2023 Forge Cellars - Dry Riesling Seneca Lake Freese Vineyard (750ml) SHELF
Forge Cellars was founded in 2011 by Louis Barruol of the Rhône's Château de Saint-Cosme, whose family has made wine there for 14 generations, alongside wine professional Richard Rainey. Together they've dedicated the winery to exploring the unique terroir of the southeastern side of Seneca Lake, specializing in bone-dry Riesling and cool-climate Pinot Noir. Their approach is deliberately hand-crafted: hand-harvested, hand-sorted, hand-loaded into the press, with spontaneous fermentation carried out in very small lots so each vineyard's character comes through clearly. Very low sulfur use and bone-dry fermentation are hallmarks of the house style.
Freese Vineyard sits on the east side of Seneca Lake near Lodi, at 768 feet elevation on loam and shale soils, with vines dating to the mid-1990s. The 2023 bottling was wild-fermented in neutral puncheon oak casks and matured on the lees for 10 months.
Expect generous stone fruit aromas and a full body, a warmhearted expression of the eastern shore of Seneca Lake. Saline minerality and ample fine tannins give the wine great length and structure. Perhaps the most classically Finger Lakes-typical of Forge's single-vineyard offerings, it carries scents of apple, peach, citrus, and dried spice, with a medium-bodied, silky-textured palate and a lingering finish.
This is a dry, precise, age-worthy Riesling well suited to fresh oysters, roast pork, or spicy Asian cuisine.