100% Riesling

Food pairings: Red curried shrimp, chicken teriyaki, herbed roast chicken, grilled pork chops with apple chutney, white fish, and savory cheese and caraway sticks with an aperitif.

Winemaking: The Dry Riesling is the estate's signature wine, built from dozens of separate hand-picked selections: early picks to capture acidity, middle picks to build body and texture, and late selections for ripeness and complexity of flavor. The fruit is hand-sorted and whole-cluster pressed, then fermented over several months with indigenous yeasts and rested on its fine lees before blending trials bring the lots together. No fining additives or adjustments are used, and the wine is vegan. The 2023 is the first vintage of the Dry Riesling to carry the New York Sustainable Winegrowing trustmark.

Vineyards and terroir: The fruit comes from all three of Wiemer's estate vineyards on the western slopes of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes: the HJW Vineyard, home of Hermann Wiemer's original 1977 Riesling planting, a cool, higher site of shallow topsoil over shale bedrock that gives structure and acidity and is Demeter-certified Biodynamic; and the Josef and Magdalena Vineyards near Dresden, where deeper soils, old vines and the moderating air of the lake bring ripeness and generosity. The deep lake creates countless mesoclimates, so each site ripens differently, giving the blend its layered fruit.

Family and history: German-born Hermann J. Wiemer came to the Finger Lakes in the 1960s, convinced that the region was destined for vinifera grapes and, above all, the Riesling of his childhood. He bought land on Seneca Lake in 1973, founded his grapevine nursery in 1974 and established the winery in 1979, becoming one of the great pioneers of Finger Lakes Riesling. Fred Merwarth joined him as an apprentice fresh out of Cornell University, and when Hermann retired in 2007 he handed the winery to Fred, who partnered with his university friend, Swedish agronomist Oskar Bynke.

In the pictures: Head winemaker and co-owner Fred Merwarth in the cellar; the Hermann J. Wiemer winery from the air; and the Josef Vineyard above Seneca Lake at sunset (photos courtesy of Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard).