Wine of the Week: Keuka Spring Vineyards 2022 Cuvee
April 2, 2025: I guess I'm a full-blown catawba fan now?
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I learned a lot from a month of tasting white hybrid and native grape wines (which is why the category will always have a spot on my editorial calendar). Still, my top takeaway this year is that people are doing better, more interesting things with catawba than they ever have in my two decades doing this.
Catawba used to be the American grape. Sparkling catawba, in particular, was extremely popular here and in Europe.
If you find that hard to believe, get your hands on a bottle of Keuka Spring Vineyards 2022 Cuvee ($35*).
It’s floral on the nose with light wild strawberry fruitiness, a leesy edge, and classic autolytic nutty-yeasty notes beneath. It still smells like catawba, but in a completely different way. Dry and brisk, with fine, persistent carbonation, the palate brings more of that fruity-floral character with a subtle caramelized sugar note and soft yeasty, bisquity flavors. It crackles with acidity and begs for a raw bar or fried foods.
Keuka Spring Vineyards 2022 Cuvee
Region: Finger Lakes AVA (New York)
Grapes: 100% catawba
ABV: 12%
Rating: 90 pts
Price: $35* (Available Here)
*Sample Provided by Winery
I’ve been really enjoying the upsurge in quality native/hybrid sparkling wine here in the FLX. Would be interested in seeing whether you bump into any good still iterations of these (I have not yet). Looks like NYWGF has put some money behind these in a social media campaign featuring influencer winonoire which I think is a really smart move.