Red Newt Cellars

Tango Oaks Riesling has established the vine age and maturity to support a dry and mineral driven Riesling. With the vineyard’s Alsatian clone Riesling and extremely gravelly soil, our goal is to continue pursuing the elegance that Tango Oaks Riesling is capable of both young and with appropriate bottle age.

There are oceans of Grüner Veltliner, both in the New World and Austria, that are pleasant but nondescript white wines. Coming from the back portion of The Knoll vineyard site, with all the opulence that pedigree implies, the KJR Grüner Veltliner takes as its inspiration and goal the dense, weighty, and powerful styles that mark top-end Austrian examples. White pepper, flint, and rich fruit run from the nose right through to the palate and finish, with more structure provided by the long ferment in neutral french oak barriques.

The Pinot Noir from Glacier Ridge Vineyard has a finesse and structure that is unique to the Finger Lakes; a credit to the spectacular vineyard they hail from and management by Tony Damiani. Put simply, this bottling tries to stay out of the way of the vineyard and let the fruit and vintage speak for themselves. The result is a rich wine with the characteristic cherry and earthy notes of Pinot Noir married to the smokiness typical of Glacier Ridge grapes.

The reds from Glacier Ridge Vineyard have a power and structure that is unique to the Finger Lakes; a credit to the spectacular vineyard they hail from and management by Tony Damiani. Put simply, our Single Vineyard bottlings from Glacier Ridge try and stay out of the way of the vineyard and let the fruit and vintage speak for themselves. The result is a ripe and rich wine with the characteristic plum and chocolate notes of Merlot married to the smokiness typical of Glacier Ridge grapes.

Circle Riesling is meant to be a quintessential example of Finger Lakes Riesling; a touch of residual sugar to bring out the rich orchard fruit flavors without overwhelming the lemon zest and citrus that make it crisp and refreshing to drink. The overall wine is easy to drink, but made with as much seriousness and as many individual layers as any Riesling that Red Newt releases.

The 2020 Newt Riesling marks the first vintage of this wine for Red Newt; a Riesling that embraces the exuberant aromatics, juicy fruit, and racy balance that we so love in Finger Lakes Riesling. Made from some of our best fruit and with the same exacting standards for cold soaking and spontaneous fermentation, this is a Riesling everyone can enjoy, and can afford to enjoy.

True to form, the goal every vintage is to make a crisp, dry, and acid-driven expression of Cabernet Franc rosé from the Nutt Road Vineyard. With 72-hours cold soaking prior to pressing, the aim is to overlay bright fruit and intense color on a focused and structured core; ideally this is more than a summer-sipper. The fruit source and winemaking for this wine has remained rock solid since the inaugural 2013 vintage.

A vibrant nose of orange fruit, flowers, and cherry is astonishing for how fresh it reveals this wine is despite being in bottle for 6 years. This 'fountain of youth' impression only continues with the juicy, acid-etched, and finely balanced midpalate, with a long and refreshing finish of blood orange fruit and pith.

Syrah is a beguiling grape with many expressions in the vinous world, from the gamey classics of France to the inkiness of Australia. In the Finger Lakes, it takes a special site to nurture these beautiful vines to full maturity, but in Glacier Ridge we have found just such a vineyard. With intense Vietnamese peppercorn aromatics, bright red cherry flavors, and a brooding minerality underneath, this Syrah is a pure expression of what can be achieved with one of our favorite grapes in a cool climate. Put simply, think northern Rhone rather than Barossa.

Curry Creek Vineyard always delivers a Gewurztraminer for those who love Gewurztraminer. Opulent, rich, generous in floral and fruit characters; this is an exuberant expression of the perfume and richness that we love in Gewurztraminer.

Our goal is to respect that passion and the fact that their fruit bares little resemblance to a light and fruity Pinot Grigio. This wine is very different. With an ideally ripened crop and an overnight cold soak to extract the flavors locked in the skins, we aim to dial in the wonderful structure that make this wine a treasure in Alsace and now the Finger Lakes.

The Red Newt Riesling is our expression of the richer style of Finger Lakes Riesling, a style that we believe ages spectacularly well. Just off-dry in style rather than overtly higher in sugar, our Riesling plays on the same tropical and orange fruit that are echoed in the Dry Riesling. For us, this is a hidden gem in our portfolio that we hope rewards Riesling fans everywhere.

Aromas of grapefruit and smoke lead into a palate of passion fruit, pineapple, candied lemon and white pepper. This Riesling provides ample concentration and power that are showcased from the surge of bright fruit on the nose through the expansive and lasting finish.

Intense and intriguing smoky notes on the nose evolve to grapefruit peel with time. These aromas lead to a rich mid-palate that features exotic fruit while still being steely and dry through the finish.

This stainless steel expression of Cabernet Franc captures the beautiful fruit that this grape has in the Finger Lakes. Aromas of violets, cranberry, and sweet raspberry leap from the glass. The palate is bursting with expressive pomegranate and cherry with a subtle black pepper note. The fruit is heightened with integrated acidity and enveloped with soft tannins.

The Red Newt Cellars ‘Classic Label’ Gewurztraminer is internally referred to as “the every night Gewurztraminer.” As beautiful as the single vineyard Gewurztraminers we bottle can be, they are opulent and bruising wines with a very loud personality. This wine is made and blended in such a way that it is lighter, more refreshing, and with more fruit aromas as compared to rose perfume. A friendlier Gewurztraminer.

This Pinot Gris is more fruit-forward, relaxed, and ready to be sipped on a summer night. A wine that is uncomplicated and joyous for those very occasions.