Visiting Hillick & Hobbs with winemaker Lynne Fahy – one of the most spectacular vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of New York State
Website: https://www.hillickandhobbs.com/
Paul Hobbs is very well known in the wine world, and as well as consulting widely he opened his first winery in 1981 after studying at UC Davis. He now has seven wineries worldwide. The latest addition to the portfolio is Hillick and Hobbs, on the east side of Seneca lake close to the town of Watkins Glen.
Paul grew up in Buffalo NY, so he’s from upstate New York, and his parents, Joan Hillick and Edward Hobbs met at Cornell University in Ithaca, about 30 minutes’ drive from the vineyard he named after them. He’s always been a lover of Riesling, and that’s what drew him back home to start this project.
First plantings were in 2014, with 2.5 acres. Then they planted 12 acres at once in 2015, and came unstuck with some erosion problems (heavy rains took some of the soil from the steeply sloping vineyards into the lake). They have slowly added extra vineyards since this big burst, and they now have 25 acres of Riesling that are now producing and have 1 acre of Grüner Veltliner.
Seneca Lake is the reason they can grow grapes here. It’s the deepest of the Finger Lakes, and holds as much water as the other 10 Finger Lakes combined. It’s 440 ft deep here, and at its deepest point it is 660 ft.
I tasted and walked the vineyards with winemaker Lynne Fahy, whose first vintage here was in 2021 (the first Hillick and Hobbs vintage was 2019). Lynne is originally from Rochester, and as well as working at Ravines and some other Finger Lakes wineries, she had a lengthy spell working in Oregon at Trisaetum.
There’s nothing magical about the winemaking approach. It relies on wild ferments on heavy juice lees for all the wines.
Lynne presses, settles over night, then ferments. The target NTUs are 400-500, which is high. She then leaves wines on gross lees. Lynne says she likes a little reduction in the young wines. Target YANs are 165 so they might add some Fermaid, but not DAP, if they are much below that.
There is a bit of oak use here. Each year they get some used 500 litre casks from the California winery, previously used for Chardonnay. They also have a 1000 litre fuder from Germany.
Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling 2021 Seneca Lake, New York
5 g/l rs. A challenging vintage with lots of rain and then warm conditions during harvest. The complication was that it rained every day and it was warm at night, so there wasn’t a diurnal shift and the disease pressure was really high. But they managed to get very clean fruit in the end. They began picking October 12. This is concentrated, structured and quite bold with a spicy edge to the citrus fruit. Ripe with some apple and peach, as well as juicy citrus fruit. This is quite lovely. 93/100
Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling 2022 Seneca Lake, New York
7 g/l rs. The opposite of 2021, with no rain from May to September. Just 1 ton/acre yields with small clusters, tiny berries. Lynne did press fractions this year because she was afraid of bitterness, and this has led to a really well balanced wine. Pristine and pure with lovely linear crystalline lemony fruit with nice precision and intensity. This has a pure, focused citrus fruit, with real concentration and a slight salty finish. This is quite beautiful. 95/100
Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling 2023 Seneca Lake, New York
4 g/l rs, 5% oak. This was a typical Finger Lakes vintage with quite a bit of wine in July giving high downy mildew pressure, but it was dry in August. Great conditions for harvest, after it cooled down. Juicy, bright and linear with nice acidity as well as lovely focused citrus fruit. There’s some crystalline quality, and a touch of apple and grapefruit, together with some wet stone minerality. Such precision here. Tight and youthful. 94/100
Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling 2024 Seneca Lake, New York
A very warm vintage, one of the hottest. But harvest time wasn’t hot. This is pristine and pure with amazing precision, showing bright lemon and lime fruit. Crystalline and linear with a lovely salty twist to the pure fruit. Still quite primary, dry, and with a bright future to it. Hints of sage and some nice floral detail. 95/100
Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling Lower Terrace 2024 Seneca Lake, New York
Barrel fermented in 500 litre oak. There’s some depth and intensity here, as well as some creamy detail. Lemon, lime, pear and green apple character as well as some warm spiciness in the background. Zippy and alert with amazing presence, and a long, finely spiced finish. 94/100
Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling North Ravine 2024 Seneca Lake, New York
Some cream and toast on the nose, as well as focused citrus fruit, as well as some pear and peach. Bright and mineral, but also showing some depth from the barrel fermentation. So expressive and energetic with a fine tapering finish. This is a really distinctive, delicious Riesling. 94/100
Hillick & Hobbs Estate Dry Riesling Klone 90 2024 Seneca Lake, New York
Second use 1000 litre German fuder, clone 90. This is quite beautiful. It’s powerful and balanced, with apricot, pear, lime and lemon. Crystalline and expressive with some spiciness, and real complexity to the fruit. Such precision and an eternal, finely spiced finish. Beautiful wine. 96/100
Hillick & Hobbs Botrytis Cinarea Estate Riesling 2024 Seneca Lake, New York
9.5 % alcohol. 90 g/l sugar. Picked October 2024. This is sweet and delicious with pear and peach as well as some table grape, with freshness. Very attractive and pure, and not overly sweet, so quite versatile. 93/100
See a film of the visit:
