By Randy Agness
“I’ve thought about this for a few years,” said Michael Warren Thomas, host of “The Grapevine – Radio for Wine Lovers on FM 92.1, “The Finger Lakes really needs celebrity winemakers to draw a spotlight to it.” The Wineries in the Finger Lakes region have been seeing a measureable improvement in terms of wine competition results as well as the region continues to draw the attention of prominent vintners feeling it’s an up and coming wine region. “Even in what would be considered bad years, the Finger Lake winemakers are able to craft outstanding Rieslings,” mentioned Paul Hobbs famous California Winemaker, “and in the good years – the Finger Lake Rieslings produced are some of the best in the world.” Jim Trezise – President New York Wine and Grape Association mentioned, “Starting with 90 pts Riesling just a few years ago, the Finger Lakes Rieslings scores continue to climb reaching ratings of 95 pts now.” Paul Hobbs stated, “I consider this as a trend for Riesling in becoming the wine of choice among consumers.” Driving the growth in the wine industry has been the consumer shift (especially among younger adults aged 24 to 30 toward consumption of premium alcoholic beverages due to increasing disposables incomes along with the awareness of wine’s health benefits. At the Vinexpo in Bordeaux, France industry experts are now forecasting a 25% increase in wine sales in the United States by 2018 with the baseline of wine case sales from 2014.
When formally announcement by Wine Spectator’s James Molesworth’s that “The Star from California and German winemakers together will plant vineyards and produce Riesling in the Finger Lakes wine region of New York,” this wasn’t just another vineyard and winery operation about to start up. With the addition of Hobbs and Selbach to the Finger Lakes, the bar will be set even higher for the quality of Rieslings; and as could be predicted, so the prices for exceptional Riesling wines will rise. Meaghan Frank – General Manager Dr. Franks Wine Cellar, “We haven’t raised our prices on our Dry and Semi-dry (Rieslings) to remain competitive, but for the botrytis styles and the single-vineyard Rieslings we do charge more (usually $10-15 more and upwards). The movement towards vineyard specific Rieslings has pushed the prices up but as long as customers see the value, and are willing to pay extra for something special.” Finger Lakes wineries such as Silver Thread Vineyard have been discovered by New York Times Wine Critic Eric Asimov for its single vineyard Rieslings series producing outstanding quality Rieslings. Notable Finger Lakes Wineries such as Ravines, Wiemer and Heron Hill among others have also received much acclaim for higher quality as well.
For Hobbs, the project is like a homecoming as he was born in Western New York. Paul Hobbs recalled, “My dad knew Konstantin Frank and he would visit often to the Finger Lakes and ask advice from him, it obviously had an impact before I moved on to California,” and maybe part of the reason for planting a vineyard in the Finger Lakes. When asked about the site, Paul responded about his personal investment with “the soil is full of rocks” and “a sloped aspect to the point where certain sections can’t be planted”, but most importantly a spot where he and his partner Johannes believe will “yield superior quality Rieslings (as the shale layer appears close to the surface of the topsoil at the edge, but tapered into the planted zone) and I believe in the quality of the climate.” With the wind updrafts blow off the Seneca Lakes in the morning and back across the evening, Hobbs indicated that “the air flow in the vineyard canopy will also reduce the dependency on controls lowering the vineyard management costs.” When clearing the land, the indication of old posts on the site came the realization that at one time a vineyard exist there.
Calling it the lower east side sounds like a description of a location in New York City, but for the Finger Lakes it’s commonly referred to as the “Banana Belt” of Seneca due to the west facing vineyards that gain more warmth of the summer sun from Véraison to harvest. Paul Hobbs mentioned the difficulty in determining the vineyard site. “It took about two years to find the location for the vineyard and before I contacted Johannes Selbach about the concept for the project,” stated Hobbs. The site in the town of Burdett is on nearly a cliff ledge with a steep elevation drop to the Seneca Lake below. “With the nearly constant breeze off the lake, the need for vineyard management has been minimal so far,” smiled Hobbs, “The second section, a 20 acre parcel, is in the process of being planted with Riesling vines purchased both locally and with vines selected by Johannes brought from Germany.” The anticipation of the first vintage is very high already, but the public will have to wait until at least 2018 for any amount of quantity bottled from the harvest in 2017.
Currently, Hobbs brother David is managing the vineyard and has been seen at area wine events like the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition Dinner Auction. But, Hobbs indicated that he tracks the weather around the vineyard site. “Johannes Selbach tells me the temperature in the Finger Lakes is colder that in Germany,” mentioned Hobbs. Beyond that Hobbs plans to try a mix of different advanced trellis technology trials accurate along with erosion control and engineering around the property was necessary and also ended up being quite expensive. “I don’t have a clear vision of the acreage yields at this point, but an estimate 3 tons per acre seems,” remarked Hobbs. To counter, these costs, Hobbs plans to compose with the grape pumice. “The more difficult soils here and behavior with the terroir the location is well suited to enhance the properties of the Riesling,” commented Hobbs. When questioned about selling any quantity of the Riesling grapes from the yet not formerly named PJV vineyard, the response was a clear, “no, not at all.”
The new team combining Hobbs and Selbach are by no means the first pioneers to claim a stake in the Finger Lakes. “The real pioneers like Dr. Frank were the ones who proved that producing Vinifera grapes in the Finger Lakes was not only possible, but exceeded in producing fabulous Rieslings,” explain Hobbs. Others Louis Barruol of the France’s Rhône Valley’s Chateau de St.-Cosme began the Forge Cellars label with local Finger Lakes investors, and winemakers such as Morten Hallgren of Ravines and Johannes Reinhardt of formerly of Anthony Road (now owner of Kemmeter Vines) moved to the Finger Lakes after previous winemaking in Europe. “The various markets around the country are wide open for Finger Lakes wines,” comment Hallgren.
To further improve the quality of the Finger Lakes Riesling wines, current research being conducted by Cornell University Cooperative Extension includes work on winemaking techniques. As explained there are some basics differences during harvest in the potential alcohol due to the Cool Climate conditions in the East Coast versus West coast which define Riesling and testing by measuring the ° brix. “YAN (Yeast Asssimilable Nitrogen) levels are the nutrition necessary to maintain healthy wine yeast strains (to complete the fermentation process converting the sugars in the grape to alcohol). By understanding and defining the appropriate amount of YAN required to complete fermentation is much different than the amount of YAN which will allow the conversion to the volatile aroma chemicals called esters that provide preferred qualities in Riesling wine,” stated Cornell Researcher Camila Tahim, who is presenting on this topic in an upcoming conference. “YAN is the primary organic and inorganic sources of nitrogen for metabolism of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). And too much is equally a problem cause the formation of undesirable chemicals.” After harvest, the majority (nearly 80%) of compound rich in nitrogen are concentrated in the grape’s skins and seeds. The nitrogen rich compounds are released during crushing of the grape bunches along with the maceration process (or extended contact of the grape must with the skins). Upon pressing of the Must, up to 80% of the nitrogen content which resides within the grape berry is discarded with the pomace (the solid remains of the grapes after pressing). “Yeast needs nitrogen in order to consume sugar. Many Musts do not have enough nitrogen for the yeast to successfully and efficiently convert all of the sugar to alcohol. In these situations, we need to add nitrogen to ensure healthy fermentations,” cited Paul Brock – Assistant Professor FLCC Wine Program. Although, the concept of promoting healthy yeast by adding nitrogen rich compounds is a common practice, but determining specific levels to direct the reaction toward specific desired aroma and taste properties is an area of research that could prove quite valuable. Senator Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand announced Cornell University will receive federal funding through the US Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) Block Grant Program. Cornell University will utilize 2.6 million dollars of the funds to optimize viticulture practices and wine production.
