WTN: Atwater Estate Vineyards 2005 Vidal Blanc Fingers Lakes New York.

Atwater Estate Vineyards 2005 Vidal Blanc Fingers Lakes New York. $12.00; Vintage New York, 482 Broome Street. 11.5% alcohol; 1.5% residual sugar. 501 cases.

Straw yellow color, light hue, pretty aroma and tastes of pear and apples, medium mouth feel, lively finish, albeit a bit short. Very nice sipping wine. 3*.

Hi Bob,
The 1.5% RS is about what I usually like to finish my home made Vidal at. Seems like a nice balance at that point for a normal ripened Vidal, as opposed to late harvest. I agree about the "nice sipping" part. Some seem to think of Vidal as a poor man's Riesling, but I don't find it as food friendly.

Bob, many thanks for this TN.

Vidal makes what I consider to be some of our best "everyday" white table wine in Ontario; this despite the fact that as a variety, it is of course most famous as one of our icewine grapes.

I've had some truly fine dry Vidal from Magnotta - their '00 in particular threw masses of tartrate crystals and if any white could be said to have "crystalline acidity", that one did.

Vidal is extremely versatile for us here in Ontario because it successfully runs the gamut from crisp dry table wines, to off-dry, to late-harvest and finally, icewine. It's hardy and productive and a good match for our terroir.

This one got a Double Gold and was judged Best White Wine at the New York State Fair this year.

I visited Atwater for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and two bottles of the 2005 Vidal is what I ended up buying - good stuff. The 2004 was pretty good, too, though the winery price for the 2005 ($14?) was substantially more than I paid at retail for the 2004 (got bottles for $10 and $11).