WTN: 0 CT

Both wines not in Cellartracker:

Wild Brute Winery, Chardonnay, Finger Lakes, 2014
Definitely some skin-contact going on: the color looks a little like an orange wine, with an almost pinot gris bronze with a pinkish cast. Slightly sulfury and skunky, this is medium-bodied with yellow fruits, buttered peas, and limestone/calcium minerals. Although feeling a little soft, it does not lack for acid. A good first attempt (at least I *think* this is a first attempt because I've never seen or heard from them before). 11.5% B

Warm Lake, Pinot Noir, Niagara Escarpment, 'Oldest Vines', 2007
The wine in CT is the normale, not the 'oldest vines', which were never really that old but older than the other vines on the property. Color has a maturing rim. Bretty aromas overpower the aromas initially, but with about 2 hours, this shows better and cherry and orange rind come through. Musky cherry, ripe crabapple, with slight floral notes (lilac?) notes on the end. Tannins still present, but this feels resolved. Would probably be better without the brett, which is something Michael VonHeckler played with. B-B+ 12% Interesting for a 9 year old New York pinot noir.

A friend of ours, Dr Mont Stern , was one of the investors in Warm Lake..haven't spoken to Dr Wine in a while so don't know if he is still involved or not..the PN's I tasted from there were quite nice.

Where is Wild Brute Winery?Never heard of them before

Warm Lake closed about 6 or 7 years ago, leaving many local investors irate with Von Heckler. The site was bought at auction by Freedom Run Winery. The grapes had been ignored for a few years and were in terrible shape. Freedom Run has restored the vineyards and call it Quast Vineyard. I believe their first Quast Vineyard bottling was released this past Spring. I haven't tried it yet. I still have a few bottles of Warm Lake squirreled away. I believe the 2006 Warm Lake vintage was the downfall, as it was not very good and did not age well.

Where is Wild Brute Winery?Never heard of them before

Probably because they are in Arkport, which is not even on a lake.

Thanks, Howie...For a while, one of our local stores carried the Warm Lake wines..We went throuhg our stash pretty quickly, none left..

Mark: thx for the feedback, must confess I have no clue re where Arkport is either..Will be heading down to LI in near future and will do some wine tasting while we are out on the East End, will visit wineries on both the North and South Forks.

Jon, it's around Hornell. Instead of traipsing off to LI, you and I ought to get together sometime.

Mark: We are going down to East End to do some wine tasting, visit family and friends and , oh yes, the Hamptons marathon and 5K as well..My wife put a marathon on the bucket list this year and we are unable to run the Philly Marathon as our daughter is playing in a concert at Carnegie Hall the week before Philly, hence the switch to the Hamptons races...wife and I along with our daughters and our son in law will be running..Perhaps we can get together after we get back..I remember Hornell, we bought our first dog from a breeder in Hornell.

Congratulations on your daughter playing at Carnegie Hall. What instrument does she play and in what orchestra or ensemble?

JC: Andrea played the viola in her HS and college orchestras, is currently on staff at Sloan Kettering in NYC..One of her co-workers asked her to audition for what Andrea thought was a community based orchestra..Turns out the Park Avenue Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra is funded by a wealthy physician (who is also a talented musician) and most of the musicians are either music teachers at Julliard or other NYC area schools, or like Andrea, (All County and All State in HS, first chair in HS and college) talented musicians who want music to be in their lives without music being their lives..ie, want to continue music as a hobby and not as a profession.

Kudos to Andrea. Sounds like she is quite gifted. She should get together with Dale Williams' s wife Betsy sometime who is professional musician in the NYC area.