Brad Coelho – Unidentified Appellation – Ravines Wine Cellars, One of the Finger Lakes’ Finest

“While Morten’s chromosomal connection is undeniable, his scholastic route, achieving advanced degrees in Enology & Viticulture at Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Agronomie in Montpellier didn’t hurt.”

Quentin Sadler – Quentin Salder’s Wine Page – Finger Lakes New York, part 4, Keuka Lake

“These were world class wines and showed a level of winemaking skill and vision that was breathtaking, I look forward to watching what happens at this superb little estate in the future.”

Stephen Meuse – Boston Globe – Plonk of the Month: Domestic Policy

“Ravines Keuka Village Finger Lakes White Wine 2008 Featherweight tart-crisp vignoles-cayuga (hybrid) blend; delightfully breezy sip with a scant 12 degrees of alcohol and picnic written all over it.”

Brian Kirby - The Other 46 – In a New York State of Mind

“I know, I know, another post on New York wine.  What can I say, I’m in a New York State of mind, especially after tasting the Ravines 2007 Cabernet Franc.  A wine like this makes me want to rename my website TheOther47.com or better yet, EastoftheWestCoast.com.  You never know what the future holds…”

Lenn Thompson – New York Cork Report – The New York Cork Club’s June 2010 Selections

“Ravines Wine Cellars 2008 Pinot Rose : The Ravines is 100% pinot noir and offers nice floral character to go with orange-grapefruit, watermelon and cherry fruit flavors. Showing a subtle silkiness to go with fresh acidity, it stays true to pinot noir.”

Ball Square Fine Wines – Videos on YouTube – Ravines Wine Tasting with Morten Hallgren

Check out this video of Morten Hallgren, Ravines winemaker, giving a tasting at Ball Square Fine Wines.

This past weekend we celebrated our first Annual Ravinous Club Member Party with over 70 members! A huge thanks to all who came – we had a great time with all of you, pouring our wines and enjoying  the spectacular weather and view in front of the lake! We really enjoyed this celebration of a gathering of friends and hope you did as well.

All of the food, from the appetizers all the way to the desserts, was prepared by Lisa, Ravines’ resident foodie, using all locally grown and produced food. Check out all of the recipes below and try them for yourself. Each dish can be enjoyed with Ravines wine – we recommend the Dry Rose, Dry Riesling or Keuka Village White for any of the dishes!

Laurence Francois’s Mediterranean Couscous
2 cups uncooked couscous
2 cups tomato juice
1 T salt
2 T olive oil
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 cup minced fresh onion
1 cup chopped black olives
1 cup crumbled feta
½ cup fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
Juice of 1 fresh lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

Boil tomato juice with salt & olive oil, add couscous and stir then remove from heat and cover. Let stand 5 mins.  Gently scrape couscous from pan into bowl, making sure to break apart clumps.  Let cool.  Add other ingredients, mix well and chill.

Grilled Chicken with Garlic Scape Pesto

Brush your grilled chicken with this pesto sauce 5 minutes before it comes off the grill.

4 cups Basil
12 garlic fresh scapes, chopped
½  cup olive oil
1 cup  grated romano cheese
½ cup pine nuts
4 garlic cloves
Salt & pepper to taste.

Blend all ingredients in a food processor.

Cold Green Bean & Lemon salad

4 Cups Fresh Green Beans
½ cup olive oil
2 fresh lemons
1 red onion, finely sliced
Salt & pepper to taste

Blanch green beans in boiling water until slightly tender then plunge into ice water. Dry beans then add oil, lemon juice and lemon zest, onion & seasoning. Refrigerate.

Lisa’s Potato Salad

8 white potatoes (small new or red will also do)
1 cup chopped red or white onion
½ cup chopped green scallions
1 cup homemade mayonnaise or Hellman’s mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup fresh oregano
salt & pepper

Gently boil the potatoes until just tender. Let cool and cut into 1 inch cubes.  Mix the mayo, sour cream, lemon juice & seasonings. Add potatoes, onion, scallions & oregano. Mix well & chill.

Rick Van Sickle - New York Cork Report – Guest Post: A Drier Style of Riesling at Ravines Wine Cellars

“Morten admits that Ravines doesn’t “try to be everything to everyone” which, to be honest, is a refreshing change from so many of the Finger Lakes wineries that tend to do just that and end up with a whole mess of wine that perhaps is fine for the masses but misses the mark for serious wine lovers”

Sue Guerra – On the Vine: TasteCamp – East Highlights

“Dry Riesling 2008 – Argetsinger Vineyard: The wine had the same intense minerality with floral notes, citrus, and great acidity, plus a little more richness and body on the finish.”

John Witherspoon – Anything Wine : An Afternoon at Ravines Wine Cellars

“On paper he knows what he’s doing and his knowledge and passion definitely translate to the glass” (speaking about winemaker Morten Hallgren)

Remy Charest – The Wine Case : Tastecamp day 1: Great Riesling – and some surprising reds

“But the real surprise came from Ravines Vineyard … the wines displayed confident and precise winemaking choices, the Rieslings were bone dry and built for the long run”

Michael Gorton – Undertaking Wine : Ravines Wine Cellars: More Than Just Riesling

“…make sure you visit and taste Ravines. And if you happen to be around when they have wine pairing dinners, make sure you make a reservation. I know I would.”

Julien Marchand – Empty Glasses : Tasting Through Riesling at TasteCamp 2010

“…bone dry Rieslings are made for the long run as seen the oldest of the three was still razor-sharp, with the structure and acid which will hold this wine together for years to come.”

Rick VanSickle – Wines in Niagara – RickWines, The Blog: A Journey to the Finger Lakes: Part 1

“The Ravines style is built around tight, mouth-watering, bone-dry rieslings that are balanced between fresh fruit and acid. They are made for the long haul in the cellar even though they are released to the public with some bottle age.”

Sasha Smith – Spin the Bottle : Finger Lakes Highlights: Argetsinger Vineyard

“The wine, made in a dry style, had a steeliness, minerality, and finesse that set it apart from the other local Rieslings I sampled over the weekend, and it was one of my favorites of the entire trip.”

Lenn Thompson – The New York Cork Report : TasteCamp EAST 2010 Interview: Rick Van Sickle (WinesofNiagara.com)

“What tasting or vineyard walk was and will be the most memorable for you? The Ravines Wine Cellars tasting and Argetsinger Vineyard walk … Fascinating owners and winemaker who is steadfast in his beliefs. And perfectly matched to his grower.”

Zesty Lemon Chicken

3 fresh lemons
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t wild fennel pollen or dried fennel
1 t fresh thyme, finely chopped
2/3 c olive oil
s&P
1 whole chicken, pieced

Grate yellow zest of 2 lemons avoiding bitter white part and then . Add juice to garlic & spices. Slowly whisk in olive oil in thin stream. cut remaining lemon into thin slices.
Pour 3/4 of marinade over chicken pieces and massage a bit. Let marinate overnight. Grill until cooked appx. 30 minutes and grill lemon slices too. Spoon remaining 1/4 marinade over chicken and garnish will grilled lemon slices.
Serve with Ravines Dry Riesling.

Wine Spectator Magazine’s Senior Editor James Molesworth recently visited the Finger Lakes and wrote an article on the developing region. He also rated his top picks for reds and whites, giving three our very own wines top scores. James Molesworth worked in retail sales and as a sommelier then joined Wine Spectator Magazine in 1997.

Ravines Riesling Finger Lakes Dry Score: 91

Argetsinger Vineyard 2008

Driven and precise, with racy minerality to the fennel, white peach, slate and honeysuckle flavors. Quinine on the finish

Ravines Riesling Finger Lakes Dry Score 90

Floral, with a perfumy hint to peach, green almond, green apple and melon rind notes. Bony in style, but not severe.

Ravines Meritage Finger Lakes 2007 Score 89

Shows depth and refinement, with currant, damson plum and black cherry fruit on a fine grained structure. Tangy herb and mineral hints. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot.

Cool-climate viticulture and the Finger Lakes This is only the first of what I hope to be many blog entries pertaining to cool-climate viticulture and the role the Finger Lakes could play in the American wine market. To most wine drinkers, familiar with both European and American wine regions, there is an inescapable paradox, which can be kept down for a while, but sooner or later has to surface. In Europe, the cool climate wine regions have historically held privileged positions in the minds of wine aficionados.

Think: Mosel, Champagne, Alsace, Loire Valley, Burgundy, Bordeaux and Piemonte. While subject to considerable vintage variations resulting from their limiting growing season, these regions have nevertheless been associated with the very finest wines produced in the World. Understanding the sources of the vintage variations, wine drinkers anxiously await the reports describing the growing conditions of a particular vintage. It is understood, that only a few privileged regions provide the necessary conditions to produce wines of such reputation and interest and that these wines command a premium. It is perhaps because the grape growing and wine making conditions in these cool-climate regions are more challenging, that they have received most of the attention over the last 200 years. It is perhaps also because of the intrinsically higher quality potential, as defined by the consumers, that they have been held in high esteem.

Contrast this scenario with what has been happening on the American wine scene. Not including the Jefferson-era East Coast attempts or the native Labrusca as well as French-American hybrids, the action was long restricted to the West Coast. Despite sometimes significant climatic differences, I will contend that nearly none of the West Coast wine regions would qualify as cool-climate regions. I base this contention on two essential criteria: cool-climate viticulture severely limits the grape varieties suited to that region and, equally important, the wines produced retain essential cool-climate characteristics: moderate alcohol, noticeable acidity, fresh fruit aromas and significant aging potential. While many West Coast regions meet certain of these criteria, I do not believe that any meet all of them. On certain occasions, you could argue that the natural conditions are there, but than wine makers ( and winery owners) choose to bend the natural conditions to the point of loosing the regional character of their wines. I could easily be wrong on this point and would welcome corrections.

In the United States, I would limit the significant cool-climate wine regions to the following: Michigan, Parts of Pennsylvania, Long Island and the Finger Lakes region of New York. I know there are noteworthy producers of interesting vinifera wines in other regions, such as Millbrook in the Hudson Valley or Sakonnet in Rhode Island, but they remain isolated. Returning to the initial paradox, my question is this: why have the cool-climate regions in United States received so little attention? As a winemaker in the Finger Lakes region I’m primarily concerned with our region. Why has our wine region, at least until very recently, failed to attract the attention of the American wine drinkers and wine professionals? From my point of view, there is nothing more exciting than a cool-climate wine region maturing to produce interesting noteworthy wines. To be able to follow this rapid evolution is a unique insight, that none of us could experience in Burgundy or Bordeaux. Much like these regions, vinifera winemaking arrived later in the Finger Lakes than it did in California, Oregon or Washington State. The same was the case in Europe, where winemaking followed up the Rhone Valley before spreading to the northerly wine regions. In Europe, the spread of viticulture took centuries. In North America, we are essentially talking about four decades.

There will always be great spread in quality and style in new wine regions. This is even more true in a cool climate region such as ours. However, our region has the potential to produce wines with a balance, an elegance, a purity of aromas that simply cannot be duplicated in a warmer climate. This is why the cool-climate regions of Europe are now considered the classic regions. Just following this evolution in our region would be a worthy endeavor, so why has this not happened yet?

“Quality is on the upswing in New York’s Finger Lakes Region” according to James Molesworth, senior editor of The Wine Spectator magazine.

Ravines Wine Cellars, and our Dry Argetsinger Riesling is one of the features of this article, and Molesworth points out that Ravines single vineyard Dry Riesling is the only non-desert wine in the Finger Lakes ever to have consecutive vintages with outstanding ratings.

Sam Argetsinger and his family’s estate vineyard are a big part of the beauty of this wine. Old vines, gravelly loam and limestone deposits create a distinctive minerality that sets this vineyard apart from others.

Ravines Argetsinger Dry Riesling is not the only wine from us that made Molesworth’s list, also included was:

• Ravines Riesling Finger Lakes Dry 2008 (Floral with perfumy hint of peach, green almond, green apple, and melon rind notes, Bony in style, but not severe. RATING: 92
• Ravines Meritage Finger Lakes 2007 (Shows depth and refinement, with currant, damson, plum and black cherry fruit, and on a fine-grained structure.  Tangy herb and mineral hints.  Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot.) RATING: 89

Currently our 2008 Argetsinger dry riesling is only available to our Ravinous Wine Club Members.  It is , so come JOIN NOW!

It wasn’t an easy harvest and I’m sure everyone is glad it is over.  2009 was one of the years requiring extra sweat and blood from the growers, winemakers and production crews alike.  An early frost and somewhat rainy growing season complicated conditions for everyone.  Growers had to drop a lot of fruit to achieve desired ripeness levels and spend many hours on their tractors spraying vines to keep the mold & diseases under control.  Vintners who worked their tails off in the vineyards this year were rewarded with clean, ripe fruit, good sugar levels and nice acidity.  Pinot Noir and Riesling were the harvest stars at Ravines this year. Winemaker, Morten Hallgren, is delighted with the overall quality of the grapes.

Sam Argetsinger brought us beautiful Riesling  grapesfrom his famous limestone soil vineyard.  Sam’s father, Cameron Argetsinger died last year before he could see the wine made from the vineyard he planted 35 years ago receive one of the most significant scores for Riesling ever given to a Finger Lakes wine. 91 in the Wine Specator for the Ravines Dry Riesling, Argetsinger Vineyard.  He and Morten take it all in stride.