According to Anthony Road Winery head winemaker Peter Becraft, the thing he remembers most about the 2019 harvest is that it was a welcome relief after the 2018 harvest where wet conditions created a lot of rot, and a lot of stress, for Finger Lakes wineries and vineyards.
“2019 was a much easier harvest. It started a bit late but the quality was good,” he says of his 14th harvest as a winemaker in the region.
And that quality shows in this well-balanced and delicious Dry Riesling. The nose gives off bright aromas of nectarine and meyer lemon. The palate carries through on that with fresh tangerine, lime and tropical fruits. The mouthfeel leans towards full, almost lush like a Chardonnay, which is surprising since dry Riesling can often have zingy and sometimes intense, acidity.
“Well, I’m a Libra,” Becraft says when asked about the levels of fruit, sweetness, acidity and minerality in the wine. “I’m all about balance when making the wines. I wanted this wine to be a bit broader, to keep that acidity in check.”
Becraft sources the fruit from two vineyard sites to achieve the results he wants. Some of the fruit for this Riesling came from the Martini Vineyard site, where it is a bit warmer and the vines are around 25 years old. He finds fresher acidity in the grapes from this site, while the Nutt Road vineyard site, which has younger vines, is less acidic and provides more of the fruit-forward juice for the wine. The juice is split up into various fermentation styles, some in barrel, some in stainless, some in yeast and some spontaneous fermentation. That variety gives Becraft the chance to bring the juices back together in a way that creates the wine he envisioned back when the harvest came in.
Serve this wine with a Finger Lakes charcuterie board, a warm salad or any roast chicken dish. 876 cases produced.
