2023 Forge Cellars Riesling Classique New York 6pk 6x750ml

Forge Cellars sits on the southeastern shore of Seneca Lake, a collaboration between Louis Barruol of Chateau de Saint Cosme in Gigondas and Rick Rainey. The project debuted in 2011 with a few hundred cases of outstanding dry Riesling; by 2019, it had grown to 13,000 cases across 16 bottlings. The goal from day one: craft bone-dry Rieslings that rival the grand crus of Alsace and Germany.

The Classique is the flagship—a tapestry woven from all 16 vineyards along an eight-mile stretch of east Seneca Lake. It's the foundation of the entire portfolio, an annual celebration of the vintage and the growers who farm it. Each year, the Classique speaks to the style of Forge and the potential of bone-dry Riesling on this lake.

The 2023 vintage delivers mirabelle plum, bergamot, and chamomile tea on the nose, with considerable textural depth on a compact, medium-bodied palate. Stony minerality drives the long finish. Ripe but nervy—plump peach, apricot, and nectarine carried by a taut spine of fennel, quinine, and ginger, with a bitter orange echo at the close.

Everything is harvested and sorted by hand. Spontaneous fermentation proceeds in tiny lots with indigenous yeast, very slowly, bottled the summer after vintage. The house style is round and forward, always under 4 grams per liter of residual sugar. Very low sulfur. No fining or filtering on the reds.

The Classique drinks above its weight class—elegant, mineral-driven, and built for the table.