Chpt. 2, Dorothy's Not in Kansas Anymore...

Oskar, Oskar, Oskar, you didn't tell us about your marketing department! We met Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard's best kept secret the other day.... Sarah! We went to the tasting room where this lovely young lady was pouring the wines. She was articulate, knowledgeable and friendly. We had a wonderful time sharing the wines with her. As wannabe case club members, we got the royal treatment beginning with the 2008 Chardonnay, of which we bought 2 bottles. Slightly oak-y (Stainless and French oak barrels), but clean, crisp and citrus-y also, it is a great summer wine with seafood. Then we moved on to the delicious Rieslings and the 2009 Gewurztraminer (which we also purchased even though I promised my husband no more Gewurz). The thing is, when there is a really wonderful Gewurz, you just have to buy it! Owner/winemaker Fred Merwarth makes different Rieslings with grapes from his different vineyards such as the Wine Spectator 90 point 2008 Dry Riesling from the Magdalena Vineyard (his northern most vineyard) and the WS 92 point (!) 2009 Dry Riesling from the HJW Vineyard. It was fun doing a side by side tasting and comparing these delicious wines. Lastly, we purchased a 2009 Late Harvest Riesling which was an absolute treat (you'll just have to try it)!
As we discussed the wines, we also asked Sarah about herself. She is here for the year interning at Hermann J. Wiemer from Germany. This astounded us because of her perfect English. OK she has a VERY SLIGHT accent, but hardly noticeable. She has travelled extensively and has accompanied Oskar on jaunts to NY City and Washington D.C. to market Wiemer's wines. Her ultimate goal is something in marketing wines internationally. Then she told us her age. Just to be polite, I won't give exact numbers. Suffice it to say, she can't legally drink in the US and is not even in her second decade of life. (Interesting aside: she was able to drink in her country at 16, but couldn't drive a car until 18. Hmmm...)
This led Jim and I to ponder how mature and capable Sarah is in comparison to American teens her same age. I am a high school educator. Sarah's whole demeanor, confidence level and knowledge base blows away most of my students. Maybe Sarah is an over achiever, but regardless, this speaks loudly to the education of our children in comparison to the rest of the world. While I disagree with thrusting the business model onto education, SOMETHING needs to be done to better educate our children and their parents. If the Sarah's of the world are setting the bar, our children are falling way short.
Kudos to Sarah. We wish her the best and hope that as she deals with wines globally, she'll remember her year at one of the Finger Lake's finest wineries and promote the wonderful wines of the region. (Oskar, how about a raise for her)?

Play-off Wines

I was going to Tweet the wines we served yesterday for the play-offs, but decided I needed more room than a tweet offers, so here goes:
We served Ravine Wine Cellar's 2007 Chardonnay, Hermann J. Wiemer's 2007 Merlot and Standing Stone's Smokehouse White a semi-dry Vidal Blanc. They were all great choices. Karen and Dan really liked the Smokehouse White which is Standing Stone's white table wine. It is slightly sweet and very drinkable - and at under $10 a bottle, very easy on the pocket. A good sipping wine while watching the game. Ravine's Wine Cellars produces dry wines. This Chardonnay, while dry, is very pleasant. It is aged in stainless steel, but undergoes a second fermentation process that produces a slightly buttery taste and feel. Kathy and I enjoyed sipping and having the Chardonnay with our dinner. (Dry wines are perfect to pair with foods). Jim tried the Wiemer Merlot and raved about it. When I tried it later, I could see why. Rich with plum and cherry flavors and oh so smooth, this Merlot is a keeper. Least you think we are all sissy wine drinkers watching manly football games, we also served everyone's favorite beers including a local brewery, Rohrbach's Highland Lager in a growler. Yum.
A couple nights ago we opened Ravines 2007 Cabernet Franc. We had visited the winery last weekend, joined their wine club, and brought a couple bottles home. The Cab Franc is very light and dry - I almost thought it was a Pinot Noir. (Jim makes me guess what wine I am drinking and whose winery it is from). Again this wine pairs nicely with food - we had salmon that night. While I liked the Cab Franc, if I were to choose which I liked better, the Cab Franc or Chardonnay, I would definitely chose the Chardonnay.

2008 Reflections

As the end of the year draws close, I reflect on this past year and a few of the wonderful wines we've tried recently and which deserve a mention:

Hermann J. Wiemer 2007 Merlot


Hermann J. Wiemer 2007 Estate White


Dr. Frank 's 2006 Merlot


Standing Stone Pinnacle 2005


Standing Stone Cab Franc 2006

Happy New Year!

Drink Finger Lakes Wines - responsibly!

It's all in the details

My house was absolutely euphoric this morning! You might think it was because the sun has been shining for 2 days in a row (even though it's 27 degrees outside) or because Spring is on the way and robins are arriving. But no, it was because Jim read in this morning's paper that Jamie Lee Curtis is posing "shirtless" for AARP magazine! Wow. That got his attention right away! As a new AARP, he is ecstatic - going on and on about what a GREAT group these AARPS are and aren't I jealous I'm not "in" with them? I don't know how I can keep him contained until the magazine comes out Monday with Jamie Lee on the cover!

OK, let's look a little closer at the story. It says Jamie Lee is shown "sporting silver hair and wading in water up to her chest" on the May/June AARP magazine cover. Come on, what will they really be showing... her shoulders? Sorry Mr. AARP, we don't want any of you "cool" members having a heart attack when you get your AARP magazine! Reading further, it says the Jamie herself won't be an AARP until November 22nd! Snap! She's YOUNGER than me, has gray hair and is hiding under water! Now I'm feeling pretty darn good about myself until the teenage daughter brings me down by pointing out that I got the short straw in the important female attribute gene pool. Poor me. Poor Jim. Damn those details!

On the plus side, a winery that pays meticulous attention to detail is the Vineyard of Hermann J. Wiemer. We visited his winery on the west side of Seneca Lake late last summer and had a wonderful chat with Laura who served us the wines. The tasting room is located off the retail shop in an enchanting old stone and wood barn on the property. It was cool and shady inside, although you could wander out on a sunlit stone patio. We were the only ones there initially, so we got the chance to try some wines that we might not have had the opportunity to in a large group. Fred Merwarth is the current winemaker, but Hermann J. Wiemer is still very involved and checks the vintages daily. The winery produces small lots which enables the winemaker to have the best control of the final product. As a legend in Finger Lakes wine development, Hermann J. Wiemer's Vineyard has won many, many awards. Check out their website at http://www.wiemer.com/ for more information and to sign up on their e-mail list.

Here's what we tried:

1999 Chardonnay. It was sold in limited quantities until gone, but was at its peak last summer. Really nice - bold.

Cabernet Franc - dry and delicious. It was in the top 3 of 100 in international wine competition.

Gewurztraminer - tasted of peaches and melon. Yumm. I really like Gewerz.

2006 Dry Riesling described by Laura as"heaven in a glass". And it was! .9 percent residual sugar - crisp!

2006 Reserve Dry ( 1.5% residual sugar)

Semi-Dry Riesling (2.4% rs) sweeter with a nice finish.

Late Harvest (3.4% rs) Yumm.

I loved everything I tasted, but the best was yet to come. We were able to taste the ....

Trochenbeerenauslese ($50.00 a bottle). Wow - this was the nectar of the Gods!

Finally, we sampled the 2003 Select Late Harvest Riesling- at 13% residual sugar it's honey taste just lingered.

It is well worth a trip to the Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyards to sample the wines. You will understand the meticulous care and attention to details that make this winery stand out!