Wine of the Week: Idol Ridge Winery 2024 "Local Culture" Western Sun Pet-Nat
You probably won't find this blend anywhere else in the wine world
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I’ve never taken the time to count all of the SKUs or to compare them to other large winery portfolios, but if Martin Family Wineries winemaker Phil Plummer doesn’t make more different wines year-in and year-out than anyone else on the East Coast, I’d be stunned. Name a grape that grows here, he has probably worked with it. Name a style of wine that can be made from those grapes, he’s probably made at least one and could be making one right now.
His bosses also clearly give him a lot of freedom to experiment with that wide array of grapes and techniques in any number of combinations.
That is as good an intro as any into this week’s “Wine of the Week” — the one-of-a-kind Idol Ridge Winery 2024 “Local Culture” Western Sun Pet-Nat ($25*).
Made from 50% La Crescent (a cold-hardy University of Minnesota hybrid released in 2002), 48% Aromella (a Cornell hybrid released a decade or so later), and 2% Traminette (another Cornell grape, but from the late 1990s) this method ancestrale sparkling wine is a great way to introduce people to grapes like these and show them off.
Fruity and floral, the nose oozes peaches, green and orange melon, citrus, and tropical fruit aromas with citrus blossom and spice nuances. Even a bit more tropical and exotic on a lighter-bodied palate, it is off-dry but crackles with acidity, making it a great pairing for the recent heat wave here in the northeast.
Idol Ridge Winery 2024 “Local Culture” Western Sun Pet-Nat
Region: Finger Lakes AVA (New York)
ABV: 11.2%
Grapes: 50% La Crescent, 48% Aromella, and 2% Traminette
Rating: 90 pts
Price: $25* (Available Here)
*Sample provided by winery