Finger Lakes sparkling & sweet wines: best new releases

Nathan Kendall, who makes wines under his label Nathan K and at Hickory Hollow Winery, told me: ‘If I could only make one wine in the Finger Lakes, it would be sparkling.’

He added: ‘After all, the region was founded on sparkling wines [in the 19th century]. There is no disease pressure when you don’t have to hang for ripeness, and the climate is well-suited for that—with other wines, it’s a juggling act since the weather is consistently inconsistent.’

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for nine Finger Lakes sparkling and sweet wines

PLUS see recommendations for Finger Lakes white and red wines

Kendall is so committed to the sparkling wine that he hand-riddles and hand-disgorges each bottle since the equipment is prohibitively expensive.

Many well-established producers have invested significantly and led the charge on sparkling wine, including Dr Frank, Hermann J. Weimer, Red Tail Ridge and Ravines.

A number of this group have submitted samples to a tasting panel of Manhattan insiders to gain feedback.

The group of tasters includes Mary Gorman-McAdams MW, who commented: ‘When they were good, they were exact, with an interesting sort of verticality and a tension…there’s a little bit of work to go, but there are pockets of brilliance.’

The producers are also interested in promoting a charter for quality sparkling wine for the Finger Lakes, similar to the Cap Classique standard in South Africa.

However, traditional method sparkling production challenges have driven some producers to work on alternatives, including pét-nat and Piquette.

These styles do not require the extended lees ageing or the special equipment in the winery that traditional method sparkling wines need.

These wines tend to be less expensive and appeal to a younger demographic. The flexible production techniques allow winemakers to experiment, and many are now trialling hybrid varieties such as Léon Millot, Catawba and Delaware.

These hybrids are cold-hardy, which is why they were among the first grapes planted in the 19th century, but they can lack the finesse of vinifera varieties. Kendall notes, ‘ The producers of the incredibly popular sparkling Catawbas of the 19th century didn’t leave us a recipe.’ He recently moved his popular Chëpìka bottling from pét-nat to a traditional method to smooth the edges.

See Charles Curtis MW’s tasting notes and scores for nine Finger Lakes sparkling and sweet wines

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