Grower: Bloomer Creek Vineyard
Region: Finger Lakes, New York, USA
Grape Varieties: Riesling
Viticulture: Organic
Category: White, Skin-Contact Orange
Size: 750ml
Bloomer Creek is a small, family-run winery established over 30 years ago by Kim Engle and Debra Bermingham, whose motto is “Wines Made with a Sense of Adventure.” Named after the small creek running behind the 10 acre vineyard on the west side of Cayuga Lake, the focus at Bloomer Creek is firmly on preserving the “sense of place” in their wine through minimal intervention in the winemaking process. No herbicides are used, weed control is done mechanically, and seaweed/fish and compost formulations are used to promote vine health. Harvest is done by hand, with an “Old World” approach to fermentation using indigenous yeast, and the finished wines are not filtered or fined. The results are distinctive, long-lasting wines. Auten Vineyard occupies a gently sloping site on the west side of Cayuga Lake, and has been planted with riesling since 1998. The grapes for the 2022 cuvée were hand harvested, crushed, and fermented on the skins for 10 days before pressing. The wine was aged on the lees for one year in stainless steel before bottling, unfined/unfiltered. This dry-as-a-bone riesling boasts brisk acidity with notes of fresh yellow and green apple, tangerine zest, wildflowers, and river stones. Organically grown, low-intervention/natural wine, skin fermented.
From the Winemakers:
"At Bloomer Creek we make make multiple passes through our vineyards, harvesting at various stages of ripeness and various stages of botrytis development following in the centuries-old tradition of Germany and Austria. Modern vineyard practice calls for the use of synthetic spray to prevent botrytis, thereby assuring optimal productivity in a vineyard. Yet botrytis – known in France as “the noble rot” – is crucial to the production of some of the world’s finest wines. Botrytis is a fungus that causes grapes to shrivel and, as a result, concentrates richness, allowing for more complexity in fermentations. These wines have an earthiness in the mid-palate that bring a range of flavors, like dried fruit and honeycomb."
