I needed to make some room in my cellar this month, so I started rummaging amongst the bottles to find some wines that I wanted to taste soon. Came across this gem that I've been looking forward to for some time.
Glenora Wine Cellars 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: United States
Appellation: New York Finger Lakes
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Stats: 12.5% ABV
Cost: not sure on original price, but somewhere around $20 at the winery
Appearance: Big legs! Dark garnet color with slight bricking around the edge
Aroma: Black cherries, cocoa, & vanilla, with hints of leather
Taste: Muted flavors of cherries and strawberries with chocolate, leather, and a slight green pepper in the finish. Full bodied wine that lingers on the tongue.
This is an impressive red wine for a Finger Lakes red. I came across this during a visit to the Finger Lakes region a few years ago. While I was most impressed with the region's white wines, I was surprised to find a few reds that could stand on their own two feet. Being in the east, the area is vintage-challenged, meaning that each year can be very different from the previous year due to the weather. Some years are poor years for grapes, in other years, the stars align, the grapes ripen, and a great wine is born. 2002 was obviously a good year, and a full bodied, complex wine that cellared very well was born!.
Glenora Wine Cellars is one of the regions larger & fancier wineries, but they do make some good wine. They also have an inn & spa with a beautiful view of Seneca Lake just north of Watkins Glenn. I would strongly encourage everyone to make a wine tasting trip to the Finger Lakes area and enjoy the beautiful scenery and some very nice wines.
Salute,
a Wine Student
