I was introduced to Fossenvue by Phil Plummer, who has been with the company almost twenty years, starting out as a cellar rat, and working his way up to making the wines for Montezuma, Idol Ridge, and now Fossenvue. I met him at Eastern Wineries Exposition 2020.
The Martin family has been in the wine business since 1999. Today, they own three wineries, two distilleries and a satellite tasting room. They started on Cayuga Lake with Montezuma Winery & Hidden Marsh Distillery and then opened a tasting room in Old Forge, NY. Recently they expanded to Seneca Lake with their neighbor, Idol Ridge Winery & Alder Creek Distillery. Even more recently, they established Fossenvue Winery, previously known as Kings Garden Vineyards.
According to their website, "Fossenvue Winery’s name is based on the women’s suffrage campsite in Lodi, NY but bases its brand and wines off the Martin family’s roots. The Martin’s began their journey as beekeepers when they decided to dabble into wine-making with traditional mead. Throughout the years they have created a variety of honey wines as well as fruit wines, traditional grape wines and more. Our winery not only ties us back to the Martin’s history but also a piece of history from Lodi. Fossenvue, also known as “Queens Castle”, is a camp located in Lodi that was originally created by women for recreation, meetings and games. Within this camp hung the message, 'kindle friendship'".
Fossenvue Queen's Castle Assemblage 2018 is a blend of Saperavi, Cabernet Franc, and Lemberger. It has a lovely ripe cherry attach of fresh cherry and dark cherry with a hint of dark sour cherry to boot. Hints of raspberry, spice, licorice, bramble, cedar and a lovely vanilla finish. It has hints of violets and blueberry. Lots of layer, beautiful balance, and wonderfully complex. It is a medium-to-big bodied wine, like a fine Rhone or light Neuf de Pape. It almost had an Italian feel to it. A wonderful, wonderful wine. Very expressive. Finely made and extremely well finished. A fabulous red wine from the Finger Lakes.
Congrats to Phil and the Martin family.