The Finger Lakes AVA lies five hours north of New York city, to the south of Lake Ontario & the Canadian border. The region sits on the extremity of many a wine convention:- this is seriously cool climate production made possible only by the tempering effect of the lakes and Vinifera only arrived here in the 1950s and still has to prove its worth to many farmers more used to selling hybrids to the tourist markets. Amongst the wineries and winemakers pushing to advance the region and craft wines of quality and distinction to match the best sites' potential is local Ben Riccardi.
Ben brings the sensibilities of a young gun who has worked in Sonoma, New Zealand and France along with Big Apple attitude from time honing his skills at Manhattan's City Winery. Using fruit from both Seneca and Cayuga Lakes - there are 11 Lakes in total with four considered the best for winemaking and these two with their own AVAs - Ben makes low-intervention, wild-yeast wines that revel in freshness and lower alcohol. We love the lightness of touch he brings to his Chardonnays (both unoaked and with some large barrel influence), Riesling and Cab Franc. The hybrids that can often lead the region astray- along with being freezing in the winter there can be considerable pressure on vines during hot and humid summers - are focussed and original.
Osmote Dechaunac 2019
9.7% abv
Crimson red hue and limpid. Aromas are full of violets, dark bramble fruits, plums, and a woodsy undertone. The palate of the wine is electric and refreshing and follows with dark, blue-fruited flavors. Tannins are light and not at all aggressive, leaving just a gentle dryness at the finish. Natural winemaking and Ben’s skillfull hand add a Brooklyn street-wise, low alcohol, chill-me-if-you -wanna vibe. De Chaunac is a French-American hybrid grape popular for wine making in the US Northeast and Canada
Fruit from the Patrician Verona Vineyard, a third generations grape farm located on the western shore of Cayuga Lake. The land is gently sloping towards the lake sitting at 570ft above sea level on Cazenovia silt loam soils. These vines were planted in 1973, own rooted without grafting. After three days of cold soak (destemmed), grapes were pressed and the juice was added onto pre-pressed whole clusters of Chardonnay. Fermentation was un-inoculated and occurred naturally on the Chardonnay must. Must was pressed before dryness, using a basket press. The wine was left to age in tank and underwent a natural malolactic fermentation. Racked several times before bottling, the wine is unfiltered.
253 cases produced.
- Reference #:
- 13140
- Strength
- 9.7 ABV
- Bottles per Case
- 6 bottles
- Grapes
- Dechaunac
- Organic
- No
- Biodynamic
- No
- Vegan
- Yes
- Vegetarian
- Yes
- Sparkling
- No