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New York's Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps the most famous red grape. Its home is Bordeaux where it is was created as a cross between Cabernet Franc (red grape) and Sauvignon Blanc (white grape). Since then its popularity has spread and it is grown all around the world. It prefers warmer climates to ripen fully and even in Bordeaux some years it does not ripen. That is why Cabernet Franc is also used in Bordeaux blends as it ripens faster. What makes Cabernet so popular is not its bouquet, which can range from blackcurrants to cigar box, but its structure, typically having both tannins and acidity to create a smooth feeling in the mouth. The structure allows the blending with other grapes, perhaps the most famous pairing is Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot where the Cabernet provides the structure and the Merlot gives the wine the soft, rounded feel in the mouth. Recently Cabernet has been mixed with Sangiovese (Chianti's grape) to create the SuperTuscans.
Chardonnay
Jancis Robinson described Chardonnay as the tart of the grape world, as it would lie down anywhere and do what the winemaker told it to do! In other words it will grow almost anywhere and produce decent and quite stylistically different wines ranging from minerally Chablis, Champagne, buttery fruit wines, tropical fruit wines or oaky vanilla wines. During the late 1990's Chardonnay was the drink of choice for many. However people became bored with the oaky wines found in so many bars and the term, 'ABC' (Anything but Chardonnay) came about. The ubiquitous yet noble Chardonnay grape has virtually become a brand name. From its homeland in Burgundy, its fame and fortune have taken it all over the world. It�s grown on different soils in varying climates to be used either as a single varietal or in blends, for still and sparkling wines, and with or without oak ageing to create a wide range of wines with diverse personalities. As a result, it�s impossible to describe a typical Chardonnay. For a start, the grape can make anything from an everyday glugger to a high-quality wine deserved of ageing. Its popularity in the vineyard stems from the fact that it�s easy to grow, consistently yielding generously with relatively high sugars (and, therefore, alcohol). In the winery its advantages are obvious � it�s difficult to make a poor wine from it, unless it�s been picked too late, because then its acid levels fall quickly, which make it flabby. Chardonnay isn�t strongly aromatic: some detect anything from apples (or barely ripe apples in Chablis) and melon in Maconnais Chardonnay to tropical fruit flavours in New World examples. Common descriptives, however, tend to refer to texture and weight rather than flavour � buttery for broader styles, such as Meursault from the Cote de Beaune; steely for Montrachets and nutty for Corton-Charlemagne. There�s an attractive leanness to fine Cote d�Or white burgundy, that sets it apart from Chardonnays from the rest of the world, but this can be emulated further south in the Cote Chalonnaise and Maconnais in good vintages with clever winemaking.
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir (pronounced PEA-no NWAHR, the grape that produces Burgundy's finest red wines, is one of the hardest to grow. This thin-skinned variety is generally an early budder and ripener, so it is best-suited to cool, marginal climates - 40 to 50 degrees latitude - and only produces good wine when the fruit is controlled to very low yields. It has the problem that it mutates easily and is also particularly susceptible to leaf roll, and to rot because of its compact grape bunches. Pinot has no single recognisable flavour or style. Young Burgundy, however, can be reminiscent of raspberries or strawberries, while mature French Pinot tends to evolve into anything from violets, game and truffle to farmyard aromas and compost. Despite its difficult temperament, Pinot Noir is hardly just a French phenomenon. It crops up in Northern Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Eastern Europe as well as California, Australia, New Zealand and even South Africa and Chile. It�s a successful ingredient for sparkling wine and is one of three grapes used in champagne, bringing good acidity, structure and body. Pinot Noir goes by a long list of names, which include Spatburgunder and Blauburgunder in Germany and Klevner in Switzerland.
Riesling
Riesling is probably the most misunderstood and mispronounced grape variety, despite being widely acknowledged by wine critics as one of the world's greatest grapes. Riesling is the noble grape variety of Germany, known there as the King of Grapes! Riesling ripens early and is best fermented cool. It should be bottled early with as little interference as possible in the processing - no oak-ageing or malolactic fermentation is required. As well as delicate dry to off-dry wines, Riesling produces some fine late harvest wines.
Wine Regions for New York
- Finger Lakes
New York
Key Grape Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling
With over 230 established wineries and 31,000 acres under vine, New York ranks as the third largest wine producing state in the US. The cold climate here has been known to drop below -25C during the winter, and the five main AVAs consequently rely on large bodies of water to stabilize temperatures throughout the growing season. Two of these AVAs include Lake Erie AVA and The Niagra Escarpment AVA, both of which depend upon the Great Lakes, while others rely on smaller glacial lakes, and major rivers. Further East is an island-based AVA whose Atlantic Maritime climate has been alikened to that of Bordeaux, although the annual threats of hurricane damage may set it apart. Soils range widely across the 450 mile breadth of the state, offering areas of limestone, gravelly loam, and heavy clays in the West, while sandy loams and glacial deposits of shale, slate, and shist are more common in the East. New York is also home to America’s oldest continually operating winery – “The Brotherhood Winery”, established in 1839; the oldest sacramental winery – “Oh-Neh-Da”; and America’s first bonded winery - the Pleasant valley wine company.
Viticulture began in New York as early as the 15th century when early European immigrants settled the area and began cultivating native vines, albeit without much success. Today the region still produces wines from native varieties such as Delaware and Niagra, but has also established hybrid varietals such as Seyval blanc and Vidal blanc, as well as planting the better known vitis vinifera varieties. The area was for many years associated with white wines including chardonnay, riesling, gewurtztraminer, pinot blanc, and sauvignon blanc, but modern producers have demonstrated great results from cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc in recent years. Wine styles are predominantly dry table wines, but sparkling and dessert wines have also proven popular with the local market, which consumes over 90% of the wine produced here. The Royal Kedem Wine Company offers a further category as the largest producers of Kosher wine in the world, and can be found in the Hudson River AVA. But it is the Finger Lakes AVA which is the greatest draw for more than one million wine tourists that swarm New York state every year. Although the Finger Lakes region may have a growing season almost three weeks shorter than Long Island AVA further east, early ripening varieties such as riesling are renowned for producing the greatest quality wines that New York state has to offer. These wines have been compared to those of Germany’s Saar region, and it is widely agreed amongst experts that many producers across this state are fully capable of competing at an international level.