I first discovered Buttonwood Grove Winery in 2016 during the Society of Wine Educators conference. We traveled to the Finger Lakes the day before conference. At that time I tried their Vidal Blanc, a hybrid that I discovered I really enjoyed.

This was a very beautiful winery and clearly a venue for parties and weddings. The current owners of Buttonword are Dave and Melissa  Pittard. They grew up in Skaneateles, NY, near their current winery. Dave developed a passion for working the land through various jobs and eventually went on to attend Cornell College of Agriculture. They bought Buttonwood in 2014 expanded the vineyards, created a new facility for production and improved the cabins located on the property. They have also institute a music series.

They make many wines using vitis vinifera grapes as well as hybrids. Their Vidal was very sweet with 3% residual sugar. That said, I didn’t find it unctuous and I enjoyed it. I could see it paired with spicy Asian or Indian foods.

Vidal is a French hybrid, a cross between Ugni Blanc and Seibel, that was developed in the 1930’s by the French hybridizer, Jean Louis Vidal.

As part of our #winePW weekend a few months ago, June to be exact, I was sent a couple of bottles of their 2018 Semi-Dry Riesling. The wine was a classical example of Finger Lakes Riesling, the grape that shines there in my opinion. Vertical on the palate,  with a broad spectrum of citrus and stone fruit aromas and flavors, the wine had  racy acidity and was truly refreshing and a perfect complement to my grilled salmon and quinoa salad dinner. The residual sugar was low but the titratable acidity (total acidity) was a whopping 8.3. The wine ferments in stainless steel. Winemaker Susan Passmore crafts the wines at this farm located on Cayuga Lake. The wine is available from the tasting room, in their wine club and online and at retailers I imagine.

The 2018 season was cool with lots of rain which forced earlier picking of the grapes. This in turn led to grapes with that racy acidity. The grapes for this wine are hand picked from their Riemer Block vineyard. The vineyard was named for the previous owners, Ken and Diane Riemer. This family run farm winery includes Dave and Melissa’s three children Skiff, Frances and Marnie in the operations.