Zoom Tasting with Meaghan Frank of the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Finger Lakes, New York State: USA, Germany, Ukraine, Russia

Pictures: Zoom Tasting with Meaghan Frank of the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Finger Lakes, New York State: USA, Germany, Ukraine, Russia

On April 2, 2022 from 4 to 6 pm, the German Wine Society Washington DC Chapter hosted Meaghan Frank of the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, in the Finger Lakes, New York State, for a Zoom tasting of Dr. Konstantin Frank wines.  The tasting was organized by Sandra Cruz of the German Wine Society Washington DC Chapter.  We had 16 accounts signed up for the event, representing 26 people.

Picture:  Zoom Tasting with Meaghan Frank of the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Finger Lakes, New York State: USA, Germany, Ukraine, Russia

The theme of the event was a comparison of German and Georgian varietals, and so we had two reds and two whites, one each of a German and Georgian varietal.  From the German side, we enjoyed a Margrit Riesling 2019, named for Meaghan’s grandmother, and a 2019 Blaufrankisch (known in Germany as Lemberger, the name the winery originally used but dropped as too many people confused it with Limburger cheese).  From the Georgian side, we were able to savor a white 2021 Rkatsiteli, the oldest known wine grape with an 8000 year history, and a red 2019 Saperavi.

Picture: Meaghan Frank and Christian Schiller. See: The 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens 

This posting is based on the invitation prepared by Sandra Cruz, a summary report prepared by Carl Willner and my previous postings on the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery: 

Dr. Frank Wines from Finger Lakes Featured at State Luncheon for Chancellor Merkel in Washington, D.C., USA

German Wine Makers in the World: Dr. Konstantin Frank (USA) 

Meaghan, Frederick, Willy and Dr. Konstantin Frank 

Meaghan Frank is the fourth generation to run the winery.  She is the great granddaughter of the founder, Dr. Konstantin Frank.  Meaghan earned an MBA in wine business from the University of Adelaide, Australia, a Masters in enology from Cornell University, New York, and the WSET Diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. Meaghan was a most gracious and knowledgeable guide to her family’s vineyard and its varied wines.

Meaghan`s father, Frederick Frank, President of the winery, remains involved. Frederick is a graduate of Cornell University and attended the Geisenheim Research Institute for Viticulture and Enology in Germany.

Frederick took over from his parents, Willy and Margrit Frank. Margrit was borne in Hamburg, Germany, and emigrated as a young woman to the USA, where she met Willy Frank. 

Founder Dr. Konstantin Frank (1897 -1985) was born in Europe, Odessa, then part of the Tsarist Russian Empire, now Ukraine into a Russian-German family. Dr. Konstantin Frank ignited the so-called vitis vinifera revolution, which changed the course of wine growing in the Finger Lakes and, more generally, in the north-east of the USA.  

Dr. Konstantin Frank earned his Ph.D. in Viticulture in the Ukraine from the University of Odessa. He was 52, when he arrived in the USA. When the first vintage of the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery was released in 1962, he was 63 years old. 

Pictures:  Zoom Tasting with Meaghan Frank of the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Finger Lakes, New York State: USA, Germany, Ukraine, Russia

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery and Germany 

Founder Dr. Konstantin Frank was born in the Tsarist Russian Empire into a Russian-German family. The Germans came in waves from the West to Russia and settled there from the 16th century onwards. A big wave of German immigration occurred in the 18th century under Catherine the Great, who herself was a German from Anhalt. 

The Frank family belongs to the Black Sea Germans. They settled in the territories of the Black Sea in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was Meaghan`s great great grandfather, who was borne in Germany and followed the invitation to settle in the Black Sea region. The Frank family lived there in a German enclave.

At the time Dr. Konstantin Frank was born, Odessa belonged to the Tsarist Russian Empire. When Dr. Konstantin Frank, surviving the Russian Revolution and two World Wars, left and moved to the USA in 1951, it was part of the Soviet Union. 

After the breakdown of the Soviet Union 40 years later, it became Ukraine. 

I have met Frederick Frank several times. We always communicated in German. Fred got his wine growing and wine making training in Geisenheim in Germany. 

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery and the Vitis Vinifery Revolution in the Finger Lakes

With extensive experience growing the vitis vinifera varientals in below freezing temperatures back in his home land, Frank knew it would be possible with the grafting techniques that he developed to plant vitis vinifera varietals in the cool Northern fringes of the North-eastern US. The struggle to do this goes back many centuries.

In the original charter of the 13 colonies was a royal commission to pursue three luxury items that England was unable to provide for itself: wine, silk, and olive oil. Every colony made attempts to satisfy the requirements of its charter, but made only limited progress. The problem was that on the one hand there were the native American grapes. All these native American grapes were cold tolerant and disease and pest resistant, but not that well suited for wine making, due to their coarseness, high tannins, and foxy flavors. On the other hand, the vitis vinifera which settlers brought from Europe, were well suited for wine making, but uniformly unable to survive long enough to produce a crop.

Despite many years of failure, the early Americans persisted in their efforts. And they had some success. A big step forward was made in 1740 when a natural cross pollination occurred between a native American grape and a European vitis vinifera. Other successful crossings followed.

So, only native American grapes and European American hybrids were grown in the Finger Lakes area, when Dr. Konstantin Frank arrived in the United States in 1951, finding work at a Cornell University experimental station in the Finger Lakes region. Having grown vitis vinifera back home in regions so cold that "spit would freeze before touching the ground" Dr. Frank believed that the lack of proper rootstock, not the cold climate, was the reason for the failure of vitis vinifera in the Finger Lakes region. He thought that European grapes could do well on the rolling, well-drained hills around the Finger Lakes provided they were grafted onto early maturing American rootstock.

With the help of the French champagne maker Charles Fournier, Dr. Frank put his ideas into practice. He developed the right root stock and grafted European vitis vinifera on them. He planted these vitis vinifera in the slate soil around Lake Keuka and he opened a winery, Vinifera Wine Cellars, in 1962. Despite his success, other winemakers still doubted him for many years and he had trouble getting New York distributors to handle his wine.

Today, Dr. Konstantin Frank is recognized as having led the revolution in wine quality in New York State and the East Coast.

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery and the American Wine Society

Dr. Konstantin Frank is the founder of the American Wine Society. 

Picture:  Founding Meeting of the American Wine Society at the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Finger Lakes, New York State

I have been a member of the American Wine Society for many years. For several years now, Annette has led tastings at the Annual Conventions of the American Wine Society. At the 2017 National Convention in Pennsylvania, we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the American Wine Society with the Frank family. 

See: The 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens 

Pictures: Annette and Christian Schiller with  Frederick and Maryclaire Frank. See: The 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens 

 

Finger Lakes AVA

The Finger Lakes AVA in upstate New York State encompasses seven glacial lakes, although the majority of plantings are around Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, and Cayuga Lakes. Most vineyards are planted on hillsides overlooking the lakes. These deep lakes help to moderate the climate, as stored heat is released from the lakes during the winter, keeping the weather mild (relative to surrounding areas) and preventing early frosts. The reflection of the sun off the lakes during summer extends the growing season. This cool-climate region is often compared to the wine-growing region of Germany, and like Germany, has had special success with Riesling.

Picture: New York State

The Finger Lakes include 4,452 hectares of vineyards, making it New York State's largest wine growing region. New York State is with Washington State the second largest wine producer in the US, with a bit more than 10.000 hectares. Of this, 400 hectares are accounted for by Riesling.  

 

The Wines we Tasted

 

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery Margrit Dry Riesling 2019 – A special single-vineyard Riesling from a warmer site that produces riper grapes, this wine is dry but does contains residual sugar at 5.9 g/L.  The Magrit Riesling has an impressive rating of 92 points from the Wine Advocate.

 

We first tasted the 2019 Margrit Riesling, part of a series of four wines that the winery has named for outstanding women among its four generations of family owners.  We learned more of the history of the winery as we enjoyed this wine.  Besides Meaghan’s grandmother Margrit from Hamburg, Germany, there is another Riesling named for Konstantin’s wife Eugenia, a Chardonnay named for Hilda and a blend of 6 grapes named for Lena, the other women who provided essential support for the winery’s growth.  Konstantin loved Riesling, which he first planted in 1957, and the winery has nine different Rieslings offered now.  Margrit’s husband Willy, who took over from Konstantin, pared down the 66 varieties of grapes Konstantin had experimented with to 17, making the winery more of a business than an experimental station (it now has 15 grape varieties). 

 

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery Rkatsiteli 2021 -  Elegant, aromatic and tropical, Rkatsiteli originates in the country of Georgia.  It is one of the oldest grape varieties in the world dating back to 3000 B.C.  The grape has a strong resistance to cold winters and retains crisp acidity. 

 

Next, we had the other white, the 2021 Rkatsiteli, a grape Konstantin was very familiar with as it was widely planted in the USSR, including the Odessa area in Ukraine that he was from.  The name of the grape means “red horn.”  Currently, the winery offers two different versions of Rkatsiteli, the one we had that is fermented in stainless steel, and an “orange wine” style that is fermented in underground clay “quevri” vessels in Georgia, though the 160-gallon amphorae are above ground here.  Rkatsiteli, which Meaghan taught us to pronounce like “The cat’s on the telly”, goes well with spicy foods, and Meaghan said the winery has done events with Georgian restaurants in New York, and she is also familiar with Supra in Washington DC. 

 

Pictures:  Zoom Tasting with Meaghan Frank of the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Finger Lakes, New York State: USA, Germany, Ukraine, Russia 

 

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery Blaufränkisch 2019 - This wine is aged 18 months, 20% in new, and 80% in 2-4 year old, French oak.  The dark-skinned grape also known as Lemberger is a late-ripening variety, growing well in certain cooler-weather regions such as the Finger Lakes, and producing red wines which are typically rich in tannin.  Flavors are described as those of plums and blueberries with a characteristic spicy richness.

Turning to the reds, we started with a 2019 Blaufrankisch, known by various other names in Germany (Lemberger) and Eastern Europe.  This wine, aged in oak, has medium body with some spiciness and floral notes.  Though climate change has posed some challenges for winemaking, it has made growing Blaufrankisch in the Finger Lakes more feasible.  Not much of this wine grape comes from Germany to the U.S., though considerably more is produced and exported in Austria.

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery Saperavi 2019 – This ancient variety native to Georgia was first brought to the Finger Lakes by the founder in the early 1960s.  Fermented in stainless steel, the wine is aged 16 months in new and old French Oak.  The winery describes it as violet in color and full bodied with polished tannins and notes of plum, black cherry, earth, cedar and smoke. 

 

Finally, we enjoyed the red 2019 Saperavi, widely planted in the former USSR including Ukraine, and growing well in both warmer and cooler climates,  Saperavi was not recognized as a varietal in the U.S. until 2013, though Konstantin Frank planted it much earlier in 1970 using a proprietary name of “Cuvee Rouge.” Interest in this grape in the U.S. has been exploding since its formal recognition here, and the Finger Lakes will be hosting a Saperavi Festival on May 14 this year, with Georgian foods.  The winery’s Saperavi is aged in French oak.  Meaghan told a story of how Georgian mothers used to tie Saperavi vine grafts to their sons’ belts when they went off to war, so that if they fell the vines would grow where their remains  lay.

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