Riesling, 'HJW Vyd'

Score

94

"Hermann J. Wiemer helped put the Finger Lakes on the map with its stunning Riesling expressions, and the winery continues to raise the bar for this region with exemplary single-vineyard bottlings like the HJW Vineyard Riesling. This wine offers focused and concentrated citrus aromas, ranging from lime zest to lemon oil. The palate is brimming with notes of pineapple and grapefruit emphasized by a zippy acidity."

Score

93

"Keeping cards close to its chest, this vintage of Wiemer's home vineyard takes its time before offering up delicate yet ripe peach, melon and white floral aromas. They're succeeded by a dry, racy palate that shows lovely balance and finesse, with a peach pit and citrus blossom zing amid a gently chalky, textural palate. Still a baby, this shows excellent cellaring potential, until 2030 at least. Cellar Selection. —C.P."

Score

91

"The 2022 Riesling HJW Vineyard explodes from the glass with lime zest, tangerine peel, white pepper and a subtle undercurrent of floral notes. Tart and energetic, it has a nervous energy that feels almost electric. The finish pulls up a hair short, likely due to the early picking necessary to maintain acidity in this warm vintage. The 2022 has 7 grams of residual sugar per liter, only perceptible in a slight roundness on the finish."

Score

90

"The 2022 Riesling HJW Vineyard comes in with six grams of residual sugar and 12.4% alcohol. A small (12%) part of the juice was aged for seven months in new, large-format Austrian foudres (2,000 liters). This was sourced from HJW vines planted in 1977 and 1978. It is the only one of the single vineyards bottled in this rainy vintage where the others were declassified. I expected that this would show well since it was the only one here of the typical single-vineyard wines from older vines. It will not be a monument to greatness in the winery's long history, but it is very good and hardly a slacker. Moderately expressive and mostly open, even in its youth, it has a fresh feel and a friendly finish. It's not particularly intense, but it lingers nicely and tastes great in a relatively dry-but-not-lean presentation. With aeration, the structure comes out to play and proves that this does also have some support for the fruit. It will age relatively well."