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Bloomer Creek Vin d’Ete 2018 Review – Complex and Bretty

Bloomer Creek is one of our favorite Finger Lakes wineries and part of the reason for this, beyond their wine simply being delicious, is that they do production techniques and blends that you don’t normally expect to find in the region.

The Vin d’Ete 2018 was on the more traditional side of things and is 95% Merlot and 5% Gamay. This one produced a wonderful aroma and flavor profile but also came packed with a hit of Brettanomyces that was just a bit much for us.

Still, we’re glad we tried this wine all the same.

After taking my WSET Level 3 exam in Washington DC, I decided to take the long road back to Pittsburgh via a detour to Loudoun County, Virginia’s wine region.

My first winery visited in the county was 868 Estate Winery which was making news for winning the 2020 Virginia Governor’s Cup for their Vidal Ice Wine. While they were, rather predictably, sold out of the ice wine, I was met with a decent wine list available as well as stunning views at the vineyard.

The Gerogian grape Saperavi is quickly becoming a favorite of producers in the Finger Lakes. One of the first plantings of this grape came at Standing Stone vineyard and they have been excelling at this particular varietal for a while now.

One variant the winery offers is a rose made from this grape, and with a crisp acidity and strong red fruit flavors, we have to say it was a pretty delicious rose!

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery in the Finger Lakes has been a staple of the region for many decades, and with good reason. This one produces some fine wines that are quite representative of their styles and go down quickly.

So if you are in the mood for an easy-drinking off-dry Riesling, Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Reserve Riesling should be right up your alley!

Anthony Road is a popular winery located towards the northwest end of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes. With a beautiful tasting room, a wealth of wines available to taste, and a visitor’s garden featuring grape vines, herbs, and more, this is really the kind of winery we love to visit.

Naturally, we also left with a number of bottles.

One such bottle was their off-dry Vignoles, and we recently paired it with a spicy chicken tikka masala which made for a wonderful pairing!

Cendre is a 50/50 blend of Mourvedre and Petite Syrah coming out of Paso Robles, California that we received within an order from Plonk Wine Club.

This wine had solid acidity with approachable tannins, and a well-rounded balance of dark fruit and herb flavors making it an easy sipper to pair with one of our favorites- pizza!

When we visit Finger Lakes wineries, we almost always make a stop at Heron Hill on Keuka Lake.

Apart from having a stunning view of the lake, the winery does a good job at producing an array of delicious wines that we think are quite representable of their respective styles. One such wine was the Heron Hill Reserve Riesling which is true to form for a cool climate Riesling.

Keuka Lake Vineyard is a great spot to hang out for a while, sample some easy-drinking wines, and take in the beauty that is the Finger Lakes.

In fact, when we visited this one in 2020 we had such a great time talking with the owner (who we found out was also from Pittsburgh) that we got another reminder of an aspect of wine that we often do not discuss a lot on this site- the people behind it. Hearing stories of growing up in Pittsburgh, working in Nepal, and more reminded us of how much we love this part of wine tasting.

Naturally, we left with several bottles, and Keuka Lake Vineyard’s Sauvignon Blanc Young Block was one such wine. It didn’t take long after returning home for us to open this easy-drinking white!

While we’ve visited Finger Lakes wineries many times over the years, we only visited Standing Stone for the first time in 2020 on the recommendation of a friend to try out their Saperavi.

But after arriving, we found that we enjoyed just about everything the winery offered on our flight. In talking to our server about the wines, we also learned that one of our favorite wineries in the region, Hermann J Wiemer, bought Standing Stone in 2017. This was really all we needed to know about why we liked our entire flight so much- quality producers make quality wines.

Naturally, we purchased many bottles to enjoy at home and one was the Standing Stone Chardonnay 2018 that we opened up in late 2020.

When we visited Napa, one of the first vineyards we made it to was Cakebread Cellars. Not only did we have a wonderful time at our tasting, we walked away with several bottles to enjoy at home. (You can read more about how we checked wine on a plane here.)

One such bottle was Cakebread’s Pinot Noir Annahala Ranch 2015 and when we opened it in 2020 at five years old we knew we had found a gem- both for its flavor profile and its price point!

Bloomer Creek Vin d’Ete 2018 Review – Complex and Bretty

868 Estate Winery – A Quaint Winery in Loudoun County, VA

Standing Stone Saperavi Rose 2019 Review – Crisp and Refreshing

Dr. Konstantin Frank Reserve Riesling 2017 Review

Anthony Road Vignoles 2019 Review – Off-Dry with Tropical Aromas

Cendre Mourvedre and Petite Syrah 2016 Review – A Tasty Red Blend

Heron Hill Reserve Riesling 2017 Review – Cool Climate Riesling

Keuka Lake Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Young Block 2019 Review

Standing Stone Chardonnay 2018 Review – Cool Climate Wine

Cakebread Pinot Noir Annahala Ranch 2015 Review – Classic Pinot