Osmote, Semi-Dry Riesling 2020, Finger Lakes, NY

This Riesling from Osmote is the first Semi Dry of theirs! Bright acidity balances the 2% sugar, and the wine has note of peach, citrus, and warm apple pie with a touch of spice.

COUNTRY: United State of America (USA)

STATE: NY

APPELLATION (AVA): Finger Lakes

REGION: Upstate New York

SUBREGION: Seneca Lake

VINEYARD: Wagner Farms Round Rock Vineyard

VINTAGE: 2020

GRAPES:  Riesling

SOIL: Silt loam & gravel over shale bedrock

PRACTICE: Sustainable

VINIFICATION: Whole berry pressed, stainless and French oak fermentation on the lees before racking

STYLE: Still

COLOR: Rich golden

BODY: Medium (5-6)

TASTE: Dry

PRIMARY AROMAS: White peach, warm apple pie, baking spice

FLAVOR: Bright acidity, apple and citrus

FORMAT: 750 ml

ALCOHOL: 9.5%

RESIDUAL SUGAR: 20g/L

SERVICE AND SUGGESTION: This wine would be an excellent match with spicy food – think Indian or Thai.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: 
Ben Riccardi, 33, is a young winemaker in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Since 2014 he has invested his life savings into French oak barrels, purchasing the best chardonnay he could afford and renting a small space in a winemaking facility that allowed him to borrow their equipment. Although Ben is from the Finger Lakes, he has been constructing a 200-case production remotely for three years while his day job was at Williams Seylem in Sonoma County, California. As of 2017, he moved back home to work full-time at Osmote and has already raised his production to 500 cases. A degree earned in enology at Cornell University paired with several vintages spent in New Zealand and the south of France; Ben is looking to acquire a plot of land to build a winery and plant vines to farm organically.

Ben sources many of his grapes from vineyards grown around Seneca Lake, the largest, deepest Finger Lake and the crown jewel of New York State's premier cool-climate region. Here viticulture exists on the edge of possibility. Even though winter lows are often sub-zero across upstate New York, this lake over 600ft deep never freezes and the warmth of the water keeps the vines alive through the frozen months. Vines thrive in sedimentary soils set on the steep shale stone slopes banks of the lake.

ABOUT THE VINEYARDS: 
Wagner Farms Round Rock Vineyard located on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake at an elevation of 840 ft asl. Shallow hill planting with slopes in the 3-8% range. Riesling clones 198 and 90 (planted 2008) on Honoeye silt loam and Lansing gravelly soil with calcareous elements on a shale bedrock.