Right after President Barack Obama is sworn in for his second term on Monday, January 21, the Inaugural Luncheon in the United State Capitol will take place.
For the first time in modern history, the luncheon will feature New York wines: Tierce 2010 Dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes and Bedell 2009 Merlot from Long Island. Accompanying the wines will be New York seafood, bison, apples, cheeses, honey and maple syrup.
The Tierce 2010 Dry Riesling is a collaborative effort among three of New York's top winemakers: Peter Bell of Fox Run Vineyards, Johannes Reinhardt of Anthony Road Winery, and David Whiting of Red Newt cellars. All three wineries are on Seneca Lake but with different "terroir" in terms of their soil composition, climatic influence, and geographical features such as slope and distance from the deep lake.
Several years ago the three award-winning winemakers make their own batches of dry Riesling and, when the three wines are ready, they get together on one day to taste dozens of different blends of the three wines until they arrive at the best. That wine is the Tierce of that year. "Tierce" means three, and the wine's back label reads, "Three vineyards, three winemakers, one wine."
California wine writer and Riesling expert Dan Berger recently wrote in his newsletter, Vintage Experiences, that the 2008 Tierce "may be the best dry Riesling ever made in the United States."
Bedell's 33-year-old Merlot vines are some of the oldest on Long Island, and the 2009 Merlot was aged for 10 months in older French barrels, creating a complex, soft, elegant wine ideal for accompanying foods.
A Bedell Merlot or Merlot-based blend has won "Best Merlot in New York" or "Best Red in New York" five times at the New York Wine & Food Classic competition. Bedell was the first New York winery to receive a 91-point rating by Wine Spectator for a red wine, the Merlot-based blend called "Musee", which also received the highest score (92) from James Suckling for an eastern red wine. Bedell is also the only winery on Long Island every named to the annual list of the world's Top 10 Hottest Small Brands by Wine Business Monthly
