Weis Vineyards from the Finger Lakes continues to grow in reputation. Peter and Ashlee Weis have built a winery with an excellent reputation for quality wine. They've been named New York State winery of the year three times (most recently in 2025). I had the opportunity to see Peter at the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival earlier this month. As always, I looked forward to tasting his wines. And as usual, I was thrilled.
Of all the wines I tasted, I had two that stood out from the rest - the Weis Vineyards Gewurztraminer 2023 and the Weis Vineyards Blaufrankisch 2023. The Gewurztraminer was a dry varietal white wine. It led off with big notes of tropical fruit, lychee, geranium, honeydew melon, green apple, and an anise spice. This is not a light Gewurztraminer. Longer skin contact gave this wine a little more gravitas. And it created more layered complexity. A lovely, sneaky acidity finished the wine off. And the flavor of the fruit lingered for a very long time. Floral, nuanced, and well balanced, this wine was a terrific experience.
Personally, one of the reasons I liked this next wine before I even sipped it, was the named Blaufrankisch (instead of the other name for this grape - Lemberger). The wine starts with plum, cherry, and cranberry, with notes of vanilla, spice and black pepper. This light-to-medium bodied red was soft and approachable, and finished with enough acidity to make the fruit last and last. Perfect for roast chicken, roast pork, or Italian pasta dishes, this wine was super drinkable and bursting with flavor. Absolutely outstanding.
These two wines from Weis were spectacular. You should try them both!!