Fo' Shaw

Just down the road from Wiemer is a little place called Shaw Vineyard, where Steve Shaw makes some great wines, for sure. Steve ages most of his wines before release, including his Riesling and Gewurz, which is a rare practice in this area, he says. His reds get over 30 months of barrel aging plus several more in the bottle. The whites get 12-18 months aging and more in the bottle. The result is a group of wines that are still fresh but with an underlying complexity and a bit of added finesse. I was curious about his thoughts on 2007 being the "best vintage this decade for Pinot Noir in the Finger Lakes" - Steve thinks 2005 was better than 2007 and that 2008 will be the best. He says he has told Phil from Ravines his opinion on this, so I'm not starting any fights here. Shaw's current release of PN is 2005, so it will be several years before he releases the 2008 vintage and we can compare.
I had some fun walking around Shaw Vineyard and snapped some pics of Cab Franc and Gewurztraminer grapes. They're not quite ripe for the picking just yet, but they're getting there!