Osmote Winery, Chardonnay 2021, Cayuga Lake, Finger Lakes, NY

This is a bright, dry, light bodied unoaked Chardonnay that has notes of citrus, white peach, and green almond, and is perfectly easy drinking.

COUNTRY: USA

STATE: NY

APPELLATION (AVA): Cayuga Lake

REGION: Finger Lakes

VINEYARDS: Patrician Verona Vineyard 

VINTAGE: 2021

GRAPES: Chardonnay

SOIL: Cazenovia silt loam soils

PRACTICE: Sustainable

VINIFICATION: Slow fermentation in stainless steel. Aged on lees until first racking at 1 month before bottling. 

STYLE: Still

COLOR: Pale gold

BODY: Light to Medium (3-4)

TASTE: Dry

PRIMARY AROMAS: Meyer lemon, key lime, white peach, almond, bright, unoaked

FLAVOR: Fresh, bright, citrus, green

FORMAT: 750 ml

ALCOHOL: 10.5%

SERVICE AND SUGGESTION: Pair with light dishes like sushi and shellfish - langoustines, clams and mussels. It is also ideal with flaky white fish.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Ben Riccardi

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 oenology 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 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.

ABOUT THE VINEYARDS: Patrician Verona Vineyard

“Patrician Verona Vineyard located on the western shore of Cayuga Lake has been a grape farm for three generations. The land is gently sloping towards the lake sitting at 570 ft above sea level on Cazenovia silt loam soils.” (vinoshipper.com)