{"title":"Empire Estate","description":"\u003cp\u003eThomas Pastuszak, Nomad restaurant's wine director, started a little project in 2014 with Kelby James Russell of Red Newt. They wanted to show the world that New York can make great dry Riesling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey accomplished far more than that. These truly compete with their Austrian and German counterparts, and probably offer even more value - no joke! Delicious New York Riesling is nothing new. These wines, however, are truly special, compelling at least one of us exclaim, “these are the best dry New York Rieslings ever!” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEmpire Estate owns no vines, and has no winery, but doesn't lack for attention to detail. Kelby purchases fruit from Finger Lakes farms, where he works with farmers to direct the styles of wine he wants to showcase. He chooses parcels that highlight the best expressions of what New York has to offer. Each parcel is picked, pressed, fermented, and aged separately. Only then are the wines selected and blended in order to get the highest level of nuance out of each cuvée.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost of the grapes are from the Seneca AVA, which has steep, well-draining banks of shale, gravel, clay, sand, and limestone. Seneca is the deepest Finger Lake, and the water keeps a near-constant temperature year-round, which keeps the surrounding shoreline temperate enough to grow sensitive varieties like Riesling. Long, cool growing seasons keep sugar low and acidity high, while the skin of grapes have enough time to develop more complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/sf.flatiron-wines.com\/collections\/empire-estate.oembed","provider":"Flatiron SF","version":"1.0","type":"link"}