It's always my mission to find
wineries in the US producing wines from Italian grapes grown on
American soil. I had always taken a trip to upstate NY to the Finger
Lakes wine region for many years annually, but had taken a break over
the past 5 years as I had traveled to some other places around the
world. It was nice to make it back here and we couldn't
ask for better weather and accommodations as I write from our beautiful villa right
on the water of Seneca Lake in Geneva.
A couple days prior to my arrival the
Seneca Lake Wine Trail called out to my attention that Ventosa Vineyards
located in Geneva at the top of Seneca Lake was working with a few
Italian grapes. I had been to Ventosa Vineyards years ago, but this
was well before my wine blog so I really couldn't recall the wines
that they produced. Thankfully a private tasting and tour was
arranged for myself and family with their winemaker and vineyard
manager, Jenna Lavita.
As Ventosa Vineyards states that their
winery is “a taste of Tuscany in the Finger Lakes”. Upon arrival
you can't miss this massive, gorgeous villa that is eyecatching from
route 96A. The winery was established eleven years ago and the
owners are Italian lovers themselves taking trips often over to
Italy, but providing folks with a Tuscan setting right in the Finger
Lakes as well. They produce about 3,000-3,500 cases on 22 acres.
The owners believe in finding peace in the craziness of wine life
within their vineyards therefore the vineyards are sacrosanct,
blessed by the priest and located around the property and within the
vineyards themselves are religious statues all around.
The tasting we had with Jenna on their
patio overlooking their vineyards below and Seneca Lake was a treat.
Jenna was such a pleasure to spend time with. She actually graduated
from the local college, Williams Smith, back in 2008 and learned
winemaking under the winemaker of Fox Run Vineyards, Peter Bell. She
had actually gone to school for law, but making friends and getting
acquainted with the wine industry drew her in. It's amazing to me
how many folks I have met in the wine industry had previously been
lawyers. I guess that profession leads you to drink converting many
on it's journey ; ) She also owns a small brewery in town as well,
Lake Drum Brewing.
We tasted through many of their wines,
but of course I was mostly interested in the Italian grapes they are
working with: pinot grigio, tocai friulano and sangiovese. To see
Italian grapes grown in such a cold climate area is rather
interesting and I only remember coming across 1 other vineyard in the
Finger Lakes wine region working with Italian grapes, Red Tail Ridge
produces a teroldego grape, which I didnt get to revisit on this
trip.
There are about 3 acres planted to the
pinot gris grape. The 2015 Ventosa Vineyards Pinot Gris is a very easy drinking, clean, light bodied
wine with green apples most prevalent on the palate. The interesting
wine for me was the 2014 Ventosa Vineyards Tocai Friulano mostly found in the wine
region of Friuli in northeastern Italy. I know this sounds crazy,
but I picked up almost pickle juice on the nose. It's partially aged
in American oak imparting tropical notes into the wine. Lower on the
acid scale the wine had more weight than the pinot gris. We finished
with the Ventosa Vineyards Tocaice, which is their ice wine made from the tocai
friulano grape. They don't freeze the grapes on-site, but instead
take them to Ontario to a commercial freezer where they are frozen
for 1-2 months. They are pressed onsight though at Ventosa Vineyards
with a hard press (2.5 bars) over 24 hours to extract as much juice
as possible. They usually get about 150 gallons from 3 tons of
grapes. For those with a sweet tooth and that enjoy a dessert wine
at the end of your meals this had nice rich honey and orange zest
notes. An unctous wine indeed!
Following the tasting we proceeded to
the production facility underneath. Walking through the vineyards it
was just the start of bud break for a few of their grapes including
sangiovese, pinot and chardonnay. The last few winters have been
colder in the Finger Lakes and many wineries having been losing their
primary buds.
For me the highlight was the Ventosa Vineyards Owners
Reserve Sangiovese. We tasted their sangiovese in the fermentation
room comparing the 2011 and 2012 vintages. I preferred the 2011
vintage as it was more similar in style to that of Tuscany than the
2012. It was drier in style where the 2012 showed more ripe red
fruit. The 2011 had more earthiness and dried fruits, which is
personally more my style. It's medium bodied and aged in American
oak for 2.5 years plus an additional year in bottle. These sangiovese
had soft tannins.
Overall, it was a great way to start
the day and taste the difference of Italian grapes grown on American
soil in the Finger Lakes region of NY.
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