Located in the heart of the Finger Lakes Wine Country, Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard stands on the western shores of Seneca Lake. The New York State winery – producing approximately 14,000 cases each year – was designed in 1982 by an award-winning team of Cornell architects. Enclosed within the shell of a 90-year-old scissor-trussed barn, the structure accommodates a full wine production area and tasting facility. Its unique white cathedral-like interior balances the bare wooden walls and sleek Italian stainless steel tanks.
Hermann himself is one of the most important people in the history of east coast winemaking, and his bio on these pages would need to be done in two posts, so we'll have to leave that for another post.
Recently, along with some friends of ours, Tom and Mary Hack of Hudson, New York, and owners of East Chatham Wines and Spirits, we tried a Hermann J. Wiemer Bunch Select Late Harvest dessert wine.
This Trockenbeerenauslese style dessert wine is pressed only from hand-selected grapes that are affected by the botrytis mold or noble rot. These wines are difficult to harvest, requiring hand picking in usually cold, miserable weather. And it takes four to seven more grapes per bottle than any other wine. So it's an incredibly difficult wine to make.
The wine was incredibly intense. There were peaches, honey and apricots on the nose and in the glass. We had it with cheese and light fruit tarts with light cream. It was an absolutely wonderful and delicious experience. Just fantastic!