Evolution of a Brand

When my former employers took over Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard in 2007 from the namesake himself they made some subtle changes. First, they began hand sorting all the fruit that came into the winery. While extremely labor-intensive, this elevated the quality level and made the juice more "clean" - free of leaves, bugs, and other imposters that can find their way into the grape clusters. Secondly, Hermann had been experimenting with his different Riesling plots, making a Reserve Riesling from 100% one or the other in different years. In 2007, Fred, the current winemaker, decided to make 2 single vineyard Rieslings from those plots, which they called HJW Vineyard (the original site that Hermann planted in the '70s) and Magdalena Vineyard (land Hermann acquired and planted in the late '90s, now bearing his mother's name). The Reserve Riesling became something else - a small bottling of the best blend in the winery, from the various pickings and vineyard plots that were vinified separately.

Last weekend I did a comparison of the 2003 Riesling Reserve, Hermann's experiment with 100% fruit from the Magdalena vineyard site, and the 2009 Magdalena Vineyard Riesling, which comes from the same place. I worked on the 2009 during my time at the winery. Both had Wiemer's signature acidity, but of course the 2003 was more subtle due to the aging and the fact that 2009 was a wet year that resulted in extremely high acidity in the grapes. (All the 2009's have a crisp acidity that is just great for a variety of foods or several years in the cellar. Sadly, many are sold out, but you can contact the winery to see what is left in the library.) The 2003 was elegant and creamy while the 2009 was vibrant and zesty, but both had the tropical and stone fruit characteristics of fruit from this vineyard site.

A note on the packaging differences of these wines: 2003 is in the classic emerald green bottle typical of many German Rieslings. 2009 is in a taller olive bottle, which is now the status quo for the Reserve bottlings at Wiemer. It's a nod to the more high-end German Rieslings. Also notice the type font was changed and the overall layout and proportion of the label details were improved.

The one constant is, of course, the source of the fruit and the fact that Hermann chose the best sites in the Finger Lakes to make award-winning American Riesling in a tradition that continues today.