Forge Cellars, Seneca Lake (Finger Lakes, New York) Pinot Noir 2021

 Forge Cellars is a top Riesling producer in the Finger Lakes.  Managing Partner Rick Rainey and Winemaker Louis Barroul, from St. Cosme in Gigondas, are pushing the region to less mechanization, more sustainability, and higher quality wines.  In 2018, they made their first Classique Pinot Noir.  Their Classique line captures the region’s terroir by blending from Forge’s favorite single vineyard sites.  This cool climate Pinot Noir shows tart red fruit and suggestions of mushrooms and underbrush spices, and it has the complexity to age through 2031 but is drinking wonderfully now.