The Birth of a Finger Lakes Riesling (Part 1)

The Cork Soakers is a blog about tasting and appreciating wine, but with this entry, I want to take a step back and look at the making of a wine and follow its progress all the way to a finished product that we can hopefully enjoy. Basically it’s just a long, convoluted way of making some alcohol so I can (in the words of my Uncle Russ) “go behind Kenny’s barn and get drunk”.



I have a small 16 vine planting of Riesling vines (clones 239, 9/110) on rootstock (3309, 101-14) on a southeastern slope of HONEOYE LOAM in the Finger Lakes AVA. We all know Riesling is king in the FLX, but my little vineyard sits on the smaller Owasco Lake and has a shorter growing season than what can be found on the bigger lakes. However, what the vineyard lacks in proximity to a larger lake, it makes up for in soil potential, as some of the best organic vegetables in the state are grown a stones throw away. The flavor concentration that comes out of Jim Shea’s gardens are second to none, but will that translate into grape flavor concentration or just too much vine vigor? Follow along to find out!

The Riesling vines are in their 3rd leaf, show a moderate amount of vigor despite the wet year and are currently carrying a small crop load. I might be lucky to end up with 40 lbs. of fruit (mature vines could yield 120 lbs or more) which should make about 15-20 bottles of finished wine. I don’t want to stress the youngsters by carrying too much fruit; I want them to spend most of their energy digging deep and sowing their wild roots.

This season so far has been spent positioning shoots upward through the catch wires in the VSP (vertical shoot positioning) training system and keeping the leaves and fruit clean from rot and disease. All the spays used are organic, but it’s been an ideal year for black rot, downy and powdery mildew, so I’ve had to stay on top of things. So far so good.

The clusters are small with smallish berries, but they have good exposure and an open canopy to keep things breezy and dry. The season has been cooler than normal and a bit wet, but we’re hoping for a rally, and so far August has warmed up and dried out. 2006 was another year that was wet and cool, and while FLX reds suffered, the aromatic whites excelled, so I’m hoping my 16 riesling vines can rise to the challenge. Verasion (when grapes change color from a nascent green to red or golden yellow) is still a month or so off, but my bird netting will be going up soon nonetheless, and I’ll keep spraying to fend off the rot. Until we see those grapes changing color, stay tuned for the next step in the birth of a FLX Riesling.

-Oscar the Grouch-