lake vineyard, this is the only bottling Forge does from vineyards remote from their eastern Seneca Lake patches. And it tastes vastly different than the Seneca bottlings, more tropical and less stony. Despite 6 years of age, the color hasn’t budged and the wine has barely developed. No trace of anything oxidative nor any Riesling diesel. Lush, almost creamy texture, but with great acidity and really fine mouthfeel. The aromas are not at all tertiary yet, starfruit with a touch of anise, but there’s sooooo much else going on in there. A distinct hit of orange rind on the back palate and finish.
It’s an absolutely superb wine with great complexity- I may wait until next year to check another bottle. Oh yeah, Triple Curly for sure.
I have to admit that when I moved here, I had no idea of how great the top wines were, especially for someone like me having a taste for cool climate wine. Well, one day this will all be taken seriously and the region will be overrun like too many others. But I’m enjoying it while I can.
Agreed. I grew up in Upstate NY. The finger lakes were always associated with bus tours and sweet wines (or wine slushies!). I’ve been tasting the top wines over the past year, and they are stunning. Such a fun discovery.
Great to hear this one is holding on. I went long on the 2020s and bought a lot of Wagner-Caywood and Leidenfrost. Overall positive results but have had a bit of bottle variation. The ones that are good though, are really good! Love Forge.
Always great to see posts about FLX wines, and I love Forge rieslings. They are up there for me with Ravines (particularly Argetsinger), Weis, Hillock and Hobbs, and Kemmeter.
I’ll have to try Sunrise Hill - I’m always buying up Tango Oaks and Leidenfrost.
Cabernet Franc, Saperavi, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir all have great expression here. Again, it’s cool climate style, so (for example) don’t expect the big. lush, buttery Chardonnays of California; the best ones from here have the great minerality, precision, and vibrant acidity of old school pre-warming Chablis. I’d much rather have one of these on the table with me for dinner than the high alcohol, low acidity big-bottomed style which are the darlings of critics.
The better Cab Francs are extremely reminiscent of the Loire while maintaining their own distinctiveness, and are some of the best expressions of that grape you can find anywhere.
If I were to hak a tshaynik for one variety besides Riesling, it would be Saperavi. It’s exceptionally good here and I wish more people knew it.
When visitors tell me they’ve never had a great red wine from the area, I’m most likely going to pull out a bottle of Ria’s Cab Franc or Standing Stone Saperavi and watch heads explode.
edit: I should also throw Gruner Veltliner into the recommended mix. I don’t drink much of it but have run into some extremely fine examples.
I don’t have the experience of those that are local but have visited multiple times between 1996 and 2021 as well as buying regularly from Ravines. I seek out the Pinot but only from wineries I know well or when I can taste first. The quality is still quite varied but the good ones are very nice and generally well priced in comparison to other regions.
The first Pinot I remember well was the 1995 from Weimer. Tasted it from barrel and it was wonderful, very expressive nose, nice mid weight wine that was full of flavor and lively. Ordered a case for delivery once bottled. The bottled wine never lived up to the barrel sample. Another wine maker told me he believed that Hermann sterile filtered that wine and stripped out a lot of the character. No idea if this was true. Regardless that is the wine that got me started looking for good Pinot but also why I prefer to taste first.
I can’t speak to practices from 30 years ago, but these days, Fred doesn’t sterile filter. But if I were buying reds from them, I’d be looking at their Cab Francs, specifically the Magdalena.
And do try Forge’s Pinot Noirs; I put them on my wine list for a reason. 2020 and 2024 were particular successes.
Agree with cab franc and saperavi as two strong reds from the area. Nathan K/Hickory Hollow is my go to for both, and they also have a kick ass pinot noir. I’ve also had good luck with blaufrankisch/lemberger and szeigelt from Weis.
The traditional method sparkling wine from the finger lakes is also underrated. Dr. Frank’s BdN is my go to Wednesday night bottle, and the QPR is fantastic. They also have great special release bottles, such as an extra brut rkatsiteli. Wiemer and Heart and Hands also have great champagne blends, and Ravines (and Dr. Frank) have fantastic sparkling rieslings.
All that said, riesling is still definitely what I think of first, and what I enjoy the most from the region.
Admittedly, my appreciation for FLX wines is new… but my excitement right now is mostly for Riesling. We had some very good Gruner. Also had some very nice sparkling wines on our trip. But Riesling is the star, for me.
Nathan K is on my short list of “very best wines from the region.”
I love the Dr. Frank sparkling wines and maintain that the BdB is, year after year, one of the very best made in the US. Don’t miss the Wiemer sparkling wines either; I have several bottles of their RD from 2010 which is… incredible. Ditto the 2012 RD. TN coming soon.
I have one that has been in the cellar for a while and I just haven’t gotten around to trying it. Will open it soon with the other bottle, which I have had a few times and really like so that I have a good comparison.
Nice to see this tasting note here. 2020 Sunrise was the “wow” wine for me when we visited Forge for the first time. It is, quite possibly, the wine that kickstarted my entire wine journey. I couldn’t believe how the same grape, from just a few miles away, could be so different from the rest of their offerings. Unfortunately, I don’t have any left (just a 2022), but I’m glad to hear its holding up.
As far as other grapes from the area that are noteworthy, I agree with most of what others have mentioned. Riesling is definitely star of the show, but Cab Franc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir all excel here, particularly in sparkling wines. A few standouts for me have been:
23 Forge Caywood Cab Franc
20 and 22 Heart & Hands Mo Chuisle Pinot Noir
16 Ravines Brut Rose
I also really like what Shaw has been doing with the other Bordeaux varietals and Syrah. They have a distinctly cool climate flair to them that makes them extremely food friendly.
You need to try the Ria’s “Grace.” You’ll thank me later.
Seriously, there’s a bunch of Rieslings here that I think are world-class and it gets down to preferences of style and specific terroirs. My personal favorites are the Ria’s, Forge Caywood (RIP), and Wiemer HJW, but I would never argue against Nathan K, Ravines, Element…
Sunrise Hill drank well young and I’m all out of it. My personal favorite is their Breakneck Creek and then their Cab Francs. Always have bottles of the CFs on deck.
Breakneck has crazy aromatics, maybe the wildest of the Seneca bottlings. And very different from the Freese despite the two vineyards being less than half a mile apart, and at almost the same altitude.
I’ve got two or three more of the '20 Sunrise left, but I may dig into a bottle of the Breakneck shortly.
