Fine Product, Less than Exciting Winery
Written: Nov 30 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent Johannisberg Riesling
Cons: Not a particularly Charismatic vineyard
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| ErgoPropterHoc's Full Review: Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard |
The Hermann J. Wiemer vineyard is a small but popular winery on the shore of Seneca Lake, in New York's Finger Lakes region. Mr. Wiemer (he still leads the operation himself) produces a few varieties of generally very good wines here.
The winery itself is housed partly inside a seventy year old barn (one of the tall, pointy ones) which was designed by Cornell University architects. The concept of putting the winery inside a historic building seems intriguing, and the functionality of the space seems very good. Nevertheless, words such as beautiful or inspired just don't come to mind when you visit. The grounds, while neat and well kept, are not particularly charismatic, either. There's little in the way of pretty gardens to walk through, or grand vistas to admire. The staff members here are courteous and knowledgeable, but not particularly outgoing. You may feel like you have to prod them a little bit in order to get more than the standard tour and speech.
The real big business at Wiemer isn't even the wine - it's the nursery. (No, not for kids, but for young vines.) Wiemer produces over 300,000 vines a year to "export" to new or expanding vineyards around North America.
Wiemer produces some sparkling wine, which is generally Brut, and generally good but not particularly outstanding. Among the better varieties that Wiemer produces is the Johannisberg Riesling. Various versions of the Riesling come from various harvest times for the grapes, with the Late Harvest varietal being especially sweet (and especially delicious). There's also a Select Late Harvest, made from hand selected grapes affected by the botrytis mold, which makes this wine extremely sweet, and extremely expensive.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ErgoPropterHoc
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Location: Evanston, IL
Reviews written: 71
Trusted by: 66 members
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