I have sent my tongue along the Hudson
River. I've sent it to Long Island – where by the way the best
wines in the Empire State might come from - but that's just my opinon
… and even more scary might be the fact that these pretty
convinving potations were made from, errr from … I almost not dare to
type it: Mmm ... Merlot! Whatever, today I am glad to send my tongue to the Finger
Lakes betweeen Syracuse, Buffalo, the outback of north Pennsylvania
and mighty Lake Ontario. Of course it is not the first time I let my
tongue venture in this area. I had a few fairly good Rieslings, some
solid Chardonnay, one or two interesting over-peppery Cabernet Sauvignons
and wines from unmentioned varietals I actually don't want to try all
too often. Anyway, but I've never had a fairly good Pinot Noir,
although quite a lot of producers offer wines made from this finest
of the finest. Most Pinots I had where easy-drinking fruit-driven at best,
quite often displeasingly sugary and unfortunately without exception rather
thin representatives of their kind. Today I'll have a Pinot Noir from
Chateau LaFayette Reneau from the southeastern slopes of Lake Seneca.
Lafayette Reneau was established in 1985 by Dick and Betty Reno. Like
so many other winelovers all over the world they decided to go one
step further. Not just collecting and drinking. They wanted more. Since then, their main
focus lies on wines made from Riesling and Chardonnay from gravely
loam soils. Today's Pinot originated from the same gravely loam. After harvest and fermentation it was aged for 12 months in new and used
French, Hungarian and American oak barrels then racked together in a
tank as well as filtered and stabilized. So, let's give it a try ...
