|
In the News
As see in the Buffalo Spree Magazine Sept/Oct 2004
By Mark Criden
Wine Forget the Metals, Taste the Wine
Rooster Hill - Many winelovers fantasize about giving up their nine to five gigs and starting a winery. In most cases, fantasy beats reality hands down.
Not for native Western New Yorkers Amy and David Hoffman, who relocated from corporate lives in Southern California to the eastern shore of Keuka in 1999 in search of a simpler life. Amy and David are not, however, clueless city folks like Paris and Nicole. When a dilapidated nearby vineyard came up for sale, they bought the property and began planting the next great Finger Lakes winery.
The Hoffmans are off to a tremendous start. They've installed state-of-the-art equipment to insure the highest standard of care for their grapes. They've replanted the vineyards now named Savina and Catherine for Amy's great-grandmother and great aunt. The new plantings don't yet yield fruit, so they've purchased grapes to hone their burgeoning winemaking talent.
And what talent. Especially remarkable were a 2003 Dry Riesling that sang with notes of lemon, lime, white pepper, and minerals, a symphony for only twelve bucks and the excellent if not impossible to spit 2003 Semisweet Riesling. Their 2002 Reds showed real skill, but given that the better Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon were from Long Island grapes, they did little to cure me of my Finger Lakes Red Wine Agnosticism.
Back to the top |
