The second stop for the day on our Keuka Wine Trail Passport was Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars.
We were really looking forward to visiting Dr. Frank because Salmon Run Coho Red was the first red wine we started with 6 years ago when we first moved to upstate New York. That was our “go to” red wine many times until we arrived on the drier side of wine.
So on to our visit. We arrived yet again to find buses and limos. We had to wait about 15 minutes for our tasting. I tell you this is what you get on weekends!
Finally it was our turn. The whole tasting experience at Dr. Frank’s was different from any we have had before. We were led to their indoor tasting room to share this experience with about 15 or 20 other people. Crowded was an understatement. Then we were told we would not be selecting our wines because they have already selected six for us to try. This was not real appealing I have to say. So the following are the wines we got to try.
SPARKLING
- Sparkling Celebre – This was a really sweet and bubbly sparkling wine. If you need a sparkling wine for a toast this would be a nice choice but that is about all it is good for we felt as we are not really into the sparkling wines. It did have a nice flavor.
WHITES
- Chardonnay (oaked) – Of course they would pick a Chardonnay that is oaked. Lol. Needless to say I didn’t care for this wine as I don’t like oaked wines. Some comments I heard around me though were nice, smooth, and easy. So if you like oaked Chardonnay this might be worth a try.
- Dry Reisling 2013 – This was listed as “a crisp acidity enhances the lively lemon, green apple and floral notes.” I did pick up on the crispness of it but it really didn’t do anything for me. I have had better Rieslings.
REDS
- Pinot Noir 2012 – This was a pretty true Pinot Noir when you think about Pinot Noir. It had a deep garnet color and rich tannins.
- Cabernet Franc 2012 – It had an oaky taste (that I quickly picked up on) with interesting spicy under tones. Chip thought this one was pretty good.
- Salmon Run Coho Red – We were excited to see this on the tasting as I stated before this was our first red; but when we tasted it, it was way too sweet, which shocked us. We have gone drier and have not bought this wine for well over a year or so. The lady serving us said they changed the recipe this year from RS 2% to RS 3%. Well, that explains it. This wine is more like a dessert wine to us now.
So overall our Dr. Frank experience was just OK. I really think when you have a pleasant winery visit the wines taste better. It’s no fault of the winery. They can’t help how busy they are. They benefit greatly from tons of people. Their wines must be good as they were named Governor’s Cup Winner and Winery of the Year at the 2012 NY Wine and Food Classic. So like I mentioned before, if you want a more intimate wine tasting and a one-on-one experience go during the week. They may even let you make your own wine selections during the week. Chip did get to purchase a souvenir Salmon Run wine glass which was a plus. This was our last winery on the tour today. We will start again Thursday.
