|
|
Wine Recommendation
Peconic Bay Winery
2005 Riesling(North Fork of Long Island)
If you're looking for delicious Riesling within the boundaries of New York State, your best bet is the Finger Lakes Region. With its steel, well drained vineyards, cool growing season and deep, temperature-regulating lakes, the region is ideally suited to aromatic wines with bright acidity. BUT, that doesn't mean that other New York Rieslings can't be just as good.
Only a handful of Long Island wineries bother with Riesling. Most prefer to focus on the easier-to-grow Chardonnay and, of course, the region's signature varieties Merlot and Cabernet Franc. One of the most consistent local Riesling producers is Peconic Bay Winery. Even though the style of Riesling changes sometimes from year to year, winemaker Greg Gove always manages to coax the best out of the grape.
I enjoyed the 2004 bottling, with its straightforward citrus flavors and fresh acid tingle. But it was more a Riesling for the masses – a light and refreshing summer sipper.
The recently released 2005 bottling, however... this is a Riesling for those who truly love the Riesling grape.
2005 was one of Long Island's warmest growing years ever. The result was extremely ripe, flavorful fruit. I was worried that local Rieslings would suffer from lack of acidity in this oddly hot vintage, but Gove took super-ripe fruit and made a well balanced and bigger-than-usual wine of unexpected strength.
This is still a young wine – taut and somewhat restrained – but the nose still offers nice lemon-lime aromas accented by desirable hints of minerals and petrol. Light residual sugar is barely noticeable because of vibrant acidity that brings structure and focus to lime-dominated flavors. The best Rieslings have a tension to them – fruit and sweetness vs. acidity. That tension lives in this bottle!
The winery recommends this wine with local shellfish, squid and white fish, but it's versatile enough to serve with most any fish, fowl or pork dish.
Reviewed September 28, 2006 by Lenn Thompson.
Other Awards & Accolades
Named One of the Ten Best Rieslings in US - 2007 Canberra International Riesling Challenge
Gold Medal - 2007 New York State Fair
Silver Medal - 2006 NY Wine & Food Classic
Silver Medal - 2007 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition
Silver Medal - Taster's Guild International Wine Competition
Silver Medal - 2007 International Eastern Wine
Competion
Silver Medal - 2007 Amenti del Vino
Silver Medal - 2007 NY Wine & Food Classic
Silver Medal - 2008 International Eastern Wine Competition
Other reviewed wines from Peconic Bay Winery
  2005 Steel Fermented Chardonnay (North Fork of Long Island)Lenn Thompson 3/12/2007 |
The Wine
Winery: Peconic Bay Winery |
The Reviewer
Lenn Thompson
Lenn Thompson writes about New York wines for Dan's Papers, |