2017 Forge Cellars Dry Riesling Seneca Lake New York

Dry Riesling Classique 2017

100% Riesling

85% east side Seneca Lake

15% west side Cayuga Lake

Soils: shale, gravelly loam and clay with limestone

Whole cluster pressed

Harvest Dates: Oct. 15 - Nov. 4

Fermented with indigenous yeasts

Fermented and aged in 57% neutral barriques and 43% stainless steel

Residual Sugar: 0.3%

Alcohol: 13%

Vintage: A milder winter than normal was followed by a fickle spring. Although April brought some hot weather, May was the wettest on record and put considerable moisture into the ground. We then settled into a rainy-cool cycle that is atypical for summer in our continental climate. This carried on through August, resulting in vines that grew due to precipitation and just-enough sun, but grapes that ripened slowly due to the lack of warmth and larger yields. Thankfully, everything changed in our favor as record-breaking high temperatures arrived in September, along with an extended period of dryness that lasted all the way through harvest in early November. We were able to reach optimal ripeness due to the drier, warmer autumn which provided the ability to hang our fruit out as long as needed. In fact, 2017 tied with 2014 in concluding with our latest harvest date. The resulting wines show crystalline purity, balance and

freshness.

Tasting notes

Anise - mango - candied lemon - saline

Due to our focus on this narrow 8-mile stretch of slope on the southeast side which includes 13 of our 14 Riesling

vineyards, this will be our first labeling under the Seneca Lake AVA. In 2017, we chose not to make our top

cuvée, Les Alliés Riesling, and de-classified our fruit in order to ensure the absolute best quality would remain in

our core wine