Last Monday morning, November 10th, I drove to the southwestern shore of Keuka Lake to visit this winery. I arrived about 9:30 AM and was greeted by Fred Frank, President of the winery and grandson of Konstantin. Fred brought me into the tasting room and opened virtually everything for me to taste. We spent about an hour discussing the history of the winery and tasting the wines. His grandfather was the first to plant vinifera grapes in an east coast state.

I would like to preface my notes with the statement that I have never been a fan of dry Riesling, for which the winery is renowned. I believe Riesling is one of the very top dessert wine grapes, but I somehow have never warmed up to its drier incarnation, therefore my scores of the dry Rieslings are probably lower than warranted. I will say that their dry Rieslings were the best I've tasted from North America. My notes are brief as I was talking witrh Fred the whole time and felt a few words were most appropriate at the time.

The wines:

1998 Chateau Frank Brut: $24.95 This is a methode Champenoise sparkling wine. French yeasty nose. Light and toasty. 88

nv Chateau Frank Celebre Rose: $20.95 Again a methode Champenoise sparkler. 100% Pinot Meunier. Light berry nose and flavors. Balanced and beautiful. The best sparkling wine I've had from the east coast, the equal of the best I've had from California. 90

2002 Dr. Frank Rkatseli: $19.95 This is a grape widely grown in eastern Europe. I believe Fred told me it was the third most commonly grown wine grape in the world. Lovely nose of tropical fruit, reminiscent of Pinot Gris. Balanced with light fruit. 85

2001 Dr. Frank Barrel Fermented Chardonnay: $13.95 Light oaky nose. A little sharp. 86

2002 Dr. Frank Gewurtztraminer: $18.95 Beautiful spicy perfumed nose. Soft and balanced. 86

2001 Dr. Frank Riesling Reserve: $24.95 0.3% residual sugar. Mineral nose. Flinty. 86

2002 Dr. Frank Dry Riesling: $13.95 0.7% residual sugar. Light nose. Light. 84

2002 Salmon Run Riesling: $11.95 1.0% residual sugar. Salmon Run is Dr. Frank's second wine. Simple. 83

2002 Dr. Frank Semi Dry Riesling: $12.95 2.5% residual sugar. Mineral nose. Thin. 84

2001 Dr. Frank Pinot Noir: $24.95 Lovely cherry nose. Light, but nice berry flavors. 85

2001 Dr. Frank Pinot Noir Reserve: $39.95 Tasted immediately after opening. I would have preferred to taste this after it sat in a decanter for an hour. Rich cherry nose, not quite as concentrated as the regular bottling. 85

2001 Dr. Frank Cabernet Franc: $19.95 Rich dark fruit nose. Nice depth and concentration. Will likely improve. 88

Now a few notes on the tasting. As I said, I'm not a fan of dry Riesling, so take that into account with what I wrote. Secondly, the red wines were tasted immediately after opening and likely would have shown better with more exposure to air.

After the tasting, Fred introsuced me to his father, Willy, son of Konstantin, and we spent an hour talking and Willy then took me next door to show me his sparkling wine operation. He was the impetus for this as his father apparently had no interest in sparkling wine. When I mentioned to Willy that I prefer young reds to be exposed to air for a while before tasting, he told me that he felt they showed well right out of the bottle. He was a very passionate and friendly man and I learned a lot more about the winery (and the family) history. As I was leaving, Will y insisted I take 4 bottles of his wine to have with others on this and the Wine Spectator site, so expect these to pop up at dinners.

General impressions: In my experience, which is by no means all-encompassing, this is the best winery in North America, excepting the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. I don't think it's in the class of the best west coast wineries, but it is head and tails above every other of the several hundred wineries I've visited over the years. I'm looking forward to trying these wines again, especially the Pinot Noir Reserve with some time in the decanter. Thanks to Willy and Frank for a wonderful learning experience.

Board-O..

Thanks for the notes and travelogue.
This was very educational!

If we ever find our way up there, we'll be sure to stop in to see WIlly & his operation up there. Thanks Board-o!