Yesterday, I visited the Hearts and Hands winery on Lake Cayuga, not too far from where I live (as you might have guessed, my recent Galtitude was not unrelated to drinking).
I’d been once before but just for the regular tasting. This time we did the full barrel tasting tour, which involved speaking with the wine maker for an hour and a half, trying pinot from three different sites, trying wines made with various levels of destemming, and being able to ask any crazy question about wine-making that you ever thought of. It was great! If you have an inner Paul Giamatti, this is the place to indulge it. A local wine writer/tv celebrity, Evan Dawson, who is essentially a cross between Matt Lauer and Paul Giamatti did an excellent description of it all here.
They only make pinot and riesling at Hearts and Hands, but they decided they wanted to do a fuller bodied white, so they’ll be releasing a white wine made from pinot noir next year. We tried it and it was very good. Domaine Serene in Oregon makes one as well. They haven’t settled on a name yet and they’re taking suggestions.
This seems like a perfect challenge for Balloon Juice commenters. What would be a good name for a white wine made from pinot noir?