Sheldrake Point Cabernet Franc Ice Wine 2008

Two delicious ice wines.

Appellation: Finger Lakes
Grape: Cabernet Franc
ABV: 12.5%
RS: 16.2%
Price Point: $45
Closure: Natural cork

Technical Notes: Harvested January-February of 2008, so really grapes from the 2007 vintage. Frozen on the vine and pressed while still frozen. Averaged about 39 Brix after pressing. Final TA: 8 g/L.

Hedonic Notes: Beautiful color, a salmony red. In Strawberry City, this wine is the mayor. Dried strawberry character on the nose, like you’d find in a granola bar. Some spicy character on the nose as well. Mouth-coating but not overly syrupy. You can tell that it’s wine as alcohol definitely registers. Sweet (duh) but the sweetness is parried by acidity. Finishes like old-timey candy, like a mix of strawberry hard candy (those ones that the wrapper looked like a strawberry) and a honey stick.

Rating: 3 out of 5 corks for a unique wine that’s fruity and balanced.

Sheldrake Point Riesling Ice Wine 2007

This was practically the first review I ever wrote for the blog, and amazingly it pretty much matches up with my tasting notes this time around. The first review is reproduced here for your convenience.

Sheldrake Point 2007 Riesling Ice Wine
Grape: Riesling
ABV: 12.6%
Residual Sugar: 16.5% (165 g/L)
Appellation: Finger Lakes
Price point: $65 for 375 mL (half-bottle)
The 2007 looks pretty much like any normal riesling would, pale yellow in color, though noticeably thicker in the glass on swirling. It also smells like a Finger Lakes riesling, with characteristic light floral and citrus notes. Also, it’s got a little stonefruit (I wrote “peach”) and pineapple thrown in there. On the palate, lively acidity stands up to the considerable sweetness very well, for a very fresh, zingy feeling. Lemon and lime join the party on the palate, kind of like Sprite. (Interestingly, all of these wines have quite a bit more sugar than Sprite [~110 g/L]). Really great, and not just for dessert. This {well-balanced} wine plays nicely with blue cheese and walnuts, and would likely compliment spicy foods (e.g., Thai or Indian) pretty well.
Rating: 3.5 corks

In addition, some technical notes on this one: TA 11.2 g/L (that explains the “lively acidity” I suppose). Surprisingly high for an ice wine, but it’s a real asset in this case. 38 Brix at pressing. The current info I have notes the RS at 18%, which is also what it says on the bottle itself.

Like I said, on retasting, I agree with all these notes. I would add that the tiniest bit of oxidation (barely noticeable) creeps in on the tail end of a very long finish, but overall it’s an excellent wine.

Science!
I covered a bit on the science of ice wine production in 2 articles for the New York Cork Report. They can be found here:

Ice Wine Science Part 1: Volatile Issues treats the overall practice of harvesting ice wine grapes, and the somewhat surprising reason that ice wines and other high-Brix wines can have high {volatile acidity}.

Ice Wine Science Part 2: Frozen assets tackles the honey-like mouthfeel and unique aroma compounds that ice wine brings to the table.

                          

Appelation: Finger Lakes
Varietal: Riesling
ABV: “table wine” an email to the vineyard asking for details got no response. tsk, tsk.
RS: ~5%
Price Point: $13.50
Notes:
Nose: Something spicy/cinnamony on the nose like Dentyne gum with some light floral aromas.
Palate: Canned peaches, sort of like fruit cocktail. Sweetness and acidity* are {well-balanced} in this wine. It doesn’t taste like 5% (50 g/L) residual sugar, but it is still pretty sweet. Many dessert wines come with an absurdly long finish, but this one drops off almost immediately. It’s easy to forget you’ve been drinking this riesling.

Rating:

Six Mile Creek is pretty much in Ithaca and because it’s about 5 minutes away I end up there somewhat frequently. I like the tasting room and the view from the deck out back is really gorgeous (vines and a pond). I think that this and the vignoles I reviewed earlier are some of their best offerings. This wine’s a pretty good value at $13.50. It’s not too complex, but will definitely be a crowd-pleaser.

*Science!
Perception is a tricky thing. Every individual expresses different levels of smell and taste receptors, and many different alleles for those receptors. After that, everyone’s brain seems to handle the information that those receptors provide differently. Often, perception takes place over complex chemical mixtures (e.g., food and wine). It’s not entirely known how the brain handles multiple signals (in series? in parallel? or as a mixture?). What is known is that some qualities of a sample can suppress or accentuate other qualities. In this case, let’s talk about acid-sugar balance.

Try this without sugar. Just try it.

I first learned about this particular topic when I was about 9. I was mixing up some Kool-Aid (unsweetened, in the paper packet as opposed to sweetened in the large container) in our big orange pitcher. I emptied the packet (which may have been Purplesaurus Rex) into the pitcher. For those unfamiliar with Kool-Aid, the contents of the packet are pretty much citric acid and dye, and you’re supposed to add about a cup of sugar to a 2-quart pitcher. You can probably see where this is going. I took a big gulp of the liquid BEFORE adding sugar, and it was awful. Extremely tart. Added a cup of sugar, and I had purple-lemonade goodness.

The scale that could be coming soon to riesling labels near you.

Turns out there is some science to back up the concept that sugar can balance acidity in wine. (Nordeloos and Nagel, “Effect of Sugar on Acid Perception in Wine”, AJEV, 1972). Basically, increased sugar decreases perception of acidity. The International Riesling Foundation has taken this into account. The idea behind their new “taste profile” is to give an idea of the sweetness of a riesling on the label so consumers know just how sweet their riesling will be. However, this rating is not just based on sugar content. It is based on sugar/acid ratio with a small adjustment based on pH. You can read more about the IRF and its new labeling scheme at their website or on a nascent Finger Lakes riesling blog called Stressing the Vine, which did a fine job covering this. For the record, I would guess that despite its hefty sugar content, this wine is probably on the high end of “medium-sweet.”

                          

Anyway, I was bummed that I couldn’t make it but as we went along I did quite a bit of spitting anyway (turns out that the people who just buy a bottle and sit outside usually get drunker on the wine tour than those who are actually tasting…). It turned out that we got back into Ithaca early, around 3:45. I decided to give it a shot and head out to Penn Yan (on the other side of the OTHER lake) to try and get to the tasting by 5…in a thunderstorm.

Grapevines on a grey and gloomy evening, lake esconced by billowy fog. The view from AWRC.

Long story short (too late?) I arrived at Anthony Road at 5:05, walked in the door to see a tasting room employee not too pleased about my arrival, who then directed me to the cellar where Peter and Johannes (the winemakers) were holding the riesling event. I arrived at the cellar, breathless, as the last patrons were leaving and they were starting to clean up. I introduced myself and Johannes and Peter were gracious enough to pour me every single wine (and a few extras), with Johannes staying to chat until 7 PM (in spite of multiple phone calls from his wife!). I even got 3 glasses at once to compare and contrast. I took quick and, frankly, illegible notes, so I won’t go into too many details about the wines.

Flight 1: Tierce

The Tierce logo. I like it.

Tierce wines are a collaboration between the winemakers at Fox Run, Anthony Road, and Red Newt. The aim of the project is to develop a riesling blend that showcases the best of three Finger Lakes growing regions, and the best that the three winemakers have to offer. The winemakers seem to lock themselves in a room with their wines until the ideal blend shows itself. Anthony Road was pouring 2004, 2005, and 2006 Tierce. 2006 is the vintage currently for sale, but I believe you can still get some 2005 at Fox Run. Tierce 2007 (not yet released) is a red blend, taking advantage of the hot, dry 2007 growing season, which according to many winemakers was a banner year for Finger Lakes reds. Another notable fact about Tierce wines is that they are all bottled under screwcaps, somewhat of an anomaly in the Finger Lakes region.

Tierce Riesling 2004 (library)  petrol around, still great acidity, herb/shrimp component
Tierce Riesling 2005 (~$30) looong finish, petrol/rubber amongst the fruit.
Tierce Riesling 2006 (~$30) really nice. I wrote a better descriptor for this than “nice,” but I can’t decipher it. It looks like “Cronunt”, but alas, that’s not a word. I will have to scare up some of this wine for a real review.

Flight 2: Anthony Road Dry Rieslings
According to Johannes, the cleanest fruit goes into dry rieslings. These should be able to stand on their own without relying on the balance and sweetness that leaving some residual sugar can provide.
Anthony Road Dry Riesling 2006 (library, 0.6% RS) good fruit, not as long on the finish. unfortunately, a bit of oxidized character is creeping in.
Anthony Road Dry Riesling 2007 ($16, 0.6% RS) I got an interesting piney note from this one.
Anthony Road Dry Riesling 2008 (NYR, 0.7% RS) Wow. Tropical, citrus, and green fruit (think honeydew melon). I wish I could have bought some of this, but I don’t think it’s been released yet. Quoth my notebook: money!

Flight 3: Anthony Road Semi-Dry/Semi-Sweet Rieslings
Just because the cleanest (read: not infected by {botrytis}) fruit goes into dry riesling doesn’t mean that semi-dry riesling can’t step up to the plate. In all of these, the sweetness is not just there for sweetness’ sake. It provides not only a bit of balance to the acidity but the sugar also seems to contribute to the mouthfeel.
Anthony Road Semi-Dry Riesling 2007 tasted great, see previous review
Anthony Road Semi-Dry Riesling 2008 ($15, 2.5% RS) stick candy (like you might get at an old-timey general store), passion fruit, with a nice acid background.
Anthony Road Semi-Sweet Riesling 2008 ($14, “around 3″% RS) big acidity on this one, tutti-frutti

Flight 4: Martini-Reinhardt Selections
These are the cream of the crop. The best wines from the best fruit of the year. They don’t make these every year. It seems like they really want to showcase fruit that really stands out from a vintage. Very limited production on these.
Anthony Road Martini-Reinhardt Selection Riesling 2005 (library, in fact I think that the one I had was from the very last bottle!) again, some oxidation leaking in. I don’t think it’s entirely a bad thing, as a little bit can add a toffee/caramel type note.
Anthony Road Martini-Reinhardt Selection Semi-Dry Riesling 2007 ($22) great harmony of sugar and acid. Very well-balanced and complex! Also, full-bodied mouthfeel.

Flight 5: Non-rieslings
Some non-rieslings thrown into the mix for good measure, including some interesting red blends.
Anthony Road Gewürztraminer 2008 ($16, 1.1% RS) good balance of floral and fruit on the nose.
Anthony Road Martini-Reinhardt Selection Cabernet Franc 2007 ($30, 85% cabernet franc, 15% lemberger) black pepper is the name of the game here, but with great fruit in the mid-palate. Not too much tannin, but it is certainly there.
Anthony Road Cabernet Franc-Lemberger 2006 ($18, 55% lemberger, 45% cabernet franc) fruitier than the 2007, and a bit more {astringency}

Flight 6: Berry Selections (unreleased so far)
These wines are very labor-intensive. Most of the work is done on the sorting table, selecting berries shriveled and dried by the noble rot, and separating them from those shriveled by sour rot, foot-stomping, then what I assume is a very slow-going fermentation in a syrupy {must}.
Anthony Road Martini-Reinhardt Riesling Berry Selection 2008 (NYR, Beerenauslese-style, ~60% {botrytized} grapes) pineapple, white peach, currant (currants smell like ketchup to me, so I guess you could say ketchup too). Some {volatile acidity} up in this piece, not too obnoxious though.
Anthony Road Martini-Reinhardt Trockenbeeren 2008 (NYR, 100% botrytized grapes) rich, syrupy, apricot. Spicy on the tongue. The only wines I can compare this to is Sauternes, Barsac, and Montbazillac, and well, that’s saying a lot. Will be worth the likely high price tag.

Overall impressions:
One topic that came up, and one that has been discussed lately a bit on LENNDEVOURS as well, is libraries. This was technically a series of vertical tastings, but the oldest wine was from 2004. Peter apologized, but noted that holding on to wines for a while just isn’t a priority for many wineries. It could be a financial decision. Lots of wineries don’t have the space or the capital to hold on to cases and cases of wine. (Overheard: “In the Finger Lakes, they make money with wine, in Long Island, they make wine with money.”) Storage is also an issue. When you’re next to a lake, it’s hard to find a passive cellar. And in an aluminum-sided facility, it gets hot in the summer. Johannes laments the lack of good storage space and library holdings but seems powerless to to anything about it.

With 25 years combined of vineyard management and winemaking experience, Johannes Reinhardt has a pretty good idea what he’s doing. When I asked if they whole-cluster pressed or destemmed the grapes, his response was that it depends on the fruit (then he showed me their destemmer-crusher, which can be adjusted to just destem in a modular fashion, pretty cool.). There is never a set policy. He’s not just following a recipe book, he is reacting to what the vineyard gives him. The BA/TBAs are a good example of this approach. When the climate was right to make botrytized wines, he did it, even a difficult and labor-intensive 100% botrytized berry selection. And those wines are something special, believe me.

and PS: Soft-spoken, extremely polite, slight German accent? Johannes is pretty dreamy.

*Science!
Botrytis cinerea can be a blessing and a curse to vineyard managers. Most of the time, it will destroy grapes. However, under certain conditions, a controlled infection of botrytis dries the grapes out, concentrating the sugars and acids inside. It’s way too complex of a topic to blow in one “Science!” episode, so I’ll only be looking at one characteristic aroma compound this time. Plus, I love botrytized wines, so I want to taste and review more!

4,5-Dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone aka sotolon, sugar lactone, or my personal favorite, fenugreek lactone

The molecule of the day is sotolon, also known as 4,5-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone. At low concentrations, it smells somewhat like maple syrup, while at higher concentrations it tends to smell more like curry, and, if you get a whiff of it really highly concentrated, vomit. Just trust me on the vomit part. It was first isolated in botrytized wine (Masuda et al., “Identification of 4, 5-Dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone (Sotolon) and Ethyl 9-Hydroxynonanoate in Botrytised Wine and Evaluation of the Roles of Compounds Characteristic of It”, Agricultural and Biological Chemistry, 1984), but exactly how it shows up in BW’s is not quite clear. It also shows up in fino sherries, madeiras, and vin jaune, hinting that acetaldehyde may contribute to its formation. Others propose that it is a product of Maillard browning reactions in the berry, which also makes sense to me (Slaughter et al., “The naturally occurring furanones: formation and function from pheromone to food”, Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1999). At any rate, it’s a characteristic aroma compund of botrytis, and one to think about with your next Sauternes, Tokaji Aszu, or Trockenbeerenauslese.

                          

Forgot to take a picture of the bottle, so here is a small one.

Appellation: Finger Lakes
Varieties: 55% Riesling 45% gewürztraminer
ABV: 12.8%
RS: 1.75%
Price Point: $10
Notes:
Looks: Lemony-green
Nose: Intense nose of flowers, peach, and lychee (What’s a lychee, anyway? I can only find them in cans, but they’re pretty good! Check the Asian section of the local market)
Palate: Pear coming through on the palate, and some passion fruit*. Good amount of sweetness and balanced acidity. A tad short on the finish, but all in all a nice wine. For under $10, I’d definitely get it again.
Rating: for outstanding {QPR}.

Winemaker Paul Brock is new at Lamoreaux Landing, and I understand that this is one of his first wines there. He’s also trained as a chemical engineer, so he’s got that going for him. Many estate whites in the Finger Lakes are made with Cayuga White, or other hybrids or native grapes. While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with these, it’s refreshing to see an estate white made with the aromatic white varieties that the Finger Lakes is known for. So far, it seems he’s doing a great job out at Lamoreaux. See where a little science can get you?

*Science!

In the last science section, we talked about volatile thiols and how enzymes in saliva can free them up. One example of a volatile thiol is 3-mercaptohexanol. It smells like passion fruit, and can be quite nice. At high concentrations, though, it starts to smell a little bit sweaty. When I first smelled a sample that had been spiked with this chemical, I though I had forgotten to put on deodorant. Nope, it was the wine. At least that time it was…

3-mercaptohexanol. Fruity and sweaty. Kind of like Richard Simmons.

This is a good example of something that can be pleasurable at low concentrations, but when the concentration gets too high can be considered a fault. Some people feel this way about the characteristic aromas of {brettanomyces}. But that’s a story for another post.

                          

The two competitors, plus my trusty Purity spit cup. Featuring the festive Easter tablecloth.

This test was done blind, with identical ISO 9000 wine glasses. Both bottles were opened at the same time and not decanted. Wine was poured into the glasses from the bottle before the test began to avoid bias, as one is a screwcap.

Stats:

Here we go:
Wine 1
Looks: pale yellow with a hint of green, with a little spritz
Nose: very strong lime peel, dominant petrol. It’s like WD-40 (I toasted enough tent caterpillars with my friend Brian when I was a kid to know what WD-40 smells like. It’s part gasoline, part floral sweetness) Part of that may not be all TDN, it may be more sweaty/grapefruity.
Palate: nice acid balance. Also limey on the palate, like biting into a lime. Not as acidic as a lemon, and a little bitter. A bit of pear on the palate, but the finish is what makes this wine really good. After a while in the mouth it develops some tropical fruit flavors*, like the Skittles that come in the blue bag. But you’ve got to be patient!
Rating: 3.5 corks It’s really, really good, but the petrol is a bit much.

I need some better lighting up in this piece.

Wine 2
Looks: about the same as wine 1, including the bubbles on the bottom of the glass
Nose: Very different. Intense green apple, cotton candy, and a little bit floral
Palate: Very acidic, almost off {balance}. Palate like the core of a pineapple, the part that’s not quite ripe and really tart. As for the finish, the only thing I get is acidity, like the one oboe player that didn’t cut off the note with the rest of the section.
Rating: 3 corks Also pretty good.

Some of you reading could probably tell which wine was which from the descriptors. Well, maybe. Anyway, I had a hunch that #1 was the Finger Lakes riesling, and it was! Overall, in spite of the WD-40 on the Wiemer, I liked the overall palate better. I liked the nose better on the Rheingau, but it just wasn’t enough to carry it through. Both good wines, and I would definitely buy them again. In this case, Finger Lakes riesling takes it.

Hermann J. Wiemer also produces premium single vineyard rieslings, which I have tasted before and are really, really nice, but a bit more expensive than the standard dry (~$30 or so). Wiemer is one of the most respected riesling producers in the Finger Lakes and it’s easy to see why.

*Science!

Sometimes flavors show up only after a little while in the mouth. This could be due to the way we perceive aromas (it’s not clear whether things are parsed one at a time or all at once), but in the case of some aromas there is a molecular reason why they may take a while to show up.

Many tropical fruit, peachy, grapefruit, passion fruit and other aromas are thiols. They’ve got a sulfhydryl group sticking off of what is usually an alcohol. Now, we’ve talked before about some sulfur compounds being rank-smelling, like hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans. Some mercaptoalcohols, however, can be quite pleasant.

But there’s one problem. The thiols like to bind up with the amino acid cysteine (which also has a thiol group). The S-cysteine conjugate molecules are not volatile and therefore are not perceived as aromas. During fermentation, yeast enzymes can liberate the volatiles from their cysteines, but often a large portion are left cysteine-conjugated. However, saliva contains enzymes called lyases that free these compounds from their cysteine anchors and lets them fly into the nasal cavity retronasally. This phenomenon was discovered in sauvignon blanc grapes (many, especially from New Zealand will have pronounced tropical/passion fruit aromas) (Tominaga et al., “A New Type of Flavor Precursors in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sauvignon Blanc: S-Cysteine Conjugates”, J. Ag. Food Chem., 1998), but these compounds have also been found in riesling and other aromatic whites (Tominaga et al. (again), “Contribution of Volatile Thiols to the Aromas of White Wines Made From Several Vitis vinifera Grape Varieties”, AJEV, 2000).

                          

Rating:

I have not yet been to Anthony Road, but I have heard winemaker Johannes Reinhardt described as “dreamy”. So, that’s good for the ladies. If his other wines are just as dreamy, then they are doing a fine job out there. Riesling month is off to a delicious start!

1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene, or TDN to the syllabically challenged.

*Science!
The petrol component, as we discussed in the riesling ice wine bonanza, usually shows up in riesling wines after a bit of aging. But this wine is a 2007? What’s going on? Let’s look into the origins of the aroma compound.

The molecule in question is 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene, which is thankfully abbreviated to TDN. TDN’s aromas can be described as kerosene, burned rubber, or the much nicer French term goût petrol. Nothing with a circumflex (château, l’Hôpital’s rule, etc.) can be that bad, right? While it tends to add a bit of complexity to a fruity bouquet increasing amounts of this compound can make it an off-aroma.

It’s thought that TDN arises from the breakdown of carotenoids in wine. What are carotenoids? Carotenoids are color compounds. In the fall, when chlorophyll in trees breaks down, what’s left are the carotenoids, yellow, orange, red, etc. They mostly serve to protect chlorophyll by absorbing damaging wavelengths of sunlight. As such, carotenoids are usually higher in grapes grown in hot regions with lots of sun. Carotenoid concentration can affect the emergence of TDN as wine ages. Also, carotenoids are produced until veraison (i.e. the beginning of ripening), then degraded during maturation. So (1) the more concentrated your carotenoids (e.g., hot, dry year), and (2) the longer your maturation time, the more carotenoid breakdown products you’ll end up with in your wine.

2007 was a hot, dry year in the Finger Lakes. As such, many producers produced very ripe grapes, and let them hang for quite a while for maximum ripeness. In riesling terms, this could be a recipe for TDN, if not now then in a few years. On a side note, not all carotenoid breakdown products are bad. β-damascenone (canned apple), β-ionone, and the aptly named Riesling acetal all are the result of carotenoid breakdown. I’ll be tasting quite a few 2007s during “May is riesling month”, so stay tuned!

If you want some real science, check out this quote from an excellent and very detailed review of the subject of carotenoid breakdown by Maria Manuela Mendes-Pinto in Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics (2009) which was the source for much of the above information. This is the kind of stuff I love.

It is important to take into consideration that the model systems studied for thermal degradation of β-carotene require extreme temperature over a long period of time, sometimes in the presence of organic solvents such as ethanol and benzene and . Although these conditions are not representative of the natural conditions that can contribute to the degradation of carotenoids and norisoprenoids formation, they are valid studies because they can be indicators of the naturally occurring reactions. The formation of TDN and Riesling acetal by acid hydrolysis of megastigmane structures as intermediates has been proposed by Winterhalter in 1991. The existence of multiple possible precursors for TDN, vitispirane and also of β-damascenone, was observed in heated juice of Riesling grapes; the glycosylated forms were hydrolysed to release the corresponding aroma norisoprenoids. In Riesling wines, TDN, vitispirane and Riesling acetal were formed in high concentrations by acid hydrolysis of the glycosylated precursors. While the precursor of β-damasenone has already been suggested (megastigma-6,7-dien-3,5,9-triol) the precursors of TDN and Riesling acetal were proposed later; the glycosylated form of 2,6,10,10-tetramethyl-1-oxaspiro[4.5]dec-6-ene-2,8-diol identified in wines was considered as a natural precursor of TDN after acid hydrolysis, while 1,4-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydro-β-ionone was considered as the precursor of Riesling acetal. This work also provided evidence of multiple precursors of TDN as previously suggested in related work with the same Riesling wine (P. Winterhalter, M.A. Sefton and P.J. Williams, Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 41 (1990), pp. 277–283).[74].

I guess it makes more sense with the figures.

                          

Old school cartoon Oriole looks happy about this wine, but he is dying inside.

Appellation: “American”, grapes are sourced from WA state.
Variety: Riesling
ABV: 11%
RS: 3%
Price Point $12
Notes:
Looks: Pale yellow, a bit darker than a typical riesling from NY would be.
Nose: On the nose it is definitely not a NYS riesling. Very floral, perfumey. A bit of fruit cocktail comes in as well, but the major player in this nose is sulfur dioxide, aka sulfites, which kind of smell like when you first light a match. Wow. It burns my nose.*
Palate: Brazen acidity. Like “yeah, I’m acidic, what are you gonna do about it, punk?” So much sulfur that I can taste it on the palate and all the fruit is gone. Sweet, acidic, sulfurous. Yikes. As it goes down it feels like it will give me heartburn the next day. Blech.

Rating: 1 cork Maybe I am just sensitive to it, but i definitely wouldn’t want any more of this.

I went to Baltimore this weekend for an a cappella reunion concert. While picking up some plonk for the afterparty (André anyone?) I decided to review some MD wine. Boordy Vineyards is the largest winery in Maryland, a state that could be considered an up and coming wine region. Unfortunately, I didn’t look carefully at the bottle and ended up grabbing a wine made with grapes grown in Washington state. When I was there I thought I remembered them mentioning riesling vines, but upon further research it was that they had torn them out. Oh, well.

I have toured the winery and it is one of those “party” wineries. It is a fun atmosphere and they give a pretty informative and fun tour. So if you’re between Baltimore and the PA line, I recommend that you stop by.

As for this wine, a little sugar can be used to cover up some faults, but the SO2 is so profound in this wine that not even the 3% RS could save it. Sometimes you find this sulfite heavy-handedness in Mosel rieslings, as well as occasionally here in the Finger Lakes. I would avoid this one, though the label is nice. It’s got a Baltimore oriole on it.

*Science!
Sulfur dioxide, commonly called “sulfites” on the label, is an antioxidant and antimicrobial agent that has been used for making wine pretty much since wine was first made. SO2 irritates your nose, causing a trigeminal response (see the Jameson post for further discussion of trigeminal response), a burning sensation in the nose. In certain individuals, it can irritate the lungs and cause an asthma-like response. This wine likely has lots of sulfites added because residual sugars can bind SO2, rendering it inactive. If a wine has high residual sugar, chances are it will have higher SO2 to curb microbial activity. Sulfites are the most important preservative and rest assured they will keep coming up again and again in this section.

Addendum:
I didn’t want to get into the whole equilibrium thing, but yes, sulfites exist as molecular SO2 (the actual antimicrobial agent), HSO3-, and SO3–. At wine pH (3.5 or so), most (~95%) of the SO2 will be found as HSO3-. This means that to have enough molecular SO2 for microbial stability, you need to add about 20x more (usually people use potassium metabisulfite). THEN molecular SO2 can associate with ketones and aldehydes, including sugars, so you’ve got to add even more! Problem is the legal limit (US) is 350 ppm (total, free and bound), and the detection threshold is 2 ppm as molecular. And if you have oxygen pickup on your bottling line, then you’ve probably already lost it all! My theory is that the reason this was so overwhelming was that it had a combination of high RS (better add more SO2!) and high acidity, so probably a lower pH (though not necessarily), so more of that extra SO2 was available as molecular, and more went up my nose. I see too much SO2 as a winemaking mistake and it really puts me off a wine. I even tried this a couple days later after it sat in the fridge for a while and it still had biting SO2.

Thanks to Vinogirl for her comment.

                          

Left to right: 2007, 2002, 2004 December Harvest, 2004 January Harvest

From youngest to oldest:

Sleek, stylish bottle on the 2007

Sheldrake Point 2007 Riesling Ice Wine
Varietal: Riesling
ABV: 12.6%
Residual Sugar: 16.5% (165 g/L)
Appelation: Finger Lakes
Price point: $65 for 375 mL (half-bottle)
The 2007 looks pretty much like any normal riesling would, pale yellow in color, though noticeably thicker in the glass on swirling. It also smells like a Finger Lakes riesling, with characteristic light floral and citrus notes. Also, it’s got a little stonefruit (I wrote “peach”) and pineapple thrown in there. On the palate, lively acidity stands up to the considerable sweetness very well, for a very fresh, zingy feeling. Lemon and lime join the party on the palate, kind of like Sprite. (Interestingly, all of these wines have quite a bit more sugar than Sprite [~110 g/L]). Really great, and not just for dessert. This {well-balanced} wine plays nicely with blue cheese and walnuts, and would likely compliment spicy foods (e.g., Thai or Indian) pretty well.
Rating: 3.5 corks

Sheldrake Point 2004 December Harvest Riesling Ice Wine
Varietal: Riesling
ABV: 12.8%
Residual Sugar:15.5%
Appelation: Finger Lakes
Price point: $90 for 375 mL
This wine was bit more golden in color. Muted fruit aromas compared to the 2007 give way to more honeyed character in this one. I imagine the honey character also comes psychologically as a result of the increased viscosity of the wine. It’s also got a long finish.
Rating: 2.5 corks

Sheldrake Point 2004 January Harvest Riesling Ice Wine
Varietal: Riesling (grapes from 2003 season harvested in January 2004)
ABV: 12.2%
Residual Sugar: 19.5%
Appelation: Finger Lakes
Price point: $100 for 375 mL
The apparent crown jewel of the tasting, this wine was served at a Governor’s Ball at the White House in 2006.

Kerosene? In my Riesling? It's more likely than you think.

The label says 2004 but the grapes were from the 2003 vintage and harvested in January 2004, so for all intents and purposes, this is a 2003.  It’s starting to show its age. It’s just beginning to develop the aroma of “petrol” (a nice way of saying “kerosene”).*  This aroma is common in older rieslings and found especially in German rieslings (probably because many German rieslings will not be released for years after bottling, while FL wines usually come out ASAP.)  I have to say that the petrol is not a bad thing in this wine, and in fact it adds an interesting layer of complexity. I also noted some citrus peel in addition to peach aromas.
Rating: 2.5 corks

Sheldrake Point 2002 Riesling Ice Wine
Varietal: Riesling
ABV: 11.5%
Residual Sugar: 20%
Appelation: Finger Lakes
Price point: $70 for 375 mL
The oldest and darkest of the bunch, with its deep gold color, is on the verge of browning. I noticed two things right away on the nose. First, a whole lot more of the petrol character than the 2003. Secondly, and unfortunately, this wine is a bit {oxidized}. In all fairness, it’s possible that I got a bad bottle. However, I actually got a re-pour (for an errant fuzz in the glass), and the wine remained the same. If the whole lot of wine tastes like this, they really shouldn’t be selling it for $70, or maybe even at all.
Rating: 1 cork

Overall, I enjoyed the tasting. The wines were served to small groups (in this case, me and 5 friends) so it was like a private tasting. The host was informative but a bit blabby. At a certain point I just wanted some quiet so I could taste the wine. Others, though, got a lot out of it. I still find ice wine in general a bit pricey for me. And though they went out of their way to pair with some non-dessert foods, I’m not sure I would crack a $65 half bottle to down with dinner. For me, I’ll leave it as an appetizer or dessert, both of which it’s perfectly suited for.

*Science!
Ice wine is usually made by leaving the grapes on the vine until winter.  When cold temperatures come around (~15-18 F, according to the tasting room manager), the frozen grapes (the ones that haven’t {rotted} or been eaten by deer or just fallen off the vine) are picked and immediately pressed. Out in the cold, most of the water inside the grapes will freeze, but a more concentrated solution of sugars and acids will not, producing {must} with very high sugar and high acidity.  The resulting juice is fermented (though usually not without difficulty), leaving a wine with a normal amount of alcohol for a wine (~12% abv) and high residual sugar. The labor-intensive process justifies the high price, as it is a pain in the butt to pick in sub-freezing temperatures, crush solid grapes, and ferment juice that is so high in sugar that yeast have a hard time surviving due to osmotic stress (Ref: Erasmus et al., “Genome-wide expression analyses: Metabolic adaptation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to high sugar stress”, FEMS Yeast Res., 2003.)