Second Harvest

When I hear Second Harvest I think of the Wiemer Nursery, which we harvest in early to mid November after all the grapes have been pressed to tanks and the reds are fermenting in bins. But for wine, some consider the harvesting of botritysed fruit or fruit left on the vine for another reason to be the second harvest. Seneca Lake's Bloomer Creek vineyard, located on the 'other' side of the lake (the east side) makes a dry second harvest wine from botrytised Riesling. Where we would make dessert wine from this fruit, they let it ferment dry instead of stopping the fermentation and leaving the high residual sugar that makes some of the best dessert wines. I tried this wine at Stella's, a bar and restaurant in Cornell's collegetown. It smells typical of a late harvest wine, with apricot, honey, and some botrytis spice. But then on the palate it is dry, with rich flavors that are not quite in balance with the crisp acidity and high alcohol for a Riesling. Interesting - but I think this fruit is better suited to the dessert wines so cherished in Germany, Sauternes, and at Hermann J. Wiemer.