Hermann J. Wiemer Late Harvest Riesling 2016
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This enticing Riesling is crafted in the traditional German Spätlese style, with moderate natural sweetness counterpoised by a bright, invigorating liveliness. In a yearly gamble against the weather, grapes for Spätlese wines are left to hang for a longer time on the vines, allowing them to develop riper flavor profiles. The later picking also increases must weight resulting in a more full-bodied wine. Spätlese wines have a greater intensity and strength than Kabinett-style wines, though are still the lightest of the late harvest wines. The outcome is a wine with an elegant yet luscious nose, followed by a generous palate of crisp ripe fruit and floral notes, lingering into a long, naturally sweet finish.
This exceptional late harvest wine pairs well with cheese and fruit, with lighter roasted or barbequed meats, or serves as a refreshing after-dinner wine.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This leads with an intensely tropical richness, with flavors of mango and papaya as well as drippingly ripe yellow peach. So it’s a surprise and a delight to find those flavors dry and fine, even salty, with a long, mildly smoky finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This late-harvest Riesling shows a beguiling complexity of pine, citrus oil and furniture polish on the nose. The juicy, sweet palate is concentrated in flavors of dried mango and apricot, with saffron and ginger peppering the edges. The well-structured acidity maintains freshness and will keep it going for years to come. Drink though 2025.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Riesling Late Harvest comes in with 43 grams of residual sugar and 8.6% alcohol. Mostly a 50/40 blend of grapes from Josef and Magdalena Vineyards, with 10% HJW, about 40% of the grapes were botrytis-affected. This adds a layer of concentration and a hit of sugar to the Semi-Dry this issue, but it is not overly sugary. It's not a typical table wine at this point, but it's not as far off as the statistics might suggest. With some age, as the sugar blows off, it might pass for a table wine. It is very elegant and nicely balanced this year, not a hair out of place. It doesn't seem quite as intense as some recent years, but it is still very fine. As it airs and warms, the sugar indeed blows off and some acidity takes over. Considering that it is a full bottle (750 milliliters), it is a nicely priced bargain, one of the best in the lineup.
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Hermann Wiemer was born in Bernkastel, Germany into a family with 300 years experience in making the distinguished vinifera wines of the Mosel Valley. He arrived in the United States in 1968 already well versed in the European tradition of fine winemaking. To this heritage he added the skill of grafting fragile vinifera vines onto sturdy American rootstock.
In 1973 he bought 140 acres on the west side of Seneca Lake, which he planted with a variety of European vinifera grapevines. Visitors who wish to see these vines, along with ponds and the six acre nursery, can take the popular Vineyard Walk through the property.
The Winery, which produces 12,000 cases each year, was designed in 1982 by an award winning team of Cornell architects. Enclosed within the shell of a seventy-year-old scissor-trussed barn, it accommodates a laboratory, tasting and retail sales, a wine production area and a private tasting room. Its unique white cathedral-like interior counterpoints the bare wooden walls and sleek Italian stainless steel tanks.