2014 Cabernet Franc

Hermann J. Wiemer is arguably the finest estate in all of the Finger Lakes. It was begun in the late 1970s by its namesake, who hailed from a winemaking family in the Mosel. Wiemer immediately elevated the quality of winemaking in the Finger Lakes; he was also an early proponent of sustainable farming and clonal diversity. Before retiring from his brand, Wiemer tapped his talented assistant winemaker, Fred Merwah, as his replacement. Merwah ultimately purchased the winery in partnership with Oskar Bynke, who runs the business side of the operation. Happily, despite the change in ownership, the wines remain as fine as ever, and Wiemer’s reign continues virtually unchecked, though competition is rising. While Riesling is the focus, Wiemer makes a little bit of everything, including a rapidly developing and quite impressive sparkling portfolio. The reds show more ripeness, polish, and consistency than is typically found in the Finger Lakes, likely because they work almost exclusively with estate fruit and control their own farming. One major shift in the past decade is the move toward native fermentations. Though Merwah had been playing around with indigenous yeast since the early 2000s, he now operates exclusively in that vein. As a result, the wines take a long time to ferment; when I was there in May, most of the 2015s were still cloudy and active. This builds texture into the wines, which contributes at least in part to the (relative) richness of the whites.