2015 Forge Cellars, Dry Riesling Classique, Finger Lakes, New York.
The Finger Lakes outpost of Rhone legend Louis Barruol, famed Gigondas producer, Forge Cellars is a new project focused on dry Riesling from vineyards around mostly Seneca and Cayuga lakes, with a mix of shale, gravely loam and clay with some limestone which gives the Finger Lakes it’s character and terroir influences. Along with his local partners Richard Rainey and Justin Boyette, Barruol’s Forge Cellars crafts limited release Riesling single site offerings as well as this 1,800 case production regional dry Riesling Classique cuvee with 85% from Seneca Lake and 15% from Cayuga Lake, which has only .4% RS and is as trocken as it gets! There is a lot of excitement about Finger Lakes Riesling, not only Barruol is jumping in here, with Paul Hobbs and Johannes Selbach (Selbach-Oster) also joining in here too, along with local hotshots like Ravines, Hermann J. Wiemer, Boundary Breaks and Dr. Konstantin Frank all which make wonderful wines. The Forge Cellars 2015 Dry Riesling Classique starts with an intense youthful expression of mouth waveringly dry and brisk fruit, a light petrol note, white roses and zesty citrus along with delicate layers of green apple, liquid shale, pithy peach pit, lemon oil, almond, marzipan, lime peel and verbena. It has a dusty dry mouth feel and tangy acidity that almost reminds me a bit of some Australian Rieslings like Gosset, Rolf Binder and Pewsey Vale, but with a smoky mineral and austere wet rock core and at 13% it does have a subtle density and gains a textural presence in the glass with air. I can’t wait to try the Cru offerings and will no questions enjoy more bottles of this one, it has a serve impact, but really grows on you and it will be a lovely Summer wine and great with a variety of cuisine, it’s a great value to enjoy now.
($18 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive

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