My last stop on the recent, and far too short, trip to the Finger Lakes was to Shaw Vineyards. This is the domain of winemaker Steve Shaw, a person who is passionate about their craft and a student of winemaking around the world. Dedicated to the land and sustaining it, he crafts dry, vinifera wines using some unusual techniques, at least as far as the Finger Lakes region is concerned. You will get something different at Shaw Vineyards, including whites with lean and focused profiles, and reds that spend a long time in oak and celebrate that with incredible integration and elegance. This is a winery you should not miss.
The tasting room itself is all about function, with sparse furnishing and some simple tables holding the wines for sale. A small, modest
tasting bar welcomes visitors. The floor is unfinished, consisting of the subfloor boards with varnish directly applied to them. This place is the antithesis of pretention. That’s a good thing, because you should really be focused on the wine when you are here.
Cheri and I met Steve some years ago. We had met his son, Steve Jr., at the Greenwich Food & Wine Festival, where he was pouring the Shaw Vineyard’s wines. They were revelational, especially considering they were rich, complex reds and they were from the Finger Lakes, an area well known for its white wine, and a lot of sweet wines, but not wines like this.
Later that year we had a chance to have dinner with the Shaws in Newport, to talk about Steve’s approach and to try several of his reds with our meal. Sincere, down to earth and uncompromising in his winemaking are traits readily apparent in Steve Shaw. We had a great time, promised to visit the winery soon, and then proceeded to have life get in the way of those plans. So it has been too many years since that dinner in Newport, and when I found myself at Seneca Lake, this was the one thing I was determined to find time to do.
Steve was not there when I arrived, but I started a tasting, joining several people who were also in the room. The gentleman pouring the wines was very knowledgeable, and the wines were everything I would have expected. I ended up being the last one there, and at the end, Steve strolled in from the fields. We had a chance to catch up a bit and talk about the current wines. His approach has not changed much, and it is still dedicated to doing everything by hand, to bringing out character in the wines, and to long aging for the reds in neutral oak. He only does whole berry fermentation, you will never see Shaw Vineyards grapes going into a crusher. The depth of color, flavor and tannin he gets into the reds this way is unbelievable.
Steve planted the first of his vineyard acreage in 1999, and the first vintage was in 2002. He’s been at this a while now.
Let’s take a look at the latest wines. First the whites, which represented some unusual flavor profiles from some familiar grapes.
2017 Unoaked Chardonnay – this see 8 months in stainless, resting on the fine lees. It is, like everything here, fermented dry. The 
color is a very light straw, and the nose brings intense aromas of anise, spice and persimmon. The usual tropical fruits of Chardonnay are nowhere to be found. Instead you get something different. This is clean, and very long, and very interesting. $24
2017 Gewurtztraminer – another wine which sees only stainless, this has a very precise nose of floral notes and spice, not surprising for the variety. Not there are the heavy perfume notes you frequently get. On the palate this is surprising, the floral and spice stay true, but they are restrained, very clean and tight. This acts like a white canvas that really showcases the flavor profile. A long finish caps off a pretty amazing wine. $24
2017 Sauvignon Blanc – this wine has 0.5% residual sugar, still dry by definition, but carrying just a hint of sweetness. I would describe it as more of a dent in the dryness, but it is there. Also very light in color, the nose carries some underlying citrus, but it is 
subtle. The palate is much the same, and this is another clean wine with a restrained, but focused, palate. Unusual, long and quite good. $24
NV LiBella Pinot Grigio – easily the most conventional white here, at least as far as staying true to what you might normally expect from the grape, albeit in a high quality version. This has pear fruit and spice notes, and reminded me of top Pinot Grigio from northeastern Italy, and the shadow of the Dolomites. All of these are really well made. $18
Now the reds, which are amazing. You don’t expect rich, full bodied structure in reds from this region. It’s just not what the climate dictates. You also don’t expect to see reds offered for sale 6-7 years after the harvest, having spent 4-5 years in oak. Well, if you’re in Spain’s Ribero del Duero, or in Rioja, you might expect that. But this is upstate New York. Here they are.
2012 Pinot Noir – this sat for four years in neutral French Oak. It was bottled in April of 2018. It is a light, rosy red color. The nose
is dark cherry and earth tones. It is medium bodied, with mellow oak, the same dark cherry on the palate, with spice at the back. This has gorgeous depth and complexity. It finishes very long. Excellent Pinot Noir. Think Burgundy. $35
2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve– also bottled in April of 2018, but a year older, this was in neutral French oak for 5 years. It is a medium dark red, and transparent. Steve does not fine or filter his wines, but this was completely clean. There is lots of berry fruit under the oak cloak, along with mocha and caramel. On the palate it is smooth, with chewy tannins and full body. This has many elements that come together seamlessly. $35
2011 Merlot Reserve– 4 1/2 years in barrel here, and a similar profile to the previous wine. There is gorgeous 
fruit throughout. Full bodied and very long, this has nuances of leather and tar, and is reminiscent of well aged Rioja. I don’t think I could give it a much better compliment. I brought a bottle of this back, to open with some colleagues at dinner that night, and they all loved it, including a home winemaker in the group. It is easy to see why. $35
2010 Keuka Hill Red Blend Reserve– this is Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, in a 4/3/2 ratio. That’s how many barrels of each went into the blend. Here there is more berry fruit, and it seems like a younger wine (even though its actually older). You get the oak, of course, but also leathery notes. This is fresh, with good acid and balance. It has a long life ahead of it. Right now it is very drinkable, but still has some tension. I think this is going to be a killer wine in 3-5 years, and hope to grab a couple of magnums to put down for a bit to check my theory. $35
I could rave on and on about the wines here. They are a testament to attention to detail, craftsmanship, creative methods (which in some cases means going back to very old ways of doing things) and a passion for the land and the winemaking. The whites are refreshingly different. The reds are spectacular. The long oak aging leaves the oak as a framework, on which Steve hangs the other elements of the wines. Since it is neutral, and the time is long, the wood does not become the major component itself. It is a beautiful thing.
You can read more about Shaw Vineyard on their website at https://shawvineyard.com/.
If you are going to the Finger Lakes region, and like wine, you have to go here.
The particulars:
Shaw Vineyard
3901 Rt. 14. Himrod, NY 14837
Open Daily: 11-5
A votre santé!
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