After the visit to Zugibe Vineyards I continued on wine road over the top of the lake to the west side and continued south toward Watkins Glen. The wineries I visited on the west side of the lake included White Springs Winery, Monello Vineyards, Anthony Road Wine Company, Magnus Ridge and Shaw Vineyards.

First stop was White Springs Winery.  I had the Pinot Gris 36 NV. Aged in oak for a long 36 months, on my notes I had notes of “pixie stix” on the dry finish, very unusual. The Riesling 101 NV (from the first 101 gallons of the pressed grapes) had a pleasant floral nose with orange peel and nice mouth puckering acids on the finish.  The 2010 Gewürztraminer was dry and had the classic nose of lychee and grapefruit peel with nice balance and a long finish .

At Anthony Road Wine Co., the PN II NV is a red made from the second sorting of grapes and was light red with a nose of warm stewed strawberries with a light finish that  I thought could have used a bit of a chill. The Devonian Red NV is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Lemberger and was bright red with crisp, sour cherry fruit. The 2010 Pinot Noir was light in color with a nose of smoky old leather.

At Shaw Vineyards they had some pretty cool artwork hanging around the tasting barn. I had the pleasure of chatting with owner/winemaker Mr. Steve Shaw while I sampled his wines. One of the unique things about this winery is that Mr. Shaw does not release his wines immediately but holds them  back (including the whites) for some time before making them available. The 2006 Chardonnay aged in steel had a nose of forest floor with a dry finish of dusty, aged cheese. It was better than it sounds. His 2005 Chardonnay was aged for 24 months in oak and had an interesting nose of bubble gum with a toasty finish.  The 2009 Rose is blend of Cabernet Franc and Pinot Grigio and  had some salinity on the nose with a touch of RS on the finish. The  2006 Cabernet Franc had tight fruit with some stemmines and good balance on the finish.  The best wine of the day in my opinion was the 2007 Pinot Noir.  A nose of crushed blackcherry and earth with silky, mouth filling fruit with smoky and earthy notes on the long finish. I picked up a couple of bottles for the wine cave back home.