Our first stop was Silver Springs Winery LLC, a place we had never visited before. There were no other customers there on a Thursday in April and we found the owner practicing his guitar playing behind the tasting bar. John Zuccarino told us that his winery had been there for about 10 years. He grows his own grapes down the hill toward the lake and also out of the north fork of Long Island (he is originally from New Jersey). The lower quarter of the east (west-facing) side of Seneca Lake is known locally as ‘the banana belt.’ It gets linger afternoon sun and its steep slopes are well drained. A few acres here and there along the banana belt are warm enough to sustain syrah, merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes, which is rare in the Finger Lakes, where the predominant red varietal is cabernet franc. Zuccarino’s wines are called ‘Don Giovanni Wines.’ Most wineries name their wines after the winery, but at least one other winery in the Finger Lakes has a different name on the label than it has on the sign out front (King Ferry Winery makes Tréleaven Wines). Zuccarino has several merlots available for tasting, including a 2002 merlot, which was so nicely aged that it tasted like a French bordeaux, a 2003 merlot that we ended up buying a bottle of, and a “bold merlot,” which had spent more time in the oak cask than the other merlots. It was unusual to find a 2002 bottle for sale in 2009 at a Finger Lakes winery. Most places sell much younger wine. Zuccarino seems to put aside bottles to see how they age. Dr. Frank’s winery over on Keuka Lake also presents older wine at the tasting bar. His chardonnay was unusual in that it was a ‘French style’ bottle, having been made entirely in steel and never stored in oak. This is done elsewhere in the region, but usually a winery will also make a barrel aged bottle. Zuccarino approaches wine making with a biochemistry perspective and gave detailed (but rapid) descriptions of how he had blended different grapes to get just the flavor and color that he wanted in his wines. He refers to his wines informally as ‘organic.’ The claim is not on the bottle or in any of his literature, so he is probably referring to the fact that he does put sulfites or any additive (dyes, fruit flavors etc.) into his wine. The lack of sulfites is particularly noteworthy, as many people are allergic to them. We left some rack cards at Silver Spring, bought some of their wine and took along some of their brochures and headed north..

 

Wine & Dine
Tastemasters
Rob Lane

 

 

John and Sari Zuccarino, owners of Silver
Springs Winery located on the east side of
Seneca Lake, want you to leave their winery
knowing a lot more about wine than when
you came in. “Education is important,” says
John, “because customers need to understand the
differences in grapes and styles of winemaking.”
Silver Springs Winery is one of the few Finger
Lakes wineries where you will actually meet
and be served by the owners on a daily basis.
“It’s important for us as the owners to relate to
customers on a personal basis,” continues John.
“It allows us to hear directly what the customers’
needs are.” John has even created a series of online
educational videos about wine. (www.wine101.tv)
The Zuccarinos are passionate about presenting a
first-class tasting experience, evidenced in their
ritual of rinsing tasting glasses with the next wine
to be poured to make sure that no remnants of
the previous wine remain in the customer’s glass
to cloud his or her tasting.
Silver Springs Winery opened in 2004, and
John gives credit to his Italian heritage and a long
line of winemakers for his decision to get into
the winemaking business. When he was just ten
years old, he was helping his grandfather make
wine. His roots trace back through hundreds of
years of family winemaking in Italy. In the United
States, his great-grandfather operated a winery in
New Jersey before prohibition, and John says that
members of the Zuccarino family are involved in
the wine industry all around the world, including
Australia, Argentina, and Canada.
John takes a minimalist approach to
winemaking. He feels that the yeast selected for
fermentation is one of the most important parts of
winemaking. John uses his own proprietary yeast
cultures that he keeps in a locked vault. All of this
attention to detail pays off in the final product.
Highlights of Silver Spring’s wine lineup include
the 2002 Merlot ($19.95) with deep blackberry
tones; the 2007 White Merlot ($14.80), an
excellent blush wine with vivid strawberry notes;
a unique semi-sweet 2008 White Cabernet
Sauvignon ($14.80) with watermelon, berry, and
kiwi highlights; a 2007 Pinot Grigio with layers
of apple, pear, and tropical fruit; and a heavenly
2004 Gewurztraminer Ice Wine ($42.00)
bursting with complex honeyed citrus flavors.
“Knowing that we are leaving a legacy makes
it worth all of the work,” says John of his passion
about details relating to winemaking and the
customer experience. “We know that we have
a responsibility to future generations as curators
of this land. One hundred years from now, I
want what Sari and I have started here to still
be continuing.”
Silver Springs Winery is located at 4408
State Route 414, Burdett, NY. www.
silverspringswinery.com.
Food & Drink
Rob Lane writes a Finger Lakes wine blog, www.
fingerlakesweekendwino.blogspot.com. Contact
him at robl@mountainhomemag.com.