This is my wine doctor and is arguably the best wine maker in the state of NY. Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars off Keuka Lake NY is one the best distributed wines produced in the state of NY. However, that doesn’t always translate to good wines. This however is indeed a rare gem.
Driving from the south, still 70 miles away, in the town of Mansfield is a sign on top of Hill encouraging a visit to Dr. Franks. It was the signal for my mouth to start salivating for good wine. When we finally pulled in the drive way,
it was a race between my wife and me to the front door knowing what a treat we were in for.As is par for the course at Dr. Franks, we were directed to a full tasting bar to start our tasting. Our tour guide for Dr. Franks current vintage of wines, was from down under and attending college locally. Although her accent was thick, it did not detract from the wine.
For those of you who have not wine toured in NY, it varies greatly from how wine tasting works here in VA. Although there is still usually a tasting fee involved, unlike here that doesn’t allow you to sample all the wines. It usually allows you to sample between 5 and 8 wines, and in the case of Dr. Franks, that is a good thing. Since they produce over 30 wines,
to sample them all would leave you not only very happy, but also not likely to walk away. Dr. Franks tasting involves offering a choice between 2 or 3 similar wines in style or varietal and moving through 7 different choices. With my wife as my tasting partner, we sampled about 14 different wines, for you though, I’ll cover our four favorites below:
2009 Gerwurztraminer: Good fruity nose. This is followed up by a full fruit taste but the best part was the light mineral finish. We love going to Dr. Franks if nothing more than to drink is Gerwurztraminer.
2010 Muscat Ottonel: Bright summer fruit on the nose. This heavier white wine has pleasant flavors or peach to apricots, it is a little sweet for you total sweetness snobs stay away from it, although it is only 3% residual sugar.
2009 Lemberger: A little red and fruity in the nose, but then hits you with big black pepper and light tannins and light red fruit like raspberry.
2009 Merlot: A Dark fruit nose, blackberry or black raspberry with a hint of smoke, rolling into dark cherry taste with a finish leaning to burnt maple flavor. Very interesting and would have liked to have a whole glass to figure it out.
