2007 Keuka Spring Vineyards Lemberger

Posted by Neil Brody Miller on February 13, 2010

Over the past year, Lemberger, also known as Blaufrankisch, has received a surprising amount of attention from wine writers and bloggers, especially given the fact that the grape is virtually unknown to American consumers.  New York Times wine columnist Eric Asimov recently blogged about a Blaufrankisch tasting organized by David Schildknecht of the Wine Advocate and eRobertParker.com, who has taken the lead in promoting Blaufrankisch and other Austrian wines.  Readers of the New York Cork Report (formerly Lenndevours.com), moreover, may recall that the 2007 Keuka Spring Vineyards Lemberger was named one of the NYCR’s Wines of 2009, and that Evan Dawson and Lenn Thompson posted several pieces on whether Finger Lakes winemakers should continue to market the varietal as Lemberger or switch their labeling to Blaufrankisch.

When I first heard this buzz, I thought it was much ado about nothing, as I saw little interest among consumers in Lemberger or Blaufrankisch, and even less likelihood that the varietal would catch on and compete successfully against up-and-coming international superstars like Carmenere or Nero d’Avola.  I’ve given the matter a bit more thought, however, and I’ve come to better appreciate why Finger Lakes winemakers are and should be interested in Lemberger and other lesser known varietals.  What Lemberger offers winemakers is an opportunity to experiment, both in the vineyard and in the winery, to see how well the grape performs given the region’s difficult climate and short growing season, and what flavors, textures, and structure can be coaxed from the wine using different winemaking techniques – cold stabilization, stainless steel versus barrel fermentation, etc.  And a winemaker interested in experimentation, I’ve concluded, is a winemaker interested in learning more about his or her craft, which is a good thing for anyone interested in Finger Lakes wines.

And yet, my initial point still stands, which is, virtually speaking, that far more ink has been spilt about Lemberger than the wine itself (this review ironically being a case in point). Wine writers understandably want to taste everything, and generally are as interested in winemaking, at least in terms of the fruit of the winemaker’s labors, as winemakers themselves.  Correctly predicting the Next Big Thing, whether it be an obscure grape varietal or an emerging winegrowing region, also earns one bragging rights and pays other professional dividends.  Hence, all the chatter in the past few years about Pinotage, Hungarian and Greek wines, German and Alsatian Pinot Noir, and other wines that few consumers seem to care much about.

Lemberger too, seems destined to fall into this category, despite its suitability to the Finger Lakes region,.  And in terms of flavor profile and pricing (the wine lists for $18,99, and I paid $15.99 at a local wine shop), there are valid reasons for it doing so.  What I liked most about the 2007 Keuka Spring Vineyards Lemberger was how unapologetically European it tasted out of the bottle.  When I think of European-inspired wines from the Finger Lakes, I turn first to the Rieslings produced by Dr. Konstantin Frank, and then to the fiercely dry red and white wines produced by Morten Hallgren of Ravines Wine Cellars.  Yet, the meaty, gamey aromas wafting from my glass of Keuka Spring Lemberger suggest that Mark Wiltberger, the winemaker at Keuka Spring, also looks to the Old World for inspiration.  In fact, if I hadn’t known what I was drinking, I almost certainly would have pegged this wine as a Chinon or another Loire Valley red.

That’s the good news.  After these impressive aromas, however, which were followed by the cherry, berry and black pepper flavors for which the varietal is known, the wine quickly lost my interest, and is likely destined to end its days in a stew pot alongside some mirepoix, stew meat, and Hungarian sweet paprika, which, not surprisingly given the wine’s popularity in Central and Eastern Europe, is the spice with which this varietal seems most compatible.

Heron Hill’s winemaker, Thomas Laszlo, got it exactly right, accordingly, when he described Lemberger/Blaufrankisch as tasting like “a Syrah with a Burgundian profile.” That might sound like an interesting combination, but I found the wine to be somewhat one dimensional, and lacking in fruit and weight from the mid-palate to its rather abrupt finish.  Paired with the right dish, such as goulash or beef Stroganoff, or perhaps with roasted duck or goose, where the wine’s naturally high acidity and unusual salinity would cut against the fattiness and rich flavors, this wine might really shine.  Lemberger might accordingly find its raison d’etre as a specialized, niche wine that pairs well with game and Central or Eastern European cuisine.  But the Next Big Thing, as several wine writers and Finger Lakes winemakers have predicted?  I think not.

The disconnect between the prognostications of wine professionals and the realities of the market highlight once again the difficulty many winemakers and wine writers have in seeing things from the consumer’s perspective.  Undoubtedly, a handful of dedicated vinophiles sought out the top-rated examples of Austrian Blaufrankish after reading Asimov and Schildknecht’s reviews, and perhaps a determined fan or two of Finger Lakes wines ponied up $35.00 for a bottle of Heron Hill’s 2007 Reserve Blaufrankisch after reading Evan’s piece in the NYCR.  In the mean time, however, Chilean winemakers sold millions of dollars of Carmenere to American consumers, not because of media hype, but because they produced stunningly good wines, including many Reservas, for under $15.00 a bottle.  The same holds true for the dramatic uptick of interest in Portuguese wines.  American wine drinkers are voting once again with their dollars, this time for world-class red wines with names they cannot pronounce, made from native Portuguese varietals few Americans have ever heard of or feel compelled to learn about, that cost around $10.00 a bottle.

So I say again, I think the discussion about whether these wines should be labeled Lemberger or Blaufrankisch, along with the complaint that Lemberger sounds too much like and is unfairly associated with Limburger, the smelly German cheese, are silly distractions that further alienate winemakers from the retail market.  If Finger Lakes winemakers can produce a competitively priced, world-class table wine from the varietal, consumers will buy it regardless of what it is called.  If not, they should continue to experiment with the varietal for their own purposes, follow Thomas Laszlo’s lead in producing small quantities of high priced Blaufrankisch for the cognoscenti, and look elsewhere for a red wine suited to the Finger Lakes region that can compete successfully for a fair share of the American market.  To that end, my money and my best hopes remain pinned on Pinot Noir.

I intended this piece to be a relatively straightforward wine review, not a rant about Finger Lakes winemaking, so before concluding I want to say a few more positive things about the 2007 Keuka Spring Lemberger and about Keuka Spring Vineyards, because neither the wine nor the winery fairly deserve to bear the brunt of my criticism.  For starters, anyone interested in tasting a Finger Lakes wine with a clear sense of terroir should check out this wine, which reveals a definite sense of the vineyards and the region where the grapes were grown.  The same is true for Keuka Spring’s Gewurztraminer, which I first tasted not long after moving to upstate New York, and which remains one of my favorite examples of a Finger Lakes Gewurztraminer.

Second, there is a lot to like in this wine, from the low 12.5% alcohol level and high acidity, cold climate characteristics that make the wine ideal for pairing with rich dishes or creamy sauces, to the medium body and supple tannins, which are very reminiscent of Pinot Noir.  Lemberger has been described as a cross between Pinot Noir and Gamay, and were it not for the wine’s Syrah-like black pepper note, the description would be apt.  As noted earlier, I personally have problems with this wine’s flavor profile and with its price, and am likely to look elsewhere for wines better suited to my taste and budget.  But I look forward nonetheless to seeing how the story of Lemberger/Blaufrankisch unfolds in the Finger Lakes (Evan Dawson says that Keuka Spring will begin labeling their wine Blaufrankisch, beginning presumably with the 2008 vintage), and to tasting more of these wines when the opportunity arises.