
Bruce Murray and Diana Lyttle's Boundary Breaks is as good as it gets when it comes to affordable, drinkable Rieslings, and they've recently made an enormous commitment to the Finger Lakes' best red grape variety, Cabernet Franc. Their critically-lauded 2023 is admirably concentrated, with blackberry/cherry notes and mature pyrazenes (the compound in Cab Franc that gives it its herbaceous, "green" quality) that express themselves as a black pepper note. No doubt a judicious addition of 25% Merlot from Boundary Breaks' estate vineyard helped give a bit of extra flesh and roundness here.