2023 Forge Cellars - Dry Riesling Seneca Lake Freese Vineyard (750ml)
A benchmark expression of American Riesling from one of the Finger Lakes' most exciting and internationally acclaimed producers. Founded by Louis Barruol of the Rhône's celebrated Château de Saint-Cosme and wine professional Richard Rainey, Forge Cellars has become a beacon for world-class Riesling on Seneca Lake's southeastern shore — bringing an Old World sensibility and rigorous terroir focus to one of America's most compelling cool-climate wine regions.
The 2023 Freese Vineyard earned 95 Points from James Suckling, who praised its generous stone fruit aromas and full body as a warmhearted expression of the eastern side of Seneca Lake, with saline minerality and ample fine tannins that give it great length. Wine Advocate's Joe Czerwinski called it perhaps the most Finger Lakes-typical of Forge's numerous single-vineyard offerings — silky-textured and elegant on the palate, with scents of apples, peaches, citrus fruit, and dried spices and a lingering finish. Wild-fermented in neutral puncheon oak casks and matured on the lees for ten months, it is a wine of textural depth, precision, and unmistakable sense of place. Bone dry, age-worthy, and absolutely essential for anyone curious about what the Finger Lakes can truly achieve