Swedish Hill, Not Swedish Wine!

Despite the name, Swedish Hill hails from star-spangled, old-glorified upstate New York, not the land of ABBA.

Don’t misunderstand us. Sweden’s a swell country, from their rockbands to their healthcare system, from their meatballs to their bikiniteam. It’s on our short list of countries to flee to if the feds everget wind of certain activities we’re involved in. But they’re not knownfor their wine, with good reason.

So we can’t let you go another paragraph without clearing something up. Swedish Hill is emphatically nota Swedish winery. They’re located in the Finger Lakes region of NewYork state, where they’ve been growing grapes since 1969 and crushingthem since 1985. When founders Richard and Cynthia Peterson passed theday-to-day workings of the winery to their son David in 1996, itwasn’t just nepotism. David had been a Viticulture Extension Specialistfor a little outfit called Cornell University, so he knew a thing ortwo about the family business.

Now you can discover what over50,000 visitors discover every year: Swedish Hill is freakin’ awesome.Just the four wines here took home three medals in the 2009 SanFrancisco Chronicle International Wine Competition. The 2007Riesling, a crisp white with peachy, peary, and tropical fruity notes,took home a gold medal. Silvers went to the 2007 Dry Riesling (apples,pears, and stone fruits into a clean, slightly sweet finish) and the2005 Optimus, an elegant, full-bodied blend of Cabernet Sauvignon,Merlot, and Cabernet Franc marked by flavors of cherry, currant, andspice. The only one left out of the medal count was the 2006 CabernetFranc-Lemberger, and that’s only because it was produced in anextrememly limited run. The Cab Franc brings richness and structure,the Lemberger brings berry fruit and black pepper flavors, and youbring a palate eager to taste this rare treasure.

We got nokick against the Swedes. Sure, they were wild back in their Vikingyouth, but they seem to have settled into respectability. That stilldoesn’t mean the place is good for growing grapes. Swedish Hill, on theother hand, can go cork-to-cork against the best California has tooffer.

2005 Optimus:

• Appellation: Finger Lakes
• Blending Information:Cabernet Franc 53%, Cabernet Sauvignon 39%, Merlot 8%
• Harvest Date: October 2-18, 2005 HARVEST BRIX: 22.7 (average)
• Vineyard Location: Seneca Lake (east and west sides), Cayuga Lake (west side)
• RS: 0%
• pH=3.64
• TA=5.5 g/L
• Alc= 13.1%
• Bottling Date: May 8
• 2007 Total Production: 466 cases

2006 Cabernet Franc-Lemberger:

• Appellation: Finger Lakes
• Blending Information: Cabernet Franc, 60%, Lemberger 40%
• Harvest Date: October 18-22
• 2006 Harvest Brix: 20.8 (average)
• Vineyard Location: Seneca Lake (west side), Cayuga Lake (west side)
• RS: 0%
• pH: 3.37
• TA: 6.3 g/L
• Alc: 12.4%
• Bottling Date: July 25
• 2008 Total Production: 198 cases

2007 Riesling:

• Appellation: Finger Lakes
• Blending Information: 96% Riesling, 4% Cayuga White
• Harvest Date: October 9-14
• Harvest Brix: 20.2 (average)
• Vineyard Location: Seneca Lake (East and West sides)
• RS: 1.5%
• pH: 2.97
• TA: 6.75 g/L
• Alc: 12.4%
• Bottling Date: April 27
• 2008 Total Production: 1462 cases

2007 Dry Riesling:

• Appellation: Finger Lakes
• Blending Information: 95% Riesling, 5% Gewürztraminer
• Harvest Date: October 9– 14
• 2008 Harvest Brix: 20.4 (average)
• Vineyard Location: Seneca Lake (East and West sides)
• RS: 0.3%
• pH: 3.00
• TA: 6.85 g/L
• Alc: 12.6%
• Bottling Date: May 14
• 2008 Total Production: 939 cases

Rules and restrictions:

• Wine sold by winery (or a retailer in your state where necessary)
• You must be 21 or older to order
• Whoever receives the package must be 21 or older
• If you're drunk when the package shows up, you will not be allowed to receive it
• Wine cannot be delivered to a P.O. Box
• We highly recommend you use a business address as your shipping address

Thanks to stick-in-the-mud buzzkilling state legislators, wine may only be delivered to the following states:

• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• District Of Columbia
• Florida
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

If your state's not on the list, you're out of luck... for now. Keep up with the ever-changing laws over at ShipCompliantBlog.com, and/or sound the alarms with your state assembly person through FreeTheGrapes.org. Meanwhile, all Federal, state and local laws are complied with in providing this wine.