By Diane White McNaughton
Wine lovers, raise your glasses! Here’s another reason to drink the nectar of the gods (as if you needed one).
Louis Pasteur, author of the germ theory, says, “Wine is the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages.”
In this germophobic age, that pronouncement sounds worthy of a toast. But even before COVID-19 upended our world, most vino enthusiasts knew that drinking responsibly really means never spilling a drop.
The joys of wine have been celebrated since the ancient days of Greek gods and Biblical wedding feasts. As we all hunker down at home, wine remains the “it” beverage of the quarantine, and storage rooms and refrigerators are the appliance and home renovation du jour. Eye-catching wine rooms and cellars with exotic woods, glass walls, stone partitions, and tasting rooms are in demand in the luxury home market, report home builders, decorators and appliance sellers nationwide.
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According to the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, in 2019, there were 471 operating wineries in the state. So what are the odds that one small vineyard would make the prestigous Wine Spectator Top 100 list, not once, but twice? The odds are not necessarily ones you would want to take to Las Vegas, but one Finger Lakes winery did it.
Forge Cellars, located on the Seneca Lake of the Finger Lakes, made their first appearance on the list for their 2014 vintage and the 2020 list for their 2018 Dry Riesling Classique, which took the #31 positon on the list.
Case in point: Finger Lakes winery Forge Cellars is ranked on
Wine Spectator s Top 100 List of 2020. The prestigious list, announced Monday, features the most exciting wines from regions around the world. It is not meant to be a shopping list, but rather a guide to wineries to watch in the future.
Forge s 2018 Classique Dry Riesling was ranked 31st, which is interesting for several reasons. First, it is the winery s workhorse wine, made from grapes from several vineyards and priced at under $20 a bottle. Second, the 2015 Classique achieved the same rank in 2017.
Finally, by many accounts, 2018 was not a good vintage for the Finger Lakes. Eighteen was horrific, said Rick Rainey, who co-owns Forge Cellars along with French winemaker-grower Louis Barruol. Local guys will get tears in their eyes talking about how brutal 2018 was.