Time and Terroir. The Formidable Forge Cellars, Finger Lakes Riesling.

Time and Terroir:
The 2013 Forge Cellars Finger Lakes Riesling demonstrates with razor-like clarity
the beautiful synergy between the Finger Lakes’ soils, climate and history
and the patient craft of a wine-making great.

When Louis Barruol announced he was starting a winery in upstate New York, many in the wine world were intrigued to say the least. Here was the 14th generation owner and winemaker at Chateau de Saint-Cosme in Gigondas – one of the Rhone Valley’s benchmark producers – turning his attention to cool, marginal climate region, 4000 miles away. For a man known for richly layered Grenache blends and structured, savoury Syrahs, both typically carrying the unmistakable mark of the Rhone Valley’s generous warmth, the choice to produce Riesling on the cool southeast slopes of Seneca Lake seemed an unlikely detour. Barroul, however, saw no such discrepancies, quietly confident that his vine-growing philosophy, in combination with the region’s mineral-rich soils, cool climate and diverse terroir, could be applied to produce world-class, elegant and characterful wines that would stand the test of time.

Behold the 2013 Finger Lakes Riesling from Forge Cellars! At over a decade old, the wine offers conclusive proof of the prescience of Barruol’s thinking and how, in his quest to ‘express in a wine the soul of a place’, he has created a Finger Lakes Riesling capable of the kind of longevity usually reserved for Europe’s classic reions.

2013 Forge Cellars Finger Lakes Riesling

Coming from shale-rich soils in vineyards on both the south-eastern and western sides of Seneca Lake and also the west side of Cayuga Lake, the grapes were harvested in October and slowly whole bunch pressed for a gentle extraction. Using both cultured and indigenous yeasts, the wine was fermented and aged for eight months in 60% 1-10 year-old oak barrels and 40% in temperature controlled stainless steel vats. The wine was fermented dry with only 2 grams of residual sugar per Litre.

Barruol’s initial expectations for the wine were that 2013 was a “classic vintage for Riesling” and that he “wouldn’t be too surprised if the wine ages beautifully”, citing the wine’s low ph as a key factor in the wine possibly aging a lot longer than anticipated.

At 12 years old, the wine is beautifully evolved, bracingly fresh and seamlessly balanced. The nose is immediately and stunningly expressive with notes of crushed stone, hints of petrol and nuances of honey and apple. The palate delivers fresh and bright flavours of green apple and lime oil that are rounded out by subtle richer tones of quince, honey and russet apple. Secondary layers of beeswax and lanolin accompanied by the wines distinctively saline, mineral edge give the wine depth and structure, while its brisk acidity carves out a finish which is taut and persistent. Short of diminishing it, a few more years in the rack would certainly only benefit this beautifully made wine. But why wait? It’s already singing deliciously of the deep glacial lakes that formed it.

Forge Cellars

Louis Barruol’s pedigree is formidable. Since taking over at Château de Saint Cosme in 1992, he’s transformed the family estate – dating back to 1570 – into a benchmark producer. His single-vineyard Gigondas bottlings, farmed organically and later biodynamically, showcase terroir with remarkable clarity. The thread running through them all is a respect for site, minimal intervention, structure and expression over richness and wines that were built to last.

This ethos found a new outlet in the Finger Lakes region when, along with friends Rick Rainey and Justin Boyette, he founded Forge Cellars in 2011. Their vision for the nascent appellation of Seneca Lake, awarded as recently as 2003, and its great potential to produce stunningly fresh wines was clear from the outset. At a depth of 183 metres, Seneca Lake is the deepest of the Finger Lakes, its vast thermal mass moderating cold winters and prolonging the growing season, allowing Riesling to ripen slowly while preserving piercing natural acidity. The region’s slate and shale-streaked soils further contribute to the mineral edge that defines the best wines of the region. Through the steadfast application of Barruol’s long-established philosophy and techniques – spontaneous, long and slow fermentations, limited sulphur additions and the judicious use of neutral oak – allied to Seneca Lake’s natural environment, Forge Cellars has succeeded in crafting dry, mineral-driven wines that not only display the Finger lakes’ terroir with clarity and honesty, but also its ability to produce world-class, age-worthy wines that vie with the very best of Europe’s classic regions.