2025 Apollo's Praise - Pentecostal Block Dry Riesling Seneca Lake (750ml)

Apollo's Praise is the Finger Lakes project of winemakers Kelby James Russell and Julia Rose Hoyle, whose focus is on precise, site-driven Riesling grown around Seneca Lake. The winery takes its name from a line of classical poetry and channels that same reverence into isolating small, distinct parcels within its vineyards rather than blending everything together.

The Pentecostal Block Dry Riesling comes from a single section of the Lahoma Vineyard, a sandstone-rich site one hill north of the winery's more structured bottlings. The Pentecostal parcel carries a notably sandier soil profile, which tends to give the wine a more generous, opulent character than its neighboring blocks. Fruit is typically hand harvested, pressed using a gentle, old-fashioned screw press, cold settled, then fermented and aged for a period on its lees in a combination of stainless steel and older French oak barriques before bottling.

The resulting wine is aromatic and vibrant, with orange, citrus, and white floral notes leading into a rich, textured midpalate and a long, wet-stone finish. Bright acidity keeps the wine lifted despite its concentration. It pairs nicely with grilled shrimp skewers, spiced Southeast Asian dishes, or a soft, bloomy-rind cheese.