Like a Spring Flower

While I freely admit to being fickle, one FLX winery we faithfully visit is Sheldrake Point.  Interestingly enough, we were first introduced to SPV by my dad and his wife.  The interesting part is that neither of them were really into wine, so we found it kind of odd that they would make it a point to plan a weekend to attend the Hudson Valley Wine Festival.   Their first foray into the world of wine tasting, at a "fest" no less!   They survived their baptism by fire and brought us a bottle of Sheldrake Point Merlot. 

Not being huge Merlot lovers, we graciously accepted our gift, and, although we looked askance at it, we admired its pretty label.  The bottle went into the cellar until we could no longer resist its siren song.   We opened it and we liked it; we really, really liked it!  We liked it enough to drag ourselves from our firmly entrenched routine on Seneca Lake and schlep over Cayuga on our next trip and, as they say, the rest is history.

Fast forward to 2012 and the Sheldrake Point 2007 Pinot Noir.  This delicate, old world style Pinot is drinking beautifully!  This is such a pretty wine with lovely strawberry notes and just a hint of oak.  It's medium bodied with soft, silky tannins, ripe cherry, and perfect bright acidity.

I keep coming back to two words - delicate and pretty.  We really enjoyed this one!

The Owl and the One-Eyed Cat

You may think you know where this one is going but unless you're thinking about something that includes a tetanus shot and a week of antibiotics, you're way off base.  We're talking cat bite on the day before our planned trip to the FLX.  Aside from the fact that it makes a really cool title, it did not affect our trip - the bite was on my non-wine glass-holding hand so not a problem!

We started out on Cayuga Lake and on a whim, stopped at a winery that we have not visited for several years.  Our last experience included a pleasant man who rhymed all of his wine descriptions.  He did our tasting and was so enthusiastic that I felt kind of guilty that I didn't really enjoy the wines.  He did everything he could to persuade me, including opening new bottles and making up new rhymes but alas, it was to no avail - they were just not to our liking.

But here we were, at Thirsty Owl Wine Company, bellied up to the bar and about to start a tasting.  Little Rhyming Man was gone but apparently replaced by Younger Singing Man.  More about that later, perhaps.

There were seventeen wines on the tasting menu and we were asked to choose five.  It wasn't that difficult, because of the nine whites, seven were listed as semi-sweet or sweet.  I passed on the Chardonnay and started with the 2010 Dry Rielsing.  A pleasant surprise, it had nice acidity with tropical fruit and a crisp, clean finish. 

The reds started with the 2008 Pinot Noir.  It didn't show a lot of fruit, it had firm tannins and a spicy finish.  The toasted oak of the 2008 Syrah jumped out of the glass.  The caramel nose of this medium bodied wine led to a fairly smooth palate, firm tannins and a black pepper finish.

Ok, at this point I expected that I would be ready to jump off a bridge but not yet.....what's next?  The 2008 Meritage.  Velvety mouth-feel with slight black pepper and fruit with soft oak on the finish - nice!  The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon was drinking really young.  The fruit was trying to emerge but for the most part, it was over powered by oak and spice.  It needs time, for sure.  Finally in this line-up was the 2009 Cab Sauv, Syrah,  Malbec.  (18, 60, 22% respectively)  We have tried this before and have been less than excited - it should be freakin' awesome!  The 2009 blend showed grapefruit and black pepper but had some spit-sucking tannins.

To finish, we were serenaded through a tasting of the 2007 VINTE, a port-style wine from Cab Franc and Chancellor.  We're not huge Chancellor fans but we tasted with an open mind.  At 8% RS, it was soft and silky and not overly fortified.  It retained its wine characteristics and had that dessert-replacement  sweetness.

All in all, we found the wines a bit more approachable than in the past and the absence of the Little Rhyming Man was a relief.  There was, however the issue of Singing Man.  Nonetheless, we grooved our way through the racks, grabbed a Meritage and a VINTE and boogied for the door before our ears started to bleed.  It's not that his singing was bad, it just got old....fast.