The father/son team of Jay and Seth Birnbaum recently purchased Sunrise Hill Vineyard- famous for a bevy of vineyard-designate bottlings from the likes of Boundary Breaks, Forge and Damiani- from Kathy and Bob Ruis, retaining Bob as vineyard manager.
Their 2025 Merlot is balanced, fresh and features varietally-precise aromas and flavors of blue fruits, with a bit of dusty cocoa and fine, not substantial tannins. The alcohol is a reasonable 13%, making it immediately identifiable as a Finger Lakes/cool climate bottling. This is a superb wine for drinking now or short-term cellaring and shows that this region excels at Bordeaux varieties beyond Cabernet Franc.