Forge Cellars is made up of friends with a common goal: to grow grapes and handcraft wines of interest and value that perfectly balance minerality, aromatics and fruit to reflect the exceptional terroir of southeast Seneca Lake. Each vintage is viewed as an opportunity to express our region — to reflect its soils, cool climate, and diverse terroir.
LOUIS BARRUOL
Winemaker, Visionary - Louis comes from a winemaking tradition of 14 generations. His family has been located at their historic property in the village of Gigondas in the Southern Rhone Valley of France since 1570. Louis grew up among the vines and took over the estate from his dad in 1992, proceeding to improve quality and grow a vigneron-negociant arm of the business. Chateau de St. Cosme is now regarded as the benchmark of wine quality in Gigondas.

Our most important wine aims to reveal the true nature of the vintage and to explore the terroir of lower east Seneca Lake. Due to our focus on this narrow 8-mile stretch of slope on the southeast side which includes 13 of our 14 Riesling vineyards, this will be our first labeling under the Seneca Lake AVA. In 2017, we chose not to make our top cuvée, Les Alliés Riesling, and de-classified our fruit in order to ensure the absolute best quality would remain in our core wine. Candied lemon, apricot peel, Asian pear, and anise join with salinity to give impeccable freshness.