Terrassen
Finger Lakes, NY
Thomas Pastuszak & Jessica Brown
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Terrassen is all about old-vine vineyard reds (and a little bit of rose). Quality fruit is the focus. The key to that is low yields. Because of the grape growing tradition, the focus has been on large crops.
Thomas Pastuszak learned the wine ropes in the Finger Lakes. It's in his backyard, he lived there for a decade after attending Cornell University in Ithaca. Thomas' first harvest experiences were there and was a fierce advocate of the region as a sommelier. Since 2011, raising the stature of Finger Lakes has been his personal goal.
Kelby Russell is Thomas' winemaking partner. His day job is making the wines at Red Newt (since 2012).
The label was designed by a friend of Thomas' who is a Cornell professor. It depicts entangled vines and each label's version is a little bit unique.
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The Finger Lakes was founded by Europeans (French) in the late 1800s for an alternative terroir for sparkling wine production. They were using native American varietals. Prohibition put an end to this.
There are 11 Finger Lakes, 3 are significant for viticulture.
Mother rock is slate/shale. There are several different layers and varieties of soils - gravel/slate/etc.
There are two slopes - east facing (higher ripeness) and west facing (lower ripeness). The ripening and styles are very different. One gets morning light and the other afternoon light.
Wines
Gamay Noir
100% Whole cluster Burgundy style, open top fermenters. Neutral Pinot Barrels from California (3 barrel production - ~ 1 ton of fruit so 250 cases) There is only one vineyard of Gamay in the Finger Lakes - Sheldrake Point, west side of Cayuga Lake. It came from Morgon in the early 1990s.
2017 Vintage:
100% whole cluster, 100% native yeast for the first time (2016 was the first vintage working with Gamay so wanted to be cautious), open top fermenters. 7/8 year old Pinot Barrels from California. It doesn't see any sulfur until mid-late Summer.
Vintage Differences of 2016 v. 2017: 2017 is a more classic vintage. 2016 was very dry. 2017 came in the last week of October.
Cabernet Franc
Thomas believes this is the most important red variety in the Finger Lakes.
100% Cabernet Franc sourced from a 30-year-old vineyard on the East Side of Seneca Lake, planted on gravel, clay & shale (different source than for the rosé). This parcel of Cabernet Franc is on the same side that Hermann Weimer's vineyards are and was actually planted by Weimer. It is owned by another winery now. The clones come from the Loire.
5-day cold soak prior to open-top Native Yeast fermentation w/2x daily punch-downs in stainless steel, 50% whole cluster. Thomas isn't scared of using whole clusters because the stems are ripe. The wine goes to old barrique for malolactic fermentation and an 8-month elevage. It is bottled unfined & unfiltered.
2016 was a pivotal year for Terrassen. Cabernet Franc is the mainstay for the variety. 2019 was the first vintage.
350 cases
Rosé (Blaufränkisch
100% Blaufränkisch sourced from the Nutt Road Vineyard on the West Side of Seneca Lake (Penn Yan, NY - owned by the Martini family); planted on Honeoye Silt Loam, East-facing sloped vineyard. Harvest was followed by cold-soak for 12 hours prior to pressing-off. Fermented in the low 50-degree range with reductive Austrian yeast for 3 weeks in stainless steel, no ML , left on gross lees for 4 months up until bottling. 390 cases made.
The Rosé is the only wine they inoculate. They use assmenhausen and heilgenstein,
400 cases
Blaufrankisch
100% Blaufränkisch sourced from the Nutt Road Vineyard on the West Side of Seneca Lake (Penn Yan, NY - owned by the Martini family); planted on Honeoye Silt Loam, East-facing sloped vineyard. Older vines more downslope from where the rosé is harvested, thus meriting the structure for a red wine.
Martini Family own Anthony Road Wine Company, historically speaking they have way more history in growing grapes.
Destemmed, Crushed, Native Yeast Fermentation, 8 months on the fine lees and then to bottle.
60 cases