Welcome to the third post in our series about the wines of New York.  For today’s post, we’ll be sticking in the Finger Lakes, and checking out Bully Hill Sweet Walter White.

For today, we’ll continue to dig into some of the lesser known, but tasty grapes that call New York State and the Finger Lakes home. Made from four native American grapes, Bully Hill is actually not as simple as it might seem:

• Aurora – Prone to rot, but Aurora can add delightful floral notes.
• Delaware – Ironically, original cultivated in Delaware, Ohio, this dark skinned grape is actually less foxy than the competitor Concord, and for whatever reason, is listed as widely planted in Japan.
• Elvira – Light, slightly foxy, and prone to rot, it can contribute significant acidity (this grape is actually a hybrid, which we’ll talk more about tomorrow).
• Niagara – Another hybrid, with more potential than the others thanks to it’s cold hardy nature, and lack of being prone to rot.  It’s pungently aromatic.

While there are hundreds of native american and hybrid grapes out there, they usually only make up a handful of the bottles on shelves.

Bully Hill Sweet Walter White

With four different grapes, two of which have an aromatic nature, Bully Hill Sweet Walter White has a fairly large following, and should be a nice dessert wine from the Finger Lakes.  How does it do?

Sight:  Moderate gold, with a light, watery edge.

Smell:  Saying that it’s somewhat reminiscent of Welch’s white grape juice wouldn’t be far off, but there’s a little more going on here than just your typical white grape juice.  Floral notes join in, and lean into ripe peaches and hints of fox.  Little elements of honey and apricot are around as well.

Sip:  The mouthfeel starts off nice and round, but not in a flat sort of way, but rather with a firm edge of brightness.  There’s a semi-coarse nature to the texture that gives it a little grit, but it rolls around aided by the big sweetness, bringing out flavors of white grape, peach, honey, and lily.  Foxy elements hide in the background.

Savor:  The ending pulls in more honeysuckle and lilies, with a washout of the sweetness leading to hints of bitterness left behind.

Bully Hill Sweet Walter White is strangely drinkable, even if it isn’t the most complex, deep, refined, or well designed wine ever.  The good balance of brightness against the sweet keeps things from being too cloying or too dry.  The flavor profile is definitely predominately white grape based, but there is complexity here that isn’t always present with native American varietals.  As it bills itself as a dessert wine, Bully Hill Sweet Walter White would indeed be a nice choice for fruit based desserts, but perhaps not anything chocolate like.

Verdict:  White Grape, Foxy, Peaches, Sweet, Bright
Rating: 80
Price: $7.99
Finger Lakes, New York