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 Pet Nat Cayuga White 2021
9.5% abv
Pale yellow color with a light mousse and fine bubbles. Orchard fruits and citrus in the aroma. The palate has true verve with striking acidity and flavors of lightly salted and grilled yellow plums. Perfectly refreshing and an expression of sparkling that could only come from the Finger Lakes.
Wagner Farms Cayuga White Block: East side of Seneca Lake, planted 1978. A flat vineyard site with Lansing gravelly silt loam soils which are formed from calcareous loamy glacial till that derives from sandstone, limestone, and shale. Cayuga White is a French American hybrid developed by Cornell University in the 1940s and is grown almost exclusively within the Finger Lakes region. It is planted on its own roots and grown to a high wire cordon trellis system. The soils are supplemented every year with straw mulch. The combination of grape variety and trellis style on well drained soils allow for sustainable viticulture with a minimum of vineyard sprays.
Harvested early season on September 6 for maximum acid retention. Grapes were pressed gently in a horizontal press. The juice was fermented naturally and bottled over two days in October to finish ferment under crown cap and preserve natural carbonation. No sulfites were added at bottling.
Bottles disgorged January to March 2022.
702 cases produced.
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2021 | Duty Paid | Finger Lakes | New York | North America | Osmote | Sparkling | USA | White | Wine- Reference #:
- 19375
- Strength
- 9.5 ABV
- Bottles per Case
- 6 bottles
- Organic
- No
- Biodynamic
- No
- Vegan
- Yes
- Vegetarian
- Yes
- Sparkling
- Yes