Wine Collaborations
Pushing Boundaries
In recent years, several Steuben winemakers have been expanding their repertoire by collaborating with tastemakers in other realms to transform Finger Lakes wine into something else entirely.
Innovation and experimentation are hallmarks of Steuben County entrepreneurs and artisans and these winemakers are embodying the very best of those characteristics, pushing the boundaries on the norm to craft exciting, unique, and (most importantly) delicious alternatives to traditional wine.
Le Moné
You may have read about one unique collaboration in The New York Times, as winemaker Michael Countryman and Point of the Bluff Vineyards partnered with three craft beverage innovators from New York City (Eric Bachli, Max Nevins, and Marissa Reiser) who used Finger Lakes wine to create a new, fresh, and delicious apéritif called Le Moné.
“Le Moné, a new Meyer lemon drink made in Hammondsport, N.Y., has enough bright, citric flavor to cancel winter.” — Florence Fabricant, The New York Times
After releasing it’s initial Meyer Lemon apéritif, the collaborators have come out with other interestingly tasty flavors like Raspberry & Lavendar, Orange & Lime, and Blackberry.
Long Way Home
It’s no surprise to learn Keuka Lake Vineyards’ Assistant Winemaker, Katie Cochrane, started out brewing before finding her way to the boutique winery.
Crafting small batches of creative concoctions is a passion of Katie’s. And while some side projects get put on the back burner for larger winery projects, her partnership with farm brewery Big aLICe Brewing has been well received.
Long Way Home is a wild farmhouse ale made with native yeast and aged in French oak Blaufränkisch barrels. The brew will be conditioned on different grape pomace varieties from year to year, picking up the respective colors and fruit aroma/tannins.
FLX Culture House
Master Sommelier Christopher Bates is known for his culinary creativity as one of the Finger Lakes most innovative chefs behind such eateries as FLX Table, FLX Weinery, and Quincy Exchange. But Bates also turns his vast knowledge of wine into practice making Element wines and now FLX Culture House brews.
All Culture House collabs use Chris’s recipes. Some, like the IPA and Pilsner (as well as a traditional Gose and a flavored Gose), are brewed by ROC Brewing Company while another collaborator is Strange Bird which has been a bottling facility for Culture House’s aged sours.
Mad Mongo, Renegade, and The Wild One
Another duo redefining the potential of hyper-local grapes are the creative masterminds from Wild Brute Winery and Krooked Tusker Distillery. Winemaker, Justin Recktenwald has been experimenting with indigenous fermentation for years crafting small batches of unique expressive wines while Distiller Carlton Reeves is always looking for the next great creation.
They’ve collaborated on a port-like fortified wine called “The Wild Ones” and a delicious 120-Proof Eau de Vie de Vin Brandy made from wild fermented Catawba grapes and called Mad Mongo.
One of the first 100% wild-fermented wineries in NYS, Wild Brute spent a decade crafting unique vintages that are expressive of both terroir and of the ancestral style starting in 2013. While Wild Brute is currently on hiatus, winemaker Justin Recktenwald has become Lead Winemaker for Point of the Bluff Vineyards.
Side Note: Krooked Tusker’s Navy Gin was named one of the years best for 2022 in Forbes.
While specific collaborations change over time, keep an eye out for the latest creative Finger Lakes interpretations of what wine might become.
Wine Collaborations
Pushing Boundaries
In recent years, several Steuben winemakers have been expanding their repertoire by collaborating with tastemakers in other realms to transform Finger Lakes wine into something else entirely.
Innovation and experimentation are hallmarks of Steuben County entrepreneurs and artisans and these winemakers are embodying the very best of those characteristics, pushing the boundaries on the norm to craft exciting, unique, and (most importantly) delicious alternatives to traditional wine.
Le Moné
You may have read about one unique collaboration in The New York Times, as winemaker Michael Countryman and Point of the Bluff Vineyards partnered with three craft beverage innovators from New York City (Eric Bachli, Max Nevins, and Marissa Reiser) who used Finger Lakes wine to create a new, fresh, and delicious apéritif called Le Moné.
“Le Moné, a new Meyer lemon drink made in Hammondsport, N.Y., has enough bright, citric flavor to cancel winter.” — Florence Fabricant, The New York Times
After releasing it’s initial Meyer Lemon apéritif, the collaborators have come out with other interestingly tasty flavors like Raspberry & Lavendar, Orange & Lime, and Blackberry.
Long Way Home
It’s no surprise to learn Keuka Lake Vineyards’ Assistant Winemaker, Katie Cochrane, started out brewing before finding her way to the boutique winery.
Crafting small batches of creative concoctions is a passion of Katie’s. And while some side projects get put on the back burner for larger winery projects, her partnership with farm brewery Big aLICe Brewing has been well received.
Long Way Home is a wild farmhouse ale made with native yeast and aged in French oak Blaufränkisch barrels. The brew will be conditioned on different grape pomace varieties from year to year, picking up the respective colors and fruit aroma/tannins.
FLX Culture House
Master Sommelier Christopher Bates is known for his culinary creativity as one of the Finger Lakes most innovative chefs behind such eateries as FLX Table, FLX Weinery, and Quincy Exchange. But Bates also turns his vast knowledge of wine into practice making Element wines and now FLX Culture House brews.
All Culture House collabs use Chris’s recipes. Some, like the IPA and Pilsner (as well as a traditional Gose and a flavored Gose), are brewed by ROC Brewing Company while another collaborator is Strange Bird which has been a bottling facility for Culture House’s aged sours.
Mad Mongo, Renegade, and The Wild One
Another duo redefining the potential of hyper-local grapes are the creative masterminds from Wild Brute Winery and Krooked Tusker Distillery. Winemaker, Justin Recktenwald has been experimenting with indigenous fermentation for years crafting small batches of unique expressive wines while Distiller Carlton Reeves is always looking for the next great creation.
They’ve collaborated on a port-like fortified wine called “The Wild Ones” and a delicious 120-Proof Eau de Vie de Vin Brandy made from wild fermented Catawba grapes and called Mad Mongo.
One of the first 100% wild-fermented wineries in NYS, Wild Brute spent a decade crafting unique vintages that are expressive of both terroir and of the ancestral style starting in 2013. While Wild Brute is currently on hiatus, winemaker Justin Recktenwald has become Lead Winemaker for Point of the Bluff Vineyards.
Side Note: Krooked Tusker’s Navy Gin was named one of the years best for 2022 in Forbes.
While specific collaborations change over time, keep an eye out for the latest creative Finger Lakes interpretations of what wine might become.
