2010 Vintage Riesling Launch in NYC!! 

30 wineries from the Finger Lakes teamed up this September to release the 2010 Riesling vintage at the annual Harvest in the Square event, a benefit for Union Square Park, NYC. 

What fun! More than 50 amazing restaurants and 30 Finger Lakes wineries all serving up goodness under one tent:  Incredible! This momentous event provided Hosmer Winery and others a chance to debut our star variety in New York City to many interested consumers, restaurants and wine retailers in New York. 

Thank you to all who participated with us on twitter or elsewhere during Riesling hour, we were very happy to be a part of such a great event that furthers the even greater cause of maintaining Union Square Park.  We look forward to Riesling vintage launches and Harvests in the Square in the future. 

For more info about the 2010 Hosmer Dry Riesling, visit our WINES PAGE.

or call: (607) 869-3393 

For more information about the Launch, visit: fingerlakeswinealliance.com

Or harvest.unionsquarenyc.org

What makes Dry Riesling dry?   Hosmer 2010 Dry Riesling receives recognition.  click here to view

2010 Vintage is being released!  Dry Riesling, Chardonnay and Cayuga White are now available.  Come in and try them or have them delivered to your door!  order now

At Hosmer on Cayuga Lake, Challenging Conventional Wisdom on Balanced Vines, Quality Wines

By Evan Dawson, New York Cork Report

September 08, 2010

Hosmer Winery winemaker Aaron Roisen cannot help himself. If you spend more than five minutes with him, he's going to blurt out something so unique, so memorable, that you're going to wonder if it's all an act.

No one is this quick-witted, right? No one is this quirky, this astute, this honest. Right?

It's not an act with Roisen, whose comments might occasionally seem condescending when written on a notepad, but his charm comes from his humble authenticity. He speaks his mind, but he doesn't seek to offend.

Ask him about Lemberger, and he quickly maligns the big, dark, oaky versions he finds occasionally. "It might have Donald Trump's hair, but it doesn't want to be a real estate mogul," Roisen says in reference to Lemberger's dark color on the vine.

When it comes to what kind of wine Lemberger should be, Roisen says, "It should be like all the good parts of pinot noir without the gag reflex when it gets overdone. Most people are over-oaking Lemberger. It's a light red wine that people don't really know how to follow through on."

He's also not a fan of the trend that sees Lemberger blended with cabernet franc (his beloved "Frankie"). "That blend is not true to the varieties!" Roisen says. "It's got to do its own thing, which is fruit driven, almost like an easy-drinking Sangiovese."

And regarding the use of oak in any red wine, Roisen offers this: "It's like the chorus in Dante's Inferno. Necessary, but probably the boring part."

He is unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom in Finger Lakes winemaking, but he's also one of the nicest guys you'll meet. 

Balanced Vines: Smaller Crops Don't Mean Better Crops at Hosmer

Standing in a row of Hosmer riesling, which is developing beautifully, Roisen asks me if I want to "go check out the Frankie." It leads to a discussion about crop loads. On this subject, Hosmer parts ways with what has become conventional wisdom among some producers -- and certainly among most wine writers.

At Hosmer, reducing crop size is often seen as a bad idea, not a good one.

"Our pinot noir is usually four or five tons to the acre," Roisen explains. "The Frankie is five tons, sometimes more. You're making a mistake if you fixate on getting a tiny amount of fruit on each acre of land."

"We care about balance, because balance is what leads to quality," says Tunker Hosmer, the owner and longtime grower. Tunker is gregarious and jocular and, like his winemaker, unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom. "Some vines can support a lot of fruit, and some can support less. You can't over-generalize."

The easiest way to determine whether the Hosmer approach is working is to taste the wines, and that means young wines and wines with some bottle age. The evidence is strong in Hosmer's favor.

The cabernet franc, never the darkest and heaviest in the region, is light-to-medium bodied in most vintages, and even the 10-year-old versions show some energy.

Roisen thinks some winemakers fixate on crop load with pinot noir in particular. "When it gets super-low in yield, it gets weedy and green," he says, making a face. "That is not what we're looking for."

It all sets up an interesting discussion best left, in depth anyway, for another day. But adherents to this idea must recognize that many of the best wines in the world come from vines with low -- and sometimes extremely low -- croploads. And some of the best wines in the Finger Lakes come from vines cropped to bring in lower yields than those seen at Hosmer. So what's going on with those world-class wines from low yields? Are the growers simply not telling the truth about croploads? Is the Hosmer stance wrong? What gives?

We'll get back to those questions in the near future.

A vertical of riesling yields a surprise

Roisen put together a mini-vertical of Hosmer rieslings, with both dry and semi-dry versions from '07, '08, and '09. And here was the surprise:

The 2009 rieslings were the standout in each category.

Far from the severe, prickly rieslings that were the inevitable product of a leaner vintage, Hosmer's '09 Rieslings are broad and filled with character. The semi-dry is rich and seamless, long, balanced and beautiful. In contrast, the Homer '08 Riesling was a bit of a letdown, a touch sharp and choppy. The '07 Rieslings were different animals entirely, glazed by petrol and nuts and the first signs of oxidation (as anyone would expect from a hot, drought vintage).

But Tunker Hosmer is not buying the excuse that 2009 made for difficult winemaking.

"It was a fooler vintage," he says, laughing. "People love to forget about September. If we would have had a bad September, then people could complain. But September was almost perfect, and we think it shows in the wines."

If the Hosmer '09 Semi-Dry Riesling is impressive, the '09 Dry is even more so. Crisp and racy but layered, there is a reason it turned out so well. Roisen stopped fermentation when this wine had nine grams of residual sugar; he typically lets it go further, but he didn't think it would maintain its balance without more sugar in a high-acid year.

The Hosmer Rieslings offer one of the great values of the region, regularly selling for several dollars less per bottle than their peers.

It has been a fascinating tasting, but Roisen wants to make sure to add one more point. "I'm still young and still new here," he says. "I have a lot -- a whole lot -- to learn."

For someone who tends to speak with such conviction, it's a shade of modesty. But it's not all that surprising once you spend time with Aaron Roisen. Somehow, that certitude and self-doubt are seamlessly balanced, not unlike many of his wines.

Hosmer Winery Receives honors of “Double Gold” and “Highly Recommended”
Ovid N.Y. Friday, August 25, 2010–The 2010 N.Y Wine & Food Classic results are in and Hosmer has struck gold once again, actually double gold! Hosmer Winery received news this week of being awarded Double Gold for our Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc, both from the 2008 vintage. In total, nine medals were earned at this prestigious competition, often considered to be the equivalent to the “Oscars” of the wine industry.

The “Highly Recommended” award, also considered a Silver medal with a score of “86”, came from the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) at their World Wine Championships for the 2008 Cabernet Franc.  Hosmer winery is a highly regarded producer of Cabernet Franc and is known for setting the benchmark for Finger Lakes Cabernet Francs.  This recent recognition adds to the list of accolades previously earned from the BTI in 2010 including the following:

“90” – Exceptional & BEST BUY – 2008 Dry Riesling
“88” – Highly Recommended & BEST BUY – 2008 Riesling
“87” – Highly Recommended – 2008 Pinot Gris
“84” – Recommended – 2008 Chardonnay

Hosmer Winery 2008 Dry Riesling
By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor, New York Cork Reportz

The tasting room isn't fancy and sure, I wish more of their wines were closed with natural cork (to see how they cellar) but for my money, Hosmer Winery offers some of the best value vinifera wines in the Finger Lakes. This dry riesling is no exception -- in fact, it's one of the best examples.

Hosmer Winery 2008 Dry Riesling ($12), made with grapes grown in the oldest section of their vineyard, planted almost 30 years ago, is very apple-y on the nose with hints of tropical fruit, fresh herbs and lime.

The palate is fruity and forward, showing more apple and some melon fruit character with a squirt of lime and a sprinkling of lemon zest. It's dry (.7%) with nice balance, but not austere or harsh.

The finish isn't super-long, but for $12 you can do far far worse -- not just in the Finger Lakes, but the world over. The Finger Lakes needs more quality riesling at this price point. 

Buy our Hosmer 2008 Dry Riesling

Producer: Hosmer Winery
AVA: Cayuga Lake
Price: $12
ABV: 12.5%
RS: .7%
Rating: 85

News From The Tasting Room:
 

The Results are In!
The official results for the 2010 New York State Fair Commercial Wine Competition have been released and Hosmer wines have recieved a number of acknowledgements. Our brand new Dry Rose' recieved a bronze medal (in it's first competition, no less), our 2008 Cayuga White a silver and the Carousel Blush a gold. However our crowning achievement for this competition is that Raspberry Rhapsody took home a Best in Category award for Specialty Wines!
AND!
Tastings.com, the official website of the Beverage Testing Institute, has released a new set of ratings for a handful of Hosmer wines. The 2008 Dry Riesling scored an Exceptional rating at 90 points, the 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling a Highly Recommended 88 points, the 2008 Pinot Gris also recieved a Higly Recommended at 87 points and finally the 2008 Chardonnay is Recommended with a score of 84 points!

Come on over to check out these and the rest of our wine list for yourselves and tell us what YOU think!

June 2010

Saving Buds and Killing Weeds With The Grape-hoe
In cool climate viticulture areas such as the Finger Lakes a common practice is the covering of grapevine graft-union bud-sites at the bottom of the vine with a mound of soil to protect those fragile vinifera buds from our low winter temperatures. This mound of earth is plowed over the vine bases after harvest and removed in the spring and early summer. Protecting bud-sites at the base of the vine is essential to vineyard health, yield and thus wine quality. An added bonus of grape-hoeing is vineyard floor weed control early in the growing season during the plow-down of the earthen mound. This helps us to reduce the use of dangerous herbicides and protect our farm soils and Finger Lake ecosystems.

1. Completion of Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) survey which is a complete assessment of our agricultural practices and its environmental impact.
2. Awarded "Lake Friendly Farm" for our current conservation efforts.
3. Hosmer Winery received a National Conservation Stewardship Award for past conservation practices and implementing new ones.
4. We are networking with Cornell University?s weather monitoring system with our own on site weather station to use state of the art pest and disease forecasting models.

Future new developments that are of interest to Hosmer Winery include:

1. The use of eco-friendly light weight glass packaging.
2. Biofuel has just recently become available and we are planning to experiment with it in our vineyard equipment this summer.

Here at Hosmer Winery, we?re in it for the long run and realize we need to take care of our most important resources being soil and water.

Cameron Hosmer

News From The Tasting Room:
November 2009

Hosmer Riesling Receives Recognition at Canberra International Riesling Challenge 

Looking for Hosmer Wine in your neighborhood?
Click here for a list of liquor stores, hotels and restaurants where you can find our wines.

The Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide
"86" rating for Hosmer Winery 2007 Chardonnay
"This Chardonnay balances fresh and lush flavors, offering a toasty spice and apple nose and flavors of creamy vanilla toast and apple, peach and warming spice. Approachable but discplaying some complexity. A friendly everyday white."-S.K.

"85" rating for Hosmer Winery 2007 Cabarnet Franc
"This buoyant red starts with red berry and spice aromas, leading into a balanced, pleasant array of red berry, black cherry and cedar on the palate. Friendly adn expressive, it's quaffable wine for a myriad occasions."-S.K.

May 5, 2009

Hosmer Winery selected to attend the 4th Annual Riesling Summit in New York City at Astor Wine Center.
Cameron Hosmer presented the 2007 Vintner's Reserve Riesling in a comparative tasting seminar with wines from other key Riesling producing regions including Germany, Alsace, Australia and Washington State. This formal tasting was attended by some of New York's most devoted Riesling fans and coordinated by the International Riesling Foundation's President, May Ewing Mulligan. This prestigous event featured some of the world's most renowned Riesling producers and our Vintner's Reserve was selected as a showcase example of medium sweet styled Riesling, based on the International Riesling Foundation's newly created taste profile. Cameron Hosmer commented, "It was a real honor to have our wine selected to be poured with other world class Rieslings!"

Hosmer Winery 2007 Riesling from http://lennthompson.typepad.com/lenndevours/
Is there anything better than driving through wine country, stopping off at a winery that you hadn't planned to visit, and discovering a gem? It's one of the wine world's great joys and it happened to me and Nena on our last day in the Finger Lakes a few weeks ago.

As we drove up the western side of Cayuga Lake, we spotted a sign for Hosmer Winery. The winery we had planned to visit wasn't open yet, so we stopped in at Hosmer... and we're glad that we did. The wines impressed almost across the board. This was one of the wines that we liked best, so we bought a few bottles and I included one in my weekly tasting on Sunday.

In my experience, Cayuga rieslings are richer in their fruit profile and less minerally than those grown on Seneca or Keuka Lakes. This Hosmer Winery 2007 Riesling ($12) is a great example of that. The nose is ripe with big peach, candied lemon peel, overripe pear and somewhat tropical aromas most prominent with subtle floral-herbal and pencil eraser notes.

This is a medium-light bodied riesling with intense peach, melon and candied, almost honeyed citrus flavors. The mid-palate is fruity, round, lightly sweet and the finish is medium-long with a gentle dryness brought about by well-balanced, well integrated acidity.

And for $12? I wish more wineries brought this sort of quality at that price point. This is a killer value.

Producer: Hosmer Winery
AVA: Cayuga Lake
Price: $12
ABV: 11.2%
RS: 2.5%
Rating:(3 out of 5 | Recommended) March 11, 2009 in Finger Lakes Wine, Lenn Thompson, Tasting Notes | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) ShareThis

SEARCH BEGINS IN CANBERRA FOR WORLD'S BEST RIESLING...results include two Hosmer Rieslings recognized as Top 10 USA Rieslings!
Hosmer Rieslings recognized as among the top ten Rieslings produced in the USA!!
Ovid N.Y., Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - Hosmer Winery is proud to announce that our 2007 Riesling and 2007 Vintner's Reserve Riesling were recognized as two of the top ten Rieslings produced in the USA at the eighth Annual Canberra International Riesling Challenge, held in Australia from October 14 -18, 2008.

"Having two wines acknowledged as among the ten best produced in the entire country is an incredible honor and reinforces the fact that the quality of our Riesling, and those of the entire Finger Lakes Region has been unrecognized and underestimated" said Cameron Hosmer, owner of the premium wine producing Hosmer Winery.� The 2007 Riesling was in the national spotlight earlier this month when USA Today featured it in an article entitled, Riesling would like your attention, please. It has been a fantastic year for Hosmer Riesling, having received numerous sil