Wine Reviews

Bloomer Creek White Horse 2015 Review – A Powerful Red Blend

Generally when we think of wine from the Finger Lakes, our mind goes to an array of white grapes that we absolutely love from the region. While we've had some delicious reds, including several bottles of Cabernet Franc and Saperavi from various producers, we haven't quite had a red blend like Bloomer Creek's White Horse.

This one contains the regional favorite Cabernet Franc with a mix of Merlot for good measure, making for an especially powerful wine.

At five years old this one still had an impressive tannin level and evolved considerably as we drank it. To be quite honest, we'd even love to age this wine a few more years for good measure!

Read moreBloomer Creek White Horse 2015 Review – A Powerful Red Blend

Pares Balta Cava Blanca Cusine 2011 Review – A Stellar Cava

We've had many glasses of Cava in the past- some average, some good. But we had never had one that was absolutely stellar, that is until we had the Pares Balta Blanca Cusine 2011.

This is some stellar Cava, and for its price point (sub $40 per bottle at our local distributor) we absolutely couldn't ask for anything more. In being 78% Xarel-lo (with the rest being Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), we also were able to get a fonder appreciation for the grape in this one.

Read morePares Balta Cava Blanca Cusine 2011 Review – A Stellar Cava

Boutari Moschofilero 2017 Review – A Well Balanced Wine

When we decided to make a lemon eggplant risotto, it didn't take long for us to settle on the Boutari Moschofilero from Greece. The dish checked a lot of boxes for us as having similar flavor profiles we'd expect to find in Greek food, and the citrus and minerality notes in the wine sounded like they'd go well with the lemon and eggplant respectively.

We were not let down by this one– on its own and with the food.

Read moreBoutari Moschofilero 2017 Review – A Well Balanced Wine

Tsiakkas Xynisteri 2018 Review – Citrus and Minerals

Xynisteri is a new grape varietal for us and one that is indigenous to the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. Naturally, we were eager to crack this one open as soon as possible purely for this reason.

While we ended up thinking this one was a tish heavy on the minerality for what we like (relative to the acids and fruit, at least), we are glad we tried it all the same.

Read moreTsiakkas Xynisteri 2018 Review – Citrus and Minerals

Standing Stone Blanc de Blanc 2017 Review – An Acidic Sparkling

When you look at the bottle of Standing Stone Blanc de Blanc from the Finger Lakes, you may be a little confused. Its branding leans in heavily on Hermann J Wiemer, the parent winery of Standing Stone that is located just across Seneca Lake.

But while this one does carry the Hermann J Wiemer branding, the grapes were sourced from vines planted on Standing Stone's property in 1974 all the same. As we are big fans of both of these vineyards, we bought a bottle of the Blanc de Blanc without even sampling it and quickly popped it open after we got home from the region.

Read moreStanding Stone Blanc de Blanc 2017 Review – An Acidic Sparkling

Ayres Vineyard Gamay 2018 Review – Darker Fruit with Undertones

When we think of Gamay, our minds instantly head to Beaujolais in France. For many, many years our experience with this varietal was from wines that solely came from this region, and it wasn't until we got our hands on a bottle from Ayres Vineyard that we tried from the new world.

Yes- Ayres Vineyard Gamay does not come from France, and is instead from Oregon!

Read moreAyres Vineyard Gamay 2018 Review – Darker Fruit with Undertones

Heart & Hands Pinot Noir 2018 Review – Fruit Forward

One winery we missed out on visiting when we explored the Finger Lakes was Heart & Hands. We had heard about wines from this vineyard for a while and were pretty bummed we couldn't make the stop happen.

Thankfully, while exploring a wine store in Ithaca we found a bottle of the Heart & Hands Pinot Noir 2018 and picked it up without hesitation to give them a try. While we would say this was a fairly representative Pinot Noir as far as the varietal is concerned, it was quite surprising that it came from the Finger Lakes!

Read moreHeart & Hands Pinot Noir 2018 Review – Fruit Forward

Bloomer Creek Chardonnay & Gruner Veltliner 2016 Review

When we visited the Finger Lakes for a weekend getaway in late 2020, one winery, Bloomer Creek, was not open for tastings (only bottle sales). We placed an order at this one all the same at the request of a friend who wanted some bottles and decided to pick up a few for us to try at home thanks to their great reviews and that one of our favorite local wine shops carries them as well.

It very much was a case of “if it is good for them, it is good for us”.

The first bottle we opened was their naturally fermented, skin contact, unfiltered Chardonnay and Gruner Veltliner blend- a more unusual grape combination than we're used to but one that we have to admit, we really enjoyed.

Read moreBloomer Creek Chardonnay & Gruner Veltliner 2016 Review