They say that farming is a profession of hope. It takes a particular constitution to persist in a livelihood that in the age of climate chaos can seem like an endless battle against adversity. But how much more hope is required when the grape that you’re growing persists in being one of the hardest to sell in the market? Thankfully, the growers in New York’s Finger Lakes region have steadfastly soldiered on, with increasingly impressive results.
This month I’m taking a deep dive into the Rieslings grown around Seneca Lake, one of the 11 glacier-carved lakes in west-central New York State that make up the Finger Lakes wine region, and one of only two that have been given their own American Viticultural Areas within the larger Finger Lakes appellation (the other being Cayuga Lake).
Seneca Lake hosts the largest concentration of resident wineries (59) in the expansive Finger Lakes region, which covers a swathe of New York stretching from Rochester in the west to Syracuse in the east, a total of more than 4,000 square miles (10,360 km2). Seneca Lake is also home to the most vineyards in the region, with more than 3,700 planted acres (1,500 ha).
The Finger Lakes have a long history of growing grapes stretching back to the mid 1800s, with the first winery in the region established in 1860. Then, as now, growers depended upon the moderating effects of the deep lakes that rarely freeze during the winters, keeping surrounding temperatures measurably (1.1–1.4 °C/2–2.5 °F) warmer in the very cold winters, and slightly cooler in the hot and humid summers. The lakes also prove a convenient place to store the (sometimes substantial) amounts of rain and snow that vineyard soils can’t absorb.
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The post Seneca Lake’s Riesling Apotheosis appeared first on Vinography.
Source : https://www.vinography.com/2023/10/seneca-lakes-riesling-apotheosis
