Terry and I have an ongoing debate. He prefers the Riesling wines that we discovered on Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas in Michigan, while I favor Rieslings from around Seneca and Cayuga Lakes in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The Riesling wines from Michigan tend to have a hint of minerality on them. The Rieslings from Seneca and Cayuga Lake regions tend towards being fruity without the minerality.

Now researchers at Cornell University are hoping to make the Riesling variety grown in the Finger Lake better known. According to the Democrat and Chronicle online issue, the Riesling Terroir Project, “seeks to determine the defining characteristics of what’s bottled in the Finger Lakes and precisely how Riesling grown on various Finger Lakes differ from each other.”

By discovering the characteristics and the similarities of the Finger Lakes Rieslings, the Finger Lakes wineries will be able to use this information to better define these Rieslings and emphasize their uniqueness in comparison to Rieslings from other wine regions in the world.

For the article with more information, “Cornell studying how to improve Finger Lakes Rieslings” visit the Democrat and Chronicle website.

Cheers! Kathy