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The Last Finger Lakes Visits

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The winding roads and beautiful lakes of this area don’t ever seem to end and one of them led me to Shaw Vineyards .  Steve Shaw grew up in this region so winemaking was a natural transition for him.  In stark contrast to nearly every other place I had seen, the set up here is very simple, in a barn, with a tasting table surrounded by art (for sale) by a friend of Shaw’s.   His winemaking ideas are unconventional as well and they led him to branch off from a partnership to his own place.  Among the methods he employs are wind power and geothermal energy to run his Europress, which gently de-stems and turns grapes rather than following the usual crushing process.  Shaw’s other point of note in winemaking is patience and you will find many more aged wines here than on the racks of some of his neighbors.  We tasted a selection that included his newest release, a perfect 2007 Riesling  to a 2004 Chardonnay that showed the strong pepper and vanilla from 24 months in old French oak to a 20