Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/402796
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m 5 9 Johannes Reinhardt Anthony Road Winery and Kemmeter Wines Johannes Reinhardt has been the wine- maker at Anthony Road Wine Co. on Seneca Lake since 2000, yet his enological history dates to 1438, when his family began pro- ducing wine in Germany. Formally trained and with years of hands-on experience, Rein- hardt sought a change of scenery and landed in New York to intern at Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars, then joined Anthony Road. Reinhardt was certainly not the first Ger- man to emigrate to the United States and make wine – Dr. Konstantin Frank and Her- mann Wiemer come to mind – but he may have been one of the most determined. Reinhardt spent years hacking through immi- gration red tape to remain in the U.S., and continue making wine in New York's Finger Lakes region. He achieved remarkable success with his rieslings, gewürztraminers, pinot blancs and pinot noirs made from Finger Lakes grapes, including winning the 2009 Governor's Cup as the best New York wine for a 2008 Anthony Road Semi-Dry Ries- ling. Reinhardt is one of the trio of winemakers behind the acclaimed Tierce Dry Riesling. At the 2010 Riesling du Monde in Strasbourg, France, Anthony Road was the only non-European winery to win one of the seven Trophies of Excellence. While all this was going on, immigration crackdowns put Rein- hardt and his wife, Imelda, in peril of being deported. He toiled for seven years to earn a green card – permanent worker status – and was denied several times. The couple contemplated relocation to another country, until the volume of written testimonials to the impor- tance of and contributions made by Reinhardt won immigration officials over in 2012. I n 2 0 1 3 , R e i n h a r d t r e a l i z e d another long-held dream: start- ing his own wine label. Last year he launched Kemmeter Wines on Seneca Lake (named for his mater- nal grandmother) and released a handful of rieslings made from purchased grapes. In June of 2014 the Reinhardts planted 2.5 acres of pinot noir, riesling and pinot blanc on their property. Johannes will remain the Anthony Road wine- maker while he bottles a projected 2,500 cases a year of his Kemme- ter wines. "Johannes Reinhardt has the remarkable ability to make riesling that seems more sublime elixir than ordinary wine," said V&WM Eastern Correspondent Marguerite Thomas. "Never one to bask in the light of his own stardom, Johannes is a uniquely collegial vintner as well as an astute trailblazer. He is widely admired for his generosity, his unpretentiousness and his abso- lute dedication to the excellence of not just his own brand, but also to the success of his neighbors and the entire region."