Update: Standing Stone 2009 Riesling and Heron Hill Ingle Vineyard 2006 Chardonnay

I tweeted a few days back that the Standing Stone 2009 Riesling was excellent. Wine Spectator verified it, giving this Riesling 88 points! AND Standing Stone's Riesling Ice 91 points! Congratulations to Standing Stone! I have said before how much we love Standing Stone wines so it is great to see Marti and Tom get this recognition! Both are available in the winery's tasting room.

I also finally got a chance to try Heron Hill's Ingle Vineyard 2006 Chardonnay that we purchased at the Rochester Public Market (it is also available at the winery). I am not a huge Chardonnay fan, especially of buttery California Chards, but was really impressed with this one. It was clean and crisp, and slightly buttery, but not overwhelmingly so. (The bottle says it is fermented in European oak which is more subtle than American oak). I am saving a bottle to give Pam for her Big 5-0 as she loves exceptional chardonnays. Also thinking about how well this would pair with shrimp scampi, sauteed scallops, or lobster bisque!

Here's Maggie's review of the Heron Hill Chardonnay!

I highly recommend this chardonnay before it runs out!

Damiani Wine Cellar's New Tasting Room is Coming...

Damiani Wine Cellars will be opening their new tasting room in about a month's time. It is located 5 miles south of the current tasting room on the east side of Seneca Lake, Route 414. We will definitely have to schedule a trip there when it opens, but in the meantime, we had a great tasting opportunity with Gabriel Damiani last weekend. Their current tasting room is really a beautiful old house, and it was gloriously air-conditioned! We previously had only tasted their reds and their 2009 Riesling, so welcomed the opportunity to try the other whites available. Gabriel said they don't make any bad wines, and he was right. We have loved their reds for awhile, but now we love them all. The wines are all dry wines, but some taste sweeter or fruitier depending on the type of grape. They are a small winery making a limited numbers of cases (from 100- 600). We started with the whites. The Sav Blanc (188 cases made) was exceptional. Lots of grass and tropical fruit flavors. The Riesling (2009) is made with grapes from Argetsinger vineyards. I love this Riesling; it is so crisp and clean. We sampled and liked the Gewurztraminer. The Pinot Grigio was also lovely and Gabriel was glad everyone in the group liked it as he said he planted all the vines for this grape by hand, and that the vineyards are truly a labor of love that he hopes will be there for the family's descendants to enjoy.

Then came the reds. We really, really liked the Cab Franc Barrel Select, The Merlot, the Cab Sav and the Meritage. The Pinot Noir was well done also. Lastly we tried the 2007 Sparking Brut. All I can say is if you have a special occasion or even don't have a special occasion, but like champagne, try this! It was truly a taste experience as it goes through many changes as soon as it hits your mouth! The effervescence changes from sweet to citrus to vanilla. Wow. Needless to say, we purchased a bottle of the Brut to accompany the Barrel Select Cab Franc and Riesling. As we were driving home we realized we didn't grab a Meritage. Guess we'll just have to go back when the new tasting room opens!

P.S. Today "Rover" Jon sent me this photo of the wines he purchased at Damiani this weekend: the Barrel Select Cab Franc, the Barrel Select Pinot Noir, and the Cabernet Sauvignon Barrel Select! As a fellow Damiani lover, he is enjoying his purchases in celebration of the 4th. His review of these Damiani wines: "awesome"!