Medium straw color; nectarine, green apple, lime, citrus, cantaloupe, apricot, whiff of petrol, flint, minerality on the nose and palate.
Dry with touch of residual sugar; no tannins; good acidity. Medium body with smidgen of oiliness, viciousness in the mouth. Made with 100% riesling grapes from the winery’s estate vineyards. Grapes destemmed, direct pressed. Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel. No oak, no malolactic conversion. Wine aged five months on the lees for depth and supple mouthfeel. 12% ABV
Dr. Konstantin Frank is located in the Finger Lakes region of northwestern New York State. No small surprise, the principals in the business are graduates of Cornell University, which has been one of the universities at the forefront of the grape and wine industry for more than a century and is located in the Finger Lakes region, just south of Cayuga Lake. Frederic Frank has been the winery’s president since 1993. He worked for Banfi and held several other prestigious positions at CALS—College of Agricultural Sciences—at Cornell and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Megan Frank is the vice president, also a Cornell graduate with post-graduate degrees from the University of Adelaide, Australia, and Cornell. Barbara Frank, yet another Cornell grad, is the consulting sparkling winemaker. She also earned a masters from California State-Fresno in enology.
Dr. Konstantin Frank (1899-1985) was a pioneering winemaker in the Finger Lakes region. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, he received his PhD in viticulture from the Odessa Polytechnic Institute. His thesis explored techniques for growing wine grapes in cold climates. After working for a time in Soviet Georgia, he came to the United States in 1951. He spoke nine languages, but English was not one of them. He worked as a dishwasher to save enough money to move his family to the Cornell University Geneva Experiment Station in 1953. His work there demonstrated grafting techniques to overcome challenges of cold weather. He founded Dr. Konstantin’s Vinifera Wine Cellars on Keuka Lake in 1962, finding special success with riesling and gewürztraminer. His work revolutionized winemaking in New York and the Eastern United States.
Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling Finger Lakes 2023 is another example of Dr. Konstantin Frank’s masterful skill with riesling in the Finger Lakes region of northwestern New York State. Keuka Lake provides superb conditions for cold-climate riesling grapes, as does the region’s soil composition. The Keuka Lake plots provide the bulk of the grapes and their shallow, shale-based soils deliver minerality, acidity, and structure. $20
Pairing—seafood; swordfish; simply-prepared fish with salt and lemon; smoked fish; scallop ceviche with lemon olive oil and sea salt. Pork chops, cured pork. Roast chicken, duck. Some grilled meats with fatty components, including barbecue and grilled fatty meats. Cheese—soft goat cheese; Goot Esssa Marn Vom Berge Brie Goat Milk Cheese; camembert; salty or creamy cheeses; washed rind, raclette, limburger.
