East Coast wines

[Nick Stevens]

Splitting off from a previous thread, I am interested in recommendations for East Coast wines, specifically NY and VA. I live in Ohio and have tried most of the wines here with variable results.

[Carl Eppig]

The East Coast stars are the Finger Lakes, Long Island, Niagara Peninsula, and Virginia. However, we've had very nice wines from just about every state and province in the East. Nearer to you is the Erie Region of PA that has at least a half dozen of wineries worth exploring.

[Dale Williams]

Finger Lakes- I think Rieslings are clearly the best wines. I've enjoyed things from Wiemer, Sheldrake Point, Ravines, & Dr. Frank.

Long Island: some good wines, though sometimes price points make value a question. Best I've had are from Paumanok, Lenz, Macari, Old Field Vinteyards (disclaimer: latter are friends, and I've even picked a grape or a thousand. ). Jamesport whites are nice.

Va: Limited experience, but liked the Horton Norton.

[Ed Draves]

Chautauqua is improved a lot (Johnson, Mazza, Merritt, Vetter)and is fairly close to Ohio, Niagara Falls NY is a short distance from there and is becoming brilliant (Warm Lake, Niagara Landing, Freedom Run) and So. Ontario (Niagara on the Lake and Jordan) is less than an hour from there with Cave Spring along with Vineland and Flat Rock- see currant Niagara Cool Thread and Konzelman, Stratus and Ch Des Charmes- see 3yr old Niagaracool threads.
I'd suggest planning an Ontario Trip and stopping in Chautauqua and Niagara County along the way.

[Jenise]

Va: Limited experience, but liked the Horton Norton.

Always thought Horton Norton sounds like a Dr. Seuss wine.

[Dale Williams]

Always thought Horton Norton sounds like a Dr. Seuss wine.

"a winery's a winery, no matter how small"

[Nick Stevens]

Great suggestions. Went to Niagara last year - ice wines were good. Liked the table wines from Henry of Pelham.

[Keith M]

I don't drink as much wine from Virginia as I once did, but when I did (two or three years ago), the following were my favorite Virginia producers:

Blenheim, Horton, Barboursville, Breaux, Linden, Chrysalis, Villa Appalachia, Fincastle (for the cab franc)

Honorable mention to King Family/Michael Shaps, Veritas, Pearmund, Rappahannock

But frankly the explosion in the number of new producers there has continued unabated so there are lots of new producers popping up that I have never tried.

[David M. Bueker]

From my tastings over the last 3 years, Linden is far and away the quality leader in Virginia. I actually think most of their wines are worth the money asked, which is a big if at most wineries in the state.

Paumanok on Long Island is my favorite winery in NY. Chaddsford in Pennsylvania is quite good.

[David Creighton]

after the finger lakes wine competition i checked the identities of the wines that most excited me. i was shocked at the number of 'third world' wines. from the east coast i was impressed with wines from:
Gray Ghost(VA) for a bordeaux blend;
Torrey Ridge(Seneca Lake) for a lemberger;
Jamesport (LI) for a semi-dry riesling;
Widmer(Finger Lakes) for the same;
Sheldrake(Finger) for a dry riesling;
Hazlitt(Finger Lakes) for the same;
Rappahanock(VA) for a seyval;
Goose Watch(Finger) for a Villard;
Nassau Valley(DE) for pinot grigio;
45North(MI) for the same;
Cannon River(MN) for a white hybrid blend;
Presque Isle(OH) for a traminette and also for a cab. sauv.;
Jefferson(VA) for a meritage and for a viognier;
Lieb(LI) for a chardonnay.
these are just the wines that came past my panel of course.

[James Roscoe]

In Virginia I would look for Cabernet Franc in the reds and Vigonier in the whites, although Chardonnay and Riesling are both doing well. The best producers seem to be Barboursville, Linden, and maybe Jefferson. there are some others on the way up. In the Finger Lakes Riesling is king (or is that queen) and all the best wines are Rieslings. There is good Cabernet Franc and to a lesser extent good chardonnay and pinot noir. The best producer seems to be Dr. Frank's. I think Ontario may be the best region I have been to as I have not ventured to the west coast. The Rieslings were world class and the pinot noir and chardonnay was excellent as was the Cabernet Franc. Cave Springs was the top producer we visited this past weekend. I wouldn't hesitate to buy their wines.

[Greg H]

Chaddsford in Pennsylvania is quite good.

What are your favorites from this winery?

G

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

JR wrote......Cave Springs was the top producer we visited this past weekend. I wouldn't hesitate to buy their wines.

The `05 Cab Franc is here, did you get a chance to taste JR?

[Howie Hart]

JR wrote......Cave Springs was the top producer we visited this past weekend. I wouldn't hesitate to buy their wines.

The `05 Cab Franc is here, did you get a chance to taste JR?

I'm not JR, but I was there with him (besides, I think he's traveling to MI this weekend) and we did indeed taste the '05 Cab Franc. Very nice stuff. However, I limited my purchases to wine I can't buy in NY State. I can buy it in Buffalo (at Ed's store). However, the best Cab Franc we tasted was a 2000 from Vineland. They had it tucked away in a special place and I had to make a special request to get it. We drank it that night with prime rib.

[James Roscoe]

JR wrote......Cave Springs was the top producer we visited this past weekend. I wouldn't hesitate to buy their wines.

The `05 Cab Franc is here, did you get a chance to taste JR?

I'm not JR, but I was there with him (besides, I think he's traveling to MI this weekend) and we did indeed taste the '05 Cab Franc. Very nice stuff. However, I limited my purchases to wine I can't buy in NY State. I can buy it in Buffalo (at Ed's store). However, the best Cab Franc we tasted was a 2000 from Vineland. They had it tucked away in a special place and I had to make a special request to get it. We drank it that night with prime rib.

It was excellent too. Very young. It probably needed 5-7 more years to come around, but it tasted soooo good with the prime rib.

[Dan Smothergill]

Dave:

Presque Isle(OH) for a traminette and also for a cab. sauv.;

That probably should be PA, right Dave?

[David Creighton]

oooops! anyway, its good to see them back in form after what has seemed to me a drought lasting a number of years. i could be mistaken about that but - anyway, these were very good.

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

Any chance you guys on the east coast can find us some Rose wines for the new Open Mike?? Betcha there has to be some good ones!

[Ed Draves]

Any chance you guys on the east coast can find us some Rose wines for the new Open Mike?? Betcha there has to be some good ones!

I can pick up the Pinot Noir Blanc from Chateau Lafayette Reneau