Heart & Hands, Finger Lakes Pinot Noir 2020

Heart & Hands winery was established in 2006 by Susan and Tom Higgins in the town of Union Springs, NY on the Northeastern shores of Cayuga Lake.  It was here that Susan and Tom chose to carry out their dream of producing Finger Lakes Pinot Noir and Riesling.

Susan and Tom met while working in the IT business and found their way to Westchester County where Tom followed his passion for wine and began his career working at Zachy’s in Scarsdale.  It was here that Tom was able to immerse himself in wine and meet winemakers and producers from around the world.  This experience led to working harvest at La Lagune in Bordeaux and Calera in California.  Tom also grew up in the Finger Lakes and spent part of his youth working for the Hazlitt family on Seneca Lake.  All these factors provided the pull that brought Tom and Susan back to upstate New York to follow their dream to produce Pinot Noir and Riesling. 

Tom and Susan took their cue from Josh Jensen at Calera, and went in search of limestone soils which they knew was key to growing and making world-class Pinot Noir that transcended the appellation.  They spent countless hours poring over geographical, soil and quarry maps to identify potential sites to plant.  In 2007 that were able to locate a 5 acre piece of land that sat on top of the Onondoga limestone escarpment and sloping towards Cayuga Lake.  Susan and Tom set out planting the land to Calera, Swan, 828, 115, 667 and 777 clones of Pinot Noir.  Riesling was later added to the Estate property and, more recently, an adjacent 7 acre parcel was recently purchased and is scheduled to come on line in the early 2020's.  The Estate vineyard is farmed using sustainable methods and there is no use of herbicides or pesticides.

In addition to the their Estate vineyard, Susan and Tom also purchase fruit from several highly regarded growers in the Finger Lakes – Hobbit Hollow (Skaneateles Lake), Elaine’s Vineyard (Seneca Lake), Nutt Rd Vineyard (Seneca Lake), Seneca East Vineyard (Seneca Lake) and Patrician Verona Vineyard (Cayuga Lake).

All of the fruit is carefully harvested and sorted in the morning hours and fermented in small oak and stainless steel vessels.  For Pinot Noir, there is a good amount whole culster used which varies slightly depending on the cuvee. Aging is done in 100% French oak, with a judicious use of new (100% Francois Freres oak for Pinot) and all wines are bottled on site.  Production averages about 2000 cases annually with Pinot Noir being the majority, along with limited amounts of Riesling and Sparkling wine.

Varietals: Pinot Noir
Vineyard: The Heart & Hands Pinot Noir was sourced from Elaine's Vyd (Seneca Lake East), Patrician Verona Vyd (Cayuga Lake West) and Nutt Rd Vyd (Seneca Lake West)
Soil: Soils are Shale
Viticulture: Farmed using sustainable methods
Vinification: The grapes are hand picked, sorted, and 50% de-stemmed. Fermentation lasted 13 days and the grapes were basket pressed and gravity fed into Francois Freres barrels
Aging: Aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, 14% new
Production: 331 cases

SUSTAINABLE.