Shaw Vineyard — Attraction in Town of Starkey

Shaw Vineyard is one-of-one in the Finger Lakes and a can't miss stop for wine lovers. The highlight are their concentrated, aged reds with the current releases being usually around eight years old. Their best wine is the Keuka Hill Reserve (a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot) and it would fit in easily with a great Bordeaux tasting. Their lees-aged whites (usually Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris) are substantial and textured. Only made sometimes, their unoaked reds and skin-contact wines are also excellent.

Their tasting room is on their primary vineyard and includes a taste of 5-6 wines for $15 at the bar in the store. When picking out your favorites, don't miss the library rack in the middle which has even older vintages and magnums of some of their best wines.

They do things their own way at Shaw, which is clear at every step of the process. Their vines look like no one else's their winemaking is different than everyone else's, and they hold onto bottles before release longer than everyone else. As long as they wait on the wines, they can be tucked away for even longer. The low-yielding old vines (often planted by Steve Shaw himself) produce incredibly concentrated grapes that produce wines capable of aging for longer than 15 years. The reds are heavily oaked but it doesn't overpower the wine because grapes are so concentrated. Many of the reds are reminiscent of old-Bordeaux, with ~13% alcohol and impressive aromatic intensity. If you are looking to open someone's (or your own) mind on what Finger Lakes wine can be, there is no better place to go than to...

We were excited to hit the wine trail and discover some of the many area wineries we did not visit on past trips. We saw the reviews on Shaw and wanted to check it out, especially as the reviews mentioned a nice mix of dry wines.

On arrival we did note it has a rustic feel to it. The gentleman who was working knew his stuff and was able to speak to Shaw, it heritage, second generation etc. However, our experience with the wines is not what others had mentioned. All of the samples we had ($15), tasted off to us. They didn't smell right either. All I can caulk it up to is that the wine was bad? Like bottles that were open too long, noting it is the start of the off-/..,Kseason. The colors of the whites had more of an orangish tinge. The reds, more of a brownish hue.

We were not impressed and left disappointed. We see lots of great reviews, so hopefully this was a one off, as we certainly try to promote those small businesses that do it right. For us this was not the case. We also did not see a restroom, unless it is behind the curtain.

The highlight was the painting by the owners son (now a partner) from when he was a child. Was going to make it onto a bottle of wine as a label....

Third year visiting, and we still love what Steve Shaw is doing. Soulful, unique wines. Some were positively surprising (savory aromas in the '17 Sauv blanc?), and others were new incarnations of consistently good wines (spiced apricot goodness of the '16 Road Block Riesling). As always at Shaw, the customer is at the mercy of what was for purchase at that day and time. Alas, no extended skin contact ("orange") whites for us this year. Already looking forward to the next visit!

At Shaw the wine clearly comes first. Fantastic things are happening here. From bottle-aged-but-still-fresh Sauv blanc; to truly delectable, complex, and ageworthy Bordeaux-esque reds; to unique orange wines with months of skin exposure, Steve Shaw seems to be nothing short of a Finger Lakes winemaking genius. The facility is reminiscent of stepping into an artist's studio, with for-sale art on easels around the periphery, wooden slat racks for wine storage, a case packing area clearly visible, and a bare-bones tasting bar. This was an experience second to none for us wine geeks, and we highly recommend visiting...