Finger Lakes Wine Retrievers

Consider Signing the Fracking Petition

2011-11-15T22:09:00.001-05:00

Below is a link to a petition asking for a ban against fracking in the Finger Lakes watershed.

http://signon.org/sign/ban-hydrofracking-from.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=1553052

Consider signing it to support the people, land, water, tourism, agriculture and THE WINE INDUSTRY in the Finger Lakes. Over 500 chemicals, some carcinogens, have been found in the waste water from fracking. Hundreds of trucks moving supplies and the waste water (where does THAT go? Into the ground to contaminate our produce and livestock?) will decimate the beautiful area of the Finger Lakes. Air pollution around the wells is another side effect. Thanks to former VP Cheney, hydrofracking for natural gas is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act's restrictions. What are we doing to our land and what legacy are we leaving for our children? I recommend watching Gasland to get more information about how fracking has impacted other areas of the country. Frightening.

Way to go Monroe County.

2011-10-23T10:01:00.001-04:00

"Likely Monroe voters back fracking" is the headline in today's fish wrapper. 55% of the people polled support fracking, 45% oppose and 10% undecided. Wake up people! It doesn't look likely the Monroe County will be affected and because it won't impact them directly, why not support it? I lived in Buffalo during the 1970's and early 80's. I drove past Love Canal frequently. Anyone who saw the boarded up houses and empty playgrounds or read the horrific stories of what Hooker Chemical's "safe" way of disposing their toxic waste did to the people in that neighborhood, would understand the impact on health and the environment big companies can have (all the while promising the safety of their procedures). The way the fracking companies have been sneaking in and buying land for cash all around the Finger Lakes is sly and devious, praying on the economic hardships we are facing. Studies completed in areas where hydrofracking has been done point to destruction, contamination and negative health affects. Wake up ALL of New York State! Do you want the beauty of the Finger Lakes decimated? Drinking water and land contaminated for future generations? Isn't it about time we stood up for our planet and protected the beauty and abundance we have? And does anyone honestly think that this will decrease our dependance on foreign energy supplies? You can live without natural gas, but can you live without drinking water? The question I would like to ask every person who supports hydrofracking is..."Would you want it in your back yard?" I think we would have different results.

2011-10-09T19:32:00.004-04:00

Wow, it's been awhile, eh? Sorry but we are working on our move to the Finger Lakes Region....

Tonight Jim and I are doing a taste test. We kept meaning to get to Shalestone Vineyards this summer, but because of circumstances way beyond our control, we just keep missing them. So yesterday I went to the McKenzie Child Sale and Festivities for Columbus Day and stopped at the "Bet the Farm" retail shop in Aurora. We tasted "Bet the Farm" wines: Pinot Grigio, Traminette, a white blend, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir and Cab Franc. I liked what I tasted. They were all light, smooth, but also complex. The winemaker was actually trained by Lou Damiani and does her winemaking at Damiani. Anyway, I bought 2 Shalestones wines at the retail shop because I fear we won't make it there before it closes again this year. I bought the Pinot Noir and Cab Franc. Tonight we opened the Shalestone Pinot Noir. It is full of cherries, nutmeg and coffee with a long finish. Jim, however felt it tasted more like a Cab Franc with green pepper tones. I agreed that the tannins were evident half way through, but then I got cherries again. He disagreed (as we do often these days) and went downstairs to get our benchmark of pinot noirs, Heart and Hands, to compare.

Heart and Hands is like eating a golden delicious apple: smooth, round, full and lush. It gives you that warm fuzzy feeling. The Shalestone is cherry and more fruit forward. I like them both and we are having a discussion about the fairness of comparing them. I think they are both good, though different. Jim prefers Heart and Hands. " That's the way it is" at our house tonight. Try some yourself and let us know your opinion.

A Real Tribute to Deb

2011-07-26T17:31:00.003-04:00

As difficult as the evening had to be for Red Newt's Dave Whiting, the Sparkling Winemaker's Table dinner was a fitting tribute to his wife, Debra. Dave's toast to love and celebration (their son's birthday and engagement) was heartfelt and Deb's presence was felt throughout the evening. This was her menu, the last one she had planned. And the staff outdid themselves with each course's creation and presentation.

We started with grilled bacon wrapped shrimp on a white bean and roasted fennel cake drizzled with a lemon-mustard vinaigrette paired with Chateau Frank 2002 Blanc de Noir. Next was organic field green salad with caramelized chevre, duck breast, fried leeks and cherry balsamic vinaigrette paired with Heart and Hands 2009 Brut Rose. The main course was baked almond crusted sea bass topped with apricot relish and apricot verjus glaze served with a garlic scape potato pancake with green beans. This was paired nicely with Lamoreaux Landing 2006 Blanc de Blanc. The dessert was Chocolate Pate with Black Tea and Cardamom Ice Cream paired with Red Newt Cellars 2007 Hellbender Soiree. The food was out of this world and the pairings superb. Contributing winemakers or Dave's sons were seated at each table which made for fascinating conversation about the wine industry, local produce and food pairings.

What better way to pay tribute to Deb than through her passions of food and wine and with her family and the extended family of friends who support it? Thank-you Dave.

Sad News about Debra Whiting

2011-07-03T22:03:00.004-04:00

We would like to extend our condolences to Dave Whiting and family. The Finger Lakes region mourns such a huge loss.

Brut Rose Vertical at Heart & Hands Wine Company

2011-06-28T21:59:00.005-04:00

Have you ever been to a vertical wine tasting? Often winemakers will hold back some of their wines for their wine "library". The library wines can then be accessed for special events such as the Vertical Tasting on Sunday at Heart & Hands Wine Company. At a vertical, you are able to compare different vintages side by side. The Heart & Hand's vertical of their Brut Rose included the 2007, 2008, and 2009 vintages. Winemaker Tom Higgins had tasting notes available with information about the vintage season, which Pinot Noir clones were used and his tasting notes from when each was opened Sunday morning. He paired the Roses with Strawberry shortcake (and whip cream - yum) which really brought out the berry flavors in the sparkling wine.

Before I tell you about each vintage, I think a short course in Champagne and Sparkling Wines is in order. For a wine to be called Champagne, it must be made from either Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier grapes grown in the Champagne region of France. Since Heart & Hands is in Union Springs NY, they must call their wine Sparkling Wine. HOWEVER, Tom uses the Champagne METHOD (or Traditional method) to make his Sparkling Wine. The Champagne Method is labor intensive, takes longer and is more expensive than other methods used. In the Champagne Method, the final blend of the still wine is bottled with a small amount of wine, sugar and yeast. A secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle which can last up to 3 months (to get those bubbles). Then the bottles are stacked with their necks pointing down and are turned at regular time intervals. In the degorgement stage, the bottle necks are plunged into a freezing solution which freezes the bottle around the sediment (which has traveled to the neck). The bottle is turned upright, the cap popped, and ice and sediment shoot out. Lastly, the bottle is topped with a reserve wine and sugar combo, re-corked and further aged. Using the Champagne Method generally produces a higher quality sparkling wine, and Tom is all about quality.

So - the 3 vintages:

2007: A hot and dry vintage. Dijon Pinot Noir Clones were used. This is important as these clones are from Burgundy and used to make still wines (such as Pinot Noir). The wine was a slightly darker shade of pink than the other two due (according to Tom) to thicker skins on the grapes. This sparkling wine was described by Tom :" Raspberry opens up on the nose leading to ruby red grapefruit, cranberry-raspberry-orange muffin". It was really really good with the strawberry shortcake!

2008: This was a normal vintage. The Pinot Noir clones were Champagne clones (from the Champagne region of France). Tom described it as "Plum skin and delicate floral notes open up to grapefruit and freshly mowed straw supported by a firm backbone."

2009: This vintage was cool and moist. Again Champagne clones were used. Tom's description:" Hints of candied cherries enter the nose followed by a ripe cherry burst on the palate with a touch of dried cranberry tartness on the finish."

All were really good and while there were commonalities among them, each had subtle differences that distinguished them depending on the taster's palate! Needless to say,we purchased the 2009, which is currently in the tasting room. But get some soon, because it won't last long.

New releases also available in the tasting room now are the 2010 Dry Riesling (108 cases produced) and the 2010 Riesling (226 cases produced). Other wines available for tasting are the 2009 Pinot Noir and the 2008 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir (which is out-of-this-world).

P.S. Thank-you, Tom, for graciously signing a bottle of the Reserve Pinot Noir for Jim to give a friend who is retiring.

Wind, Rain and Chili Oh My!

2011-06-14T21:03:00.006-04:00

Saturday started out hot, humid and breezy at Standing Stone Vineyards on the East side of Seneca Lake. The tents were set up with the Chili-meisters stirring and cooking like mad. There was the "Cheese-head Chili" man (yes, Packers fans, he does have the Cheese-head hat!). There was Gary's Hot Highland Drunkin Cow Chili, Chicken Wing Chili, Jamaican Me Crazy Chili, Dr. DD's Chili or Dr. DD's wife's Chili....all were very good and I was glad I wasn't judging. (I was told to stay clear of the cheeky red-head with the British accent as she might try to sway the votes toward the Drunkin Cow Chili)! Jim was chosen to judge, so "PHEW" to me!

There were the busloads, the limo's and the hard core chili tasters. The tasting room buzzed with people, then rumbled with people - wait- that wasn't the last tour bus, that was thunder! You could see the dark clouds and rain crossing the lake...headed right towards us! The wind hit! The tents and chili flew and the rain came down sideways and in torrential quantities. In came the soaking wet Chili chefs. Fortunately the judges had had enough time to make their decision. So when the thunder clapped, the lightening struck and the electricity went out, all was serene on the porch of Standing Stone as the awards were given out to the best Chili on the East side of Seneca. I believe Chili #6 won - Dr DD's wife(?), but I'm not sure as I was busy chatting, and pouring. All I know was when all the left over chili was mixed together and we had a moment to try some, the conglomeration was great! What wine would you have with chili you might ask? Well, it depended on the chili: hot and spicy - maybe Gewurztraminer or Smokehouse Red, sweeter - maybe the semi-dry Vidal. Whatever your preference, it was a fun day to taste and experiment with pairings. (And yes, after about 4 hours, the electricity did come back on)!

P.S. Marti hinted that there may be some vertical pairings coming up in August, so stay tuned!

An Enchanted Evening with Heart and Hands and Evan Dawson!

2011-05-31T21:13:00.012-04:00

It seemed as if it had rained 40 days and 40 nights, but sometime mid-afternoon on May 20th, the rain stopped, the sun came out and the sky cleared. By the time Jim and I arrived at the Aurora Inn on Cayuga Lake, the sky was blue and the air was warm. You couldn't have ordered a better evening. Evan Dawson set up his book signing station on the patio and Tom and Susan Higgins arrived. A lovely library wine was served: the 2007 Riesling while Crab Cakes Dijonaise, Beef Carpaccio and Shitake, Leek and Asiago Croustades were passed among the crowd by the staff from the Inn. We chatted with a couple from Baltimore who got into Heart & Hands wines through their daughter. They had flown in for the evening's dinner!

We walked through the french doors from the patio into the Lakeview Room where the tables were set (with lots of wine glasses) in preparation for the dinner. Although it was hard to leave the natural beauty of the lakeside patio, this room was gorgeous - with beautiful murals painted by Cleveland artist Glenn Moore Shaw in 1958 surrounding the room. The murals show scenes of the village and were originally hung in the front hall of the Inn. Shaw's murals were joined by four new panels of other Aurora scenes painted by local artists with the newest being the Wells College Boathouse painted by local artist Derwood Crocker. They were stunning.

We sat at our table and met new friends Terry and John, and Vicki and George. The meal began with Red Endive, Fennel and Frisee Salad topped with pistachios and ruby red grapefruit vinaigrette perfectly paired with the 2010 Dry Riesling. With each course, Tom gave information about the wine being served. Next came Coriander Crusted Scallops drizzled with carrot ginger puree and served on kohlrabi slaw paired with 2009 Polarity, another library wine. The Polarity, a chardonnay-like wine made with Pinot Noir grapes, was awesome. Tom tells us that more Polarity is in the future of Heart and Hands. The entree of grilled lamb chops on warm berry pilaf with spring vegetables, watercress and natural jus was served with a flight of Pinot Noir (2007 Barrel Reserve, 2008 Pinot Noir from the Sawmill Vineyard, and the 2008 Pinot from the Hobbit Hollow Vineyard). I loved the idea of the flight so that each wine could be tasted, appreciated and compared to the others. (And I also loved the lamb!) The meal was finished with a delicious fresh strawberry shortcake paired with sparkling 2009 Brute Rose while Tom and Evan Dawson entertained with "the stories that didn't make the book."

The wine was delicious, the food outstanding, the company wonderful, and the surroundings beautiful. Our hosts, Tom and Susan couldn't have been more excited about the evening. Evan Dawson obviously enjoyed his role and had a lot of fun as well. What a great evening!

May Day and a Barrel of Fun!

2011-05-18T17:53:00.015-04:00

This is very late in coming, but Jim and I attended a marvelous barrel tasting at Ravines on May 1st. This encompassed several vertical tastings paired with phenomenal food. At the end, we got to mix our own Meritage blend! But let's start at the beginning.

Finger Lakes Wine Retriever's friends and "Rovers", Maggie and Jon arrived at Ravines before we did, but saved us a couple glasses which were immediately filled with Keuka Village! We chatted outside until the preparations were all ready for us inside. Then we entered the tasting room to find tables set and wine ready to be poured. Winemaker extraordinaire, Morten Hallgren took his place behind the bar as we took our places at the table. Then the food pairings and wine tasting began! We knew the wines would be delicious, but we never expected the extensive food pairings which accompanied them. Still more unbelievable was that the kitchen equipment in the new kitchen area below the tasting room was not yet hooked up, so Lisa Hallgren made to make do (and did so exceptionally), with toaster ovens! We were able to taste the 09 Riesling that was awarded 90 points by the Wine Spectator, Merlot, Pinot Noir, some 2010's from the barrels and compare them to earlier vintages. Paired with quiche, salad, chocolates, and I wish I could remember what else, it was a meal, an education and beyond our wildest expectations. Everyone enjoyed sharing, talking and meeting each other and Morten enjoyed it all! Thank-you Ravines, Morten and Lisa for a wonderful afternoon.

Chapter 3 The Emerald City!

2011-05-03T21:48:00.004-04:00

Remember the Zenith Slogan..."The quality goes in before the name goes on?" OK, so it originated in 1923 and we're not QUITE that old, but the slogan fits Heart & Hands Wine Company to a tee! Tom Higgins is the winemaker extraordinaire who focuses on world class Pinot Noir. From his meticulous search for the perfect property (with limestone) to hand picking and sorting the grapes to his oak barrels, everything that goes into his Pinot Noir is top shelf. And he doesn't stop there. If you stop into the tasting room where Susan pours the wines, you will be offered the opportunity to do a barrel tasting with Tom. Don't say no. You will regret it if you do. Just saying. Tom will take you back to his super cool barrel room. I mean it. There are these magnificent carved doors over 8 feet tall that you enter through. Then his barrel room itself is a consistently cool 50 degrees because the barrel room is BUILT INTO THE EARTH. The earth keeps a constant temperature, thus his barrels stay a constant temperature. With barrels lining the walls, the vineyard dog laying on the cool floor and a chandelier suspended in the middle of the ceiling, you will try samples taken directly from the barrels. Tom will give you the low down on the different processes, barrels and techniques used to make his fantastic Pinot Noirs. You will leave well educated and in awe of all he has accomplished in the few years he has been making his wines on Cayuga Lake. Because really good Pinots are grown only in a few areas of the world, Tom is competing on a global level and doing the Finger Lakes region proud. Tom's wine making knowledge comes from his training in France and California. He has planted his own grapes in 3 terraces so he can study the differences the "sense of place" or terroir has on the grapes produced. Currently he purchases his grapes from Hobbit Hollow in Skaneateles, Sawmill Creek and JW Vineyards on Seneca Lake, and Patrician Verona Vineyard on Cayuga Lake. Tom credits his wine growers on his bottles. Now that's class. Tom also produces a great Rielsing and Pinot Noir Champagne (neither of which was on our radar, but both blew us away). That's it -Pinot Noir and Riesling grapes. Cold climate grapes. He's keeping it limited so he can produce the best. Yup, a visit to Tom and Susan on the East side of Cayuga Lake (Union Springs, north of Aurora) is a must. Heart & Hands is a winery to keep your eyes on. They are all about quality.

Chpt. 2, Dorothy's Not in Kansas Anymore...

2011-04-26T21:19:00.005-04:00

Oskar, Oskar, Oskar, you didn't tell us about your marketing department! We met Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard's best kept secret the other day.... Sarah! We went to the tasting room where this lovely young lady was pouring the wines. She was articulate, knowledgeable and friendly. We had a wonderful time sharing the wines with her. As wannabe case club members, we got the royal treatment beginning with the 2008 Chardonnay, of which we bought 2 bottles. Slightly oak-y (Stainless and French oak barrels), but clean, crisp and citrus-y also, it is a great summer wine with seafood. Then we moved on to the delicious Rieslings and the 2009 Gewurztraminer (which we also purchased even though I promised my husband no more Gewurz). The thing is, when there is a really wonderful Gewurz, you just have to buy it! Owner/winemaker Fred Merwarth makes different Rieslings with grapes from his different vineyards such as the Wine Spectator 90 point 2008 Dry Riesling from the Magdalena Vineyard (his northern most vineyard) and the WS 92 point (!) 2009 Dry Riesling from the HJW Vineyard. It was fun doing a side by side tasting and comparing these delicious wines. Lastly, we purchased a 2009 Late Harvest Riesling which was an absolute treat (you'll just have to try it)!
As we discussed the wines, we also asked Sarah about herself. She is here for the year interning at Hermann J. Wiemer from Germany. This astounded us because of her perfect English. OK she has a VERY SLIGHT accent, but hardly noticeable. She has travelled extensively and has accompanied Oskar on jaunts to NY City and Washington D.C. to market Wiemer's wines. Her ultimate goal is something in marketing wines internationally. Then she told us her age. Just to be polite, I won't give exact numbers. Suffice it to say, she can't legally drink in the US and is not even in her second decade of life. (Interesting aside: she was able to drink in her country at 16, but couldn't drive a car until 18. Hmmm...)
This led Jim and I to ponder how mature and capable Sarah is in comparison to American teens her same age. I am a high school educator. Sarah's whole demeanor, confidence level and knowledge base blows away most of my students. Maybe Sarah is an over achiever, but regardless, this speaks loudly to the education of our children in comparison to the rest of the world. While I disagree with thrusting the business model onto education, SOMETHING needs to be done to better educate our children and their parents. If the Sarah's of the world are setting the bar, our children are falling way short.
Kudos to Sarah. We wish her the best and hope that as she deals with wines globally, she'll remember her year at one of the Finger Lake's finest wineries and promote the wonderful wines of the region. (Oskar, how about a raise for her)?

Travels to Oz Chapter 1

2011-04-22T16:51:00.008-04:00

The sleet and snow pellets didn't stop us as we ventured out to visit favorite wineries yesterday. Yes it was April 21st! First stop - Fox Run Vineyards and Opus At Fox Run for a sandwich. Fox Run's former executive chef Heather Tompkins and Chelsey Madia opened their wildly successful Opus Expresso and Wine Bar in Geneva ( 486 Exchange St.) and, at the beginning of April, opened their second location in Fox Run's tasting room. Yay for all of us who eat there because the food is fantastic! Drooling over the unbelieveable sandwich and salad selection, we finally settled on a hot turkey and cranberry with asiago cheese on a wonderful nutty bread. Delicious!

Just as we placed our order, owners Scott and Ruth Osborn came over to say hi. We hadn't seen them in awhile, so we briefly caught up, then took our sandwiches and sat down to eat. As we were finishing, Scott came over, sat down and we discussed some of the new green plans he has for the winery. He invited us over to the tasting bar where we continued our conversation over several delicious wines. Ever the librarian, I mentioned to Scott that I just finished reading Evan Dawson's Summer in a Glass. (A must read by the way). Scott is part of the way through it, but he started with the chapters on his Winemaker Peter Bell and Assistant Winemaker Tricia Renshaw! Fox Run will host a book signing with Evan Dawson on June 4th.

We enjoyed tasting his award winning Rieslings, the Red Tierce and the White Tierce among others. We had a chance to sample the soon to be released Cab Franc Lemberger which is wonderful, so watch for it's release. (Here is the plug for joining wine clubs because you get first shot at new releases as well as limited productions such as the Blanc de Blanc we just received in our last shipment). We totally enjoyed our time at Fox Run with Scott. Where else but in the Finger Lakes can "average joe's" like us chat with the owner of one of the top 100 wineries in the world? We selected a couple of the Reserve Chardonnay, a Riesling and the Red Tierce to take home. (Red Tierce and the Ruby Port are almost sold out...) We will remember our afternoon at Fox Run as we savor the wines this summer.

Visit us on the Victor Wine Walk Friday Night!

2011-04-22T16:42:00.003-04:00

On 4/29 we will be pouring wine for Standing Stone Vineyards at Sans Souci Jewelers 7 Main Street. Hope to see you there.

Join us this weekend at the Canandaigua Wine Walk

2011-03-27T22:03:00.003-04:00

Jim and I will be pouring wine for Standing Stone Vineyards this Saturday April 2 from 4-7 at the Finger Lakes Gallery and Frame 175 S. Main Street, Canandaigua. You can buy glasses and join the Canandaigua Wine Walk at any of the merchants hosting the wineries (Pat Rini Rohrer, Bubilu, New York, New York, Pickering Pub) Think about it - we'd love to see you!

JR Dill we finally meet!

2011-03-27T20:57:00.002-04:00

We finally made it to the J.R. Dill Winery today and talked to Jeff (the J. in J.R.) while Jimmy Buffet serenaded us in the background. While we tasted the wines in our J.R. Dill glasses (that we could take home after the tasting), we discussed the beautiful Seneca Lake glass bar-top and how J.R. got started. It was a hobby gone wild while economic times offered the opportunity and voila! 8 months ago J.R. Dill Winery was born. We enjoyed tasting the 5 wines: Cab Franc, Dechaunac, Chardonnay, Riesling and Jabber Waulkie Blush. All were dry with the Jabber Waulkie being the "sweetest" at 3.7% residual sugar. We bought the blush and the Chardonnay (unoaked - aged in stainless steel and very clean, crisp and fruit forward). We will definately return! P.S. - the Jabber Waulkie is the monster of Seneca Lake!

Damiani Wine Cellars Compares their Cab Sauv to the World!

2011-03-26T22:58:00.007-04:00

How does Damiani's Cab Sauv compare to old world and new world Cab Sauvs? Last weekend they hosted a Blind Tasting in which Damiani's 07 Barrel Select Cabernet Sauvignon was compared to Cab Sauvs from Australia, Northern Italy, France, Argentina and California. A crisp,but sunny spring day was the setting and the new Damiani tasting room on the East side of Seneca Lake was the place. Tables were set up in the lower level (which still has a gorgeous view of the lake) for the tasters. A large table with food pairings (sliced meats, peppers, chocolates and cheeses) was available to compliment the nuances in the wine. And so we began. Wines A, B and C were poured and we sniffed, eyed, swirled, pondered, tasted, pondered some more and eventually rated each wine. Terms such as: fruit forward, earthy, minty, minerally were thrown about and the consensus of the group was that these were new world wines. Sure enough, it was revealed that one was a $12.oo Argentine wine - 2008 Mendoza, another Australian - Cover Drive 2007 ($22.00) and the other from California- 2005 Sensorium ($35.00). Next came bottles D,E,F and the process repeated. These wines, 2 of which were old world: 2005 Chateau d'Issan Margaux at $74.oo a bottle and a 1999 Swansburg Castel (?) at $40.00 a bottle, were deeper in color, peppery and delicious. The third wine of this group was the Damiani 2007 Barrel Select at $30.00 a bottle. It was interesting to find out that Cab Sauv grapes originated from Sauv Blanc and Cab Franc vines! So what were the favorites? The French, the Italian and the Damiani. Yay!
Meeting new people, getting educated and drinking great wines, what better way to spend a March afternoon? There are more events coming up at Damiani's: April 24th a Merlot tasting, May 22 - Riesling, June 6 - Sauv Blanc and July 24 - Pinot Gris. Other reds will be tasted in the fall. Thank-you, Damiani Wine Cellars!

Vacation!!!!

2011-02-26T22:43:00.004-05:00

My husband was really taken with Will.I.Am's name (of the Black Eyed Peas) during the SuperBowl. While he was ecstatic that the Packers won and still expounds the greatness of their defense, his mind has been secretly pondering other thoughts. Just days before his birthday he sprang his new identity on us. That's right, Jim will now be referred to as Jam.Es! Pity us here at my house. Soooo, OK that makes me Joy.Ce and the dog: Mag.E. Cool.
"Jam.Es" and I decided to go on vacation the other day. I know, I know, others have taken off for Florida, Belize and the Caribbean in the middle of a LOOOONG, COLD winter, however, we took off for Seneca Lake. Actually, we had to strategically plan our vacation between winter storm warnings. Last Thursday was the day to go (the next storm was to start Thursday night), so we grabbed the window and made it to the lake by noon. Our plan was to stop at the StoneCat Cafe for a bite to eat before hitting the wineries. Unfortunately, there were no cars at all in the Cafe parking lot, so we scraped that idea and headed to Damiani's new tasting room with its glorious view of the Lake. It is large and open with a kitchen area for food pairing prep - really well done. We totally enjoyed our tasting and chat with Gabriel Damiani, and walked away with a 2009 Riesling, the 2009 Dolce Bianco (for our daughter who likes a slightly sweeter wine) and a couple of bottles of Cab Sauv Barrel Select 2008. Damiani is having a dinner coming up in March as well as a Cab Sauv tasting where they compare their Barrel Select to other wines from around the world. Check their website for details. Both sound great!
Next we stopped at the new JR Dill winery, but it is only open Fri-Sun. We really want to try the wines, so will have to come back.
On to Red Newt Cellars, Winery and Bistro, where we knew the Bistro would be open. Debra Whiting (winery co-owner with husband Dave and the Bistro's executive chef) prepares wonderful lunches and dinners at the Bistro. We enjoyed a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon, greens, cheese and cranberry sauce, chicken lentil soup and Riesling. Chris, our server, offered us two Rieslings recently rated in Wine Spectator at 89 and 90 Points. One was slightly sweeter, 2009 Lahoma Vineyards Riesling, and the other slightly drier, 2009 Sawmill Creek Vineyards Riesling. They were both really nice. Then Chris brought us another Riesling to try that has not been rated yet by Wine Spectator, the 2009 Davis Vineyard Riesling. This Riesling's sweetness fell between the other two and was absolutely awesome. It paired the best with the sandwich and soup. We all agreed that this one will also do really well with Wine Spectator. Since there are a limited number of cases of all three (less than 200), we bought several bottles. We really like the fact that Red Newt gives credit to the Vineyard that grows the grapes they use. For example, the Davis Vineyard is that of Phil Davis of Diamiani wines. Another example of the unique cooperative/collaborative spirit of the Finger Lakes wineries.
We made one last stop at Standing Stone Vineyards to pick up some favorites: Pinot Noir 2007, Pinnacle 2007 and Smokehouse Red (their red blend). We had a great chat with Gary and Sandra Smith, caught Marti for a second, then started our homeward trip before the storm hit! We were gone for maybe 6 hours, but what a relaxing, enjoyable day! Now is the time to go to the wineries when it's quiet and you can talk with the staff, winemakers and winery owners. We are so lucky to have this mini-vacation right outside our back door. Needless to say, when the snows hit on Friday, "Jam.Es" and I built a fire, got out a bottle of wine and re-lived our day at the lake!

Let's make a toast to 2011!

2011-01-01T18:23:00.004-05:00

Last night, Jim and I celebrated the New Year as we do every year with our dear friends Dave and Kathy. Back in the day when money was tight and we were just starting out, making the New Year's Eve dinner at home was our preference. Then when the girls were little, we changed from New Year's Eve dinner to New Year's Day brunch. Well, the girls are in college and have New Year's ideas of their own, so we are back to having dinner together, just the four of us. It has been a lovely tradition that helps us to catch up on news and ponder possibilities in the new year.

This year it was our turn to have dinner at our house. Jim and I wanted to do something a little different, so we decided to put on our own wine and food pairing dinner. So here is what our menu was and our choice of wines to go with each course:

Appetizers: Garlic shrimp/cocktail sauce, Bruschette/rosemary and sage bruschette toasts paired with Damiani's 2007 Sparkling Wine.

Course 1: Warm Spinach Salad with pears, pecans and Gorgonzola cheese paired with Anthony Road 2008 Semi-Sweet Riesling.

Course 2: Lobster bisque with Standing Stone 2007 Reserve Chardonnay

Course 3: Lobster Ravioli. Here's where personal preference made a difference in the wine we chose. If the sauce was butter/wine sauce the wine choice was to continue the Chardonnay. If it was the vodka sauce, the choice was Van Duzer 2002 Estate Pinot Noir.

Course 4: Beef tenderloin, grilled asparagus and twice baked potatoes. Wine: Whitehall Lane 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dessert: Cheese cake with Raspberry drizzle and Standing Stone 2008 Vidal Ice.

Midnight: Pillitteri Estates 2008 Sparkling Icewine Cabernet.

It was a wonderful evening. My daughter and I watched Julie & Julia as we prepared the food - just to get in the Julia Child frame of mind. Jim and I mapped out time frames - when to turn this on, when to put that on or take that off. At 6:30 our guests arrived, we poured the Damiani's and the celebration began. OK, so the Damiani sparking wine was a LOT drier than we anticipated or remembered. It was a wonderful, clean,crisp sparking wine. We liked it a lot, but debated whether a sweeter champagne would have paired better with the shrimp. The jury is still out on that one. However, we LOVED the Riesling with the salad. Great choice. As was the Standing Stone Reserev Chardonnay with the lobster bisque. Home run on those. The lobster ravioli choices were great. Jim and I had pondered/obsessed about whether a Pinot Noir could go with the lobster ravioli with vodka sauce. Everything we read said Chardonnay or Champagne with lobster, but the Pinot was outstanding with it! Of course the Cab Sav was perfect with the tenderloin and the ice wine with the cheese cake was also a really nice pairing. Finally our special sparkling ice wine that we bought in Niagara on the Lake was the perfect way to end a great evening with good friends! The evening was a success - really fun to plan and execute! So happy 2011 - may your year be filled with good friends and good wine!

Rooster Hill Holiday Party and...the Question?

2010-12-08T20:37:00.007-05:00

Last Saturday we enjoyed the holiday party at Rooster Hill as members of their wine club. Owner Amy Hoffman and staff spent considerable time planning and arranging this event and their efforts were well worth it! Picture A Wonderful Life playing in black and white on the flat screen TV, a live band playing holiday and other favorite songs, decorations, stainless steel wine barrels with wreaths on them and cozy tables spread among the barrels for meeting and eating the DELICIOUS tapas on the buffet (seafood crepe, pork tenderloin, turkey, chocolates, roll-ups, cheeses and more)! Of course all were accompanied by the delicious, award winning Rooster Hill wines.

Jim and I started out with the Cabernet Franc/Lemberger blend. It's smooth, rich taste warmed us up after our drive to Keuka Lake. As we searched around the barrels for a place to set our plates, we were invited to share a table with Melissa and Rich. We found we had a lot in common besides the love of good wines and wineries including an intense interest in promoting the Finger Lakes wine industry. We enjoyed exchanging ideas, laughs, perspectives on the state of education today and blog addresses. As we talked, we were offered a taste of the Reserve Lemberger by Barry Tortolon, Rooster Hill's Winemaker. We also tried their award winning Gewurztraminer (fabulous) and others. What a great way to spend an afternoon - meeting new people and enjoying outstanding wine!

But here comes the question that Melissa posed to us when we first joined their table:

Why do we enjoy coming to the Finger Lakes Wineries?

For us it is simple. We love the ability to speak with winemakers and winery owners. Where else could you walk into a tasting room and start a conversation with the person pouring the wine and find out they are the owner or the owner's son, daughter, niece, nephew, sister or brother! Or perhaps you are speaking to the winemaker if the winery owner doesn't make the wine himself. I love to hear their stories - HOW they started their business, WHY they started their business, WHO is working with them (often family members are involved in one way or another), WHERE their winery is located and the special terroir and climate of their chosen spot, or WHAT is the current project? It fascinates us and engages us in the industry. The winery owners that we have met are the salt of the earth, hardest working people I know who absolutely love what they do and who are grateful for the opportunity to make their dreams come true. It isn't about having the most awards (although awards ARE nice), it is about creating a top-notch wine in good years and not-so-good-years. Yup, THAT'S what it is all about for us. Our hats are off to the hard-working Finger Lakes Wineries. We will continue to do all we can to support them.

Barrel Tasting and Vertical at Standing Stone Vineyards

2010-11-21T21:18:00.007-05:00

What a fantastic afternoon we spent at Standing Stone Vineyards on the east side of Seneca Lake! Our friends, Pam and Dave joined us for a delicious lunch at the Bistro at Thirsty Owl Vineyards on Cayuga Lake. Then we traveled west a bit and arrived at Standing Stone just in time for the barrel tasting. We joined Jenny and Gary in the big yellow barn that houses the barrels. We tasted several wines - 2 Chardonnays that differed in the yeast that was used in the fermentation process (and yes, they tasted very different), 2 Pinot Noirs, a Cab Franc, 2 Merlots, Petit Verdot and Saperavi. What a great experience to taste wines in process as well as to compare different vintages of the same varietal. Let me give you a heads-up - the 2010 wines are out of this world! Next we filled up our plates with breads, spreads and meats and headed back into the winery for our vertical tasting of Pinnacle. Pinnacle is Standing Stone's Bordeaux style blend, generally comprised of Cab Sav, Cab Franc and Merlot, although the 2007 Pinnacle (Wine Spectator score of 87) has Petit Verdot blended in also. We tasted the following years (vertical tastings compare different vintages of a given wine): 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. Love, love, love the 2005 and 2007! Very interesting to see, smell, and taste the differences over the years, plus it gives you a nice experience in tasting the effects of age on the wine. We had time to chat with winery owner and winemaker Marti Macinski, who, while a wealth of information about each vintage, is clearly passionate about her vineyard. This event was a wine-club member special event, so here is my plug about joining a wine club. While getting shipments of wine is great itself, the special events such as this barrel tasting provide for wonderful learning opportunities that you wouldn't ordinarily have.
It was a great time with great friends at a unique event. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon in November!

J.R. Dill - New Winery on Seneca Lake

2010-10-20T21:19:00.004-04:00

Columbus Day Weekend
While Jim and I were busy with our annual October trek to Niagara on the Lake, "Rover" Jon diligently scoured the East side of Seneca Lake to report on the latest happenings. He discovered a new winery, J.R. Dill's which he said has really great dry wines. It is located 6 miles north of Watkin's Glen. Young J.R. (26?) is making wines from vines his great grandfather worked over 100 years ago. I am looking forward to visiting this new winery as well as Damiani's new tasting room, which is now open.
Jim and I have been helping out at Standing Stone this fall. They have a wonderful Saperavi, the 2007 Pinot Noir is out of this world as is the 2007 Pinnacle (Cab Sav, Merlot and Cab Franc blend with the addition of the Petit Verdot grape). The 2006 Pinnacle is also really good. It is fun to ask tasters their opinion when sampling the two, because it is pretty much 50/50 as to their preferences between the 07 and 06. I can't say enough about the ice wines from Standing Stone either. There are 4 to taste: Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Vidal. Each is unique and de-lish (with 91+ Wine Spectator ratings)!
We are looking forward to Standing Stone's First Ever Loyalty Club Event: Barrel tastings and Verticals.... Nov. 21st. Check out the Standing Stone website for more details.
In the mean time, pour yourself a glass of a Finger Lakes Wine and enjoy the beauty of the fall!

California? PUH!

2010-08-13T21:13:00.001-04:00

So here again is a plug for joining wine clubs at your favorite Finger Lakes Winery. Why? Because...

You get wine DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME 4-6 times a year.

Often the wine is exclusive to wine club members: limited productions, library wines, or a new release.

You can be invited to special events such as pig roasts, dinners, vertical tastings, barrel tastings, etc.

There is a discount on wines purchased in the retail shop.

Newsletters, food pairings, recipes...

No tasting room fees.

Our Finger Lakes region is so beautiful and the wines are emerging as world-class (don't believe me, check out the Wine Spectator). Who needs California?

Joe Beans Coffee Roasters

2010-08-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

Did you ever notice that the Wine Spectator writes articles about coffee? Why? Because coffee and wine have a lot in common : both compliment a meal, both enjoy complexity in flavors, and both leave lasting impressions. Did you ever have a wonderful dinner, then get served a poor to mediocre cup of coffee at the end? It literally leaves a bad taste in your mouth and usually your whole impression of the evening suffers as a result. Here in Webster, NY, we have the answer to your poor coffee dilemma: Joe Beans Coffee Roasters! Owner Kathy Turiano offer the alternative to that lousy cup of coffee. Deep, flavorful, locally roasted coffees. Check out her link and philosophy of using fair trade certified products. Like Finger Lakes Wines, Joe Bean is a local treasure.

Rooster Hill Pig Roast

2010-08-11T15:00:00.002-04:00

The month of August is here and we started it with a bang at Rooster Hill's Wine Club Pig Roast. Again, another fabulous day on the east side of Keuka Lake! The view from their patio is stupendous! Their patio also hosts a huge wood fired pizza oven. So while we arrived, distributed our raffle tickets, and enjoyed participating in a blind wine tasting, the pizza oven was cranking out gourmet pizzas! (Seafood, pineapple, pepperoni and plain with huge chunks of tomato in the sauce...yum!) The band played Jimmy Buffet and other favorites while club members tasted wines and socialized. We were able to try all the newly bottled 2009 wines which are not yet released. We especially liked the Pinot Noir (young but complex, so it will only get better), the Gewurztraminer and the Estate Late Harvest Vidal Blanc. Watch for these releases and give them a try! The dinner was fabulous: awesome pork with fresh salads, baked beans, rolls and cookies!

As the sun slowly sank in the sky, we sat on the patio enjoying our last glass of wine with new friends Dave and Barb, and made plans to meet them again at the Holiday Party! Thank- you Amy Hoffman (president and co-founder) and staff for a well-organized and enjoyable afternoon.

Fox Run Happenings

2010-08-04T21:27:00.004-04:00

I am sipping Fox Run's Dry Rose as I write this. It is the perfect dry wine, well chilled, on a warm evening! Which reminded me that Fox Run Vineyards has several events coming up. Most immediately is their 18th Annual Garlic Festival happening this weekend August 7th and 8th. This is a huge event with food, music, and of course wine! Also coming up are more Tapas Tastings. These are held Thursday evenings from 6-8 pm and cost $20 per person. Winemakers Peter Bell and Tricia Renshaw will discuss the wines and the food pairings. The upcoming dates are Aug 19, Sept 2, Sept 16 and Oct 7. These informal gatherings are a great experience because you get to meet the winemakers and chat about the wines you're drinking. And Executive Cheft Heather Tomkins and her staff always do a bang-up job with the food pairings. Hope to see you there!

Ravines Wine Club Dinner

2010-08-04T20:09:00.005-04:00

Wow! Where does the time go, especially in the summer? It has been almost a month since we attended the First Annual Ravenous Wine Club Party on July 10th. It was a hot, steamy afternoon with a gorgeous view of Keuka Lake. Ravine's is located on the east side of Keuka Lake where the lake splits into a "Y". This gives you a panoramic north and south view as well as a nice view of the widest part of the lake. And it was a perfect day for a dinner. We enjoyed scrumptious appetizers while winemaker and owner Morten Hallgren poured his wonderful, dry, European-style wines. Morten's wife, Lisa, is the chef and mastermind behind the food pairings. Her dinner followed with fantastic salads made with local produce: Laurence Francois's Mediterranean Couscous, Cold Green Bean and Lemon Salad and the utterly awesome Lisa's Potato Salad. These were accompanied by Grilled Chicken with Garlic Scape Pesto and followed by desserts of cheesecake and chocolate! (The recipes for the chicken and salads are on Ravines new website http://ravineswine.com/welcome/ ). We truly enjoyed ourselves and had a chance to make some new acquaintances while reconnecting with old. Well done, Ravines!

Update: Standing Stone 2009 Riesling and Heron Hill Ingle Vineyard 2006 Chardonnay

2010-07-09T11:30:00.008-04:00

I tweeted a few days back that the Standing Stone 2009 Riesling was excellent. Wine Spectator verified it, giving this Riesling 88 points! AND Standing Stone's Riesling Ice 91 points! Congratulations to Standing Stone! I have said before how much we love Standing Stone wines so it is great to see Marti and Tom get this recognition! Both are available in the winery's tasting room.

I also finally got a chance to try Heron Hill's Ingle Vineyard 2006 Chardonnay that we purchased at the Rochester Public Market (it is also available at the winery). I am not a huge Chardonnay fan, especially of buttery California Chards, but was really impressed with this one. It was clean and crisp, and slightly buttery, but not overwhelmingly so. (The bottle says it is fermented in European oak which is more subtle than American oak). I am saving a bottle to give Pam for her Big 5-0 as she loves exceptional chardonnays. Also thinking about how well this would pair with shrimp scampi, sauteed scallops, or lobster bisque!

Here's Maggie's review of the Heron Hill Chardonnay!

I highly recommend this chardonnay before it runs out!

Damiani Wine Cellar's New Tasting Room is Coming...

2010-07-04T22:02:00.008-04:00

Damiani Wine Cellars will be opening their new tasting room in about a month's time. It is located 5 miles south of the current tasting room on the east side of Seneca Lake, Route 414. We will definitely have to schedule a trip there when it opens, but in the meantime, we had a great tasting opportunity with Gabriel Damiani last weekend. Their current tasting room is really a beautiful old house, and it was gloriously air-conditioned! We previously had only tasted their reds and their 2009 Riesling, so welcomed the opportunity to try the other whites available. Gabriel said they don't make any bad wines, and he was right. We have loved their reds for awhile, but now we love them all. The wines are all dry wines, but some taste sweeter or fruitier depending on the type of grape. They are a small winery making a limited numbers of cases (from 100- 600). We started with the whites. The Sav Blanc (188 cases made) was exceptional. Lots of grass and tropical fruit flavors. The Riesling (2009) is made with grapes from Argetsinger vineyards. I love this Riesling; it is so crisp and clean. We sampled and liked the Gewurztraminer. The Pinot Grigio was also lovely and Gabriel was glad everyone in the group liked it as he said he planted all the vines for this grape by hand, and that the vineyards are truly a labor of love that he hopes will be there for the family's descendants to enjoy.

Then came the reds. We really, really liked the Cab Franc Barrel Select, The Merlot, the Cab Sav and the Meritage. The Pinot Noir was well done also. Lastly we tried the 2007 Sparking Brut. All I can say is if you have a special occasion or even don't have a special occasion, but like champagne, try this! It was truly a taste experience as it goes through many changes as soon as it hits your mouth! The effervescence changes from sweet to citrus to vanilla. Wow. Needless to say, we purchased a bottle of the Brut to accompany the Barrel Select Cab Franc and Riesling. As we were driving home we realized we didn't grab a Meritage. Guess we'll just have to go back when the new tasting room opens!

P.S. Today "Rover" Jon sent me this photo of the wines he purchased at Damiani this weekend: the Barrel Select Cab Franc, the Barrel Select Pinot Noir, and the Cabernet Sauvignon Barrel Select! As a fellow Damiani lover, he is enjoying his purchases in celebration of the 4th. His review of these Damiani wines: "awesome"!

Heron Hill Scoops

2010-06-08T21:45:00.003-04:00

We attended a wine tasting of Heron Hill Winery wines the other night. This vineyard has a drop-dead gorgeous wine tasting facility north of Hammondsport on Keuka Lake. We tried several delicious wines, but also found out the scoops on an upcoming exceptional vintage: the 2007 Cab Franc. Watch for it when it is released! We also heard that the 2006 Ingle Vineyard Chardonnay is outstanding. While it was not available for the tasting, the word is that it is available at the Public Market at the Heron Hill booth. We will check it out this Saturday and let you know...(or get to the Market yourself, try it and let US know what you think!)

Rendezvous with Riesling at the NY Wine and Culinary Center

2010-05-10T21:30:00.009-04:00

OK so that's Fox Run's Merlot in the glass, but it really makes the words stand out!

My friend John said the other day that he doesn't like going to big wine events because you never get to speak to the owners or winemakers and such personalization is the beauty of visiting the Finger Lakes wineries. The Rendezvous With Riesling event, however, was exactly that. Practically everyone we spoke with was either a winery owner, winemaker or both. With 44 wineries represented from throughout the Finger Lakes (and a few from Long Island), we barely scratched the surface because we had such fun talking to the owners/winemakers. The New York Wine and Culinary Center provided a beautiful backdrop in which to showcase these wineries without ever feeling crowded or uncomfortable. There were 7 gourmet food sponsors who provided samplings also as well as Rohrbach's Brewery. It was the perfect venue to get to know new wineries that we haven't visited on our "retrievals".

Several stand-outs beg to be mentioned first such as Anthony Road's 2008 Martini-Reinhart Selection Riesling Trockenbeeren (Wine Spectator 93 points). The comment I wrote about this late harvest treat was - WOW. Truly a treat. We were also able to sample Dr. Konstantin Frank's 2008 Bunch Select Late Harvest (Wine Spectator gave it 92 points). Again this was an exceptional treat that we were thrilled to be able to try. We also enjoyed Damiani's 2008 Riesling. They are just starting to bottle it so it is still young, but very zippy, crisp, citrus-y and full of promise. (And yes, this is the Damiani Wine Cellars that we have come to love for having exceptional red wines...)

We visited several favorites, but were very impressed with a winery we had never visited, Keuka Spring Vineyards. We spoke a length with Len Wiltberger, the owner, who poured us the most delicious glass of 2008 Gewurztraminer (Best White Wine at the San Francisco Chronicle Competition). It had just the right balance of flowers, citrus and pepper. We were also able to compare the 2009 Riesling (just taken from the barrel for the event) to the 2007 Reserve Riesling. It is always fun to taste the differences in young vs. older vintages to taste the effects time has on taste. Both were excellent; the 2009 has the promise of mellowing out nicely. Other new wineries we tried and enjoyed were Highland Cellars/Hickory Hollow and Boomer Creek Vineyards.

Least I forget, we had some awesome gourmet sausage from Hartmann's Old World Sausage in Canandaigua. I wish I had written down the names of all the sausages, but one was better than the next. We will definitely get some for our next wine party!

So, the evening truly was all about meeting the winemakers and hearing their stories; the pride in their voices as they told the tales of their favorite wines or newest creations. Where else on earth could you make the connection with these hard working people who are so passionate about their craft? THAT'S what makes our Finger Lakes wine region so unique.

Camp Good Days and Special Time's Dinner and Live Auction

2010-05-04T22:07:00.005-04:00

Saturday night was an evening to remember! Jim and I volunteered to help Camp Good Days and Special Times at their Wine Dinner and Live Auction last Saturday night. This is a cause we feel strongly about and it was made even more poignant with the sudden passing of my friend and coworker, Steve, 2 weeks ago from cancer. Jim and I both lost our fathers to cancer and my uncle is currently in hospice. Yes, Gary, we too would like to see a cure for cancer in our lifetimes.

Last Thursday we began by attending the training on what we would need to do as wine ambassadors. We learned we would each be responsible for a table of guests; bringing them wines and helping them with their bids! We were nervous and a bit apprehensive of the unknown.

Saturday dragged until we left the house at 3:00 to head to the Rochester Plaza Hotel downtown. As soon as we arrived, signed in and received our aprons and boas, we were whisked away on a tour by Chris Van Zile (that's what she does!) and we learned our positions for the evening.

Job #1 was to man pouring station #5. We were located in the main dining room (see the beautiful photo of the classy set-up) We had a lot of fun pouring wine for silent auction bidders, especially because the wines at our station were of the raspberry, honey/mead, hard cider varieties. (Tough sell, but had fun doing it). Then we grabbed our bottle of the Best of the Show Chardonnay - Prejean's 2007 Reserve Chardonnay and a red (we both took great Cab Sauv's) and lined up for the grand entrance of the wine ambassadors (I SHOULD have taken a picture of Jim dancing with his boa wrapped around his neck!). Campers from Camp Good Days formed a drum line signaling the opening of the dinner event and our entrance. We danced to our tables and got ready for...

Job#2 and the main job for the rest of the evening! To make sure our table was happy and enjoying themselves and bidding on the fabulous items for the live auction. How about a 2 week stay at your own private villa in Argentina? Or an Executive MBA Program Scholarship at RIT? Not academic? What about touring the Finger Lakes in your own private turbine jet helicopter? Or joining the pit crew at Watkins Glen Race track? If you were merely thirsty you had many opportunities to bid on cases of award winning wines, library wines, wine and food pairings and dinners and many, many more fabulous items. As the evening wound down (around midnight), the wine ambassadors and other volunteers were all treated to pizza and gold medal wines, a band playing, and a chance to connect with others and re-live the evening!

We met so many new friends, and felt so privileged to be a part of contributing to such a worthy cause. We soon discovered our fears and anxieties were for naught as we were among a great group of individuals. It was truly an honor to be a part of this wonderful evening.

We got home late, but Maggie waited up for us - sort of!

PS I understand we broke all records! Bidders were so generous that there will be many more children forgetting their illness' for a while and enjoying Camp Good Days and Special Times this summer.

The Competition Continues aka: Wine, Wine and More Wine

2010-04-14T21:12:00.003-04:00

Jim set off early this gorgeous spring morning for Fox Run Vineyards. Apparently there were several bottles of wine that didn't make it to the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition a few weeks back due to shipping/receiving/customs problems. So 8 judges gathered at Fox Run and Jim volunteered to help pour and serve the wines to the judges. While I know he deeply regretted not sitting in his windowless cubical punching numbers all day for the fine folks on probation, he just had to make due with the stunning lake view, blue sky and glasses filled with delicious wines. Tough, I know! He dutifully reported back that about 100 bottles were judged. And he didn't spill a drop carrying the trays of filled glasses down into the barrel room. So rest assured that ALL wines submitted have now been judged. Don't forget the 10th annual Wine Auction and Dinner to benefit Camp Good days and Special Times on May 1 - there are still tickets available (visit www.campgooddays.org). At the dinner, you will be able to sample many of the award winning wines along with a delectable dinner!

Also coming up this weekend are the following events:

Damiani Wine Cellars are having a Pinot Noir Release Party in their tasting room Friday April 16th from 5:30 - 8:30. Additionally, enjoy the artwork of Pamela Drix on exhibit. Sounds like a great way to enjoy the sunset!

Winestock NY 2010 is going to be celebrated at 3 Brothers Winery on Saturday April 17th from noon to 6:00 pm. With Live music all day and food pairings, it sounds like fun. There is a $20/person cover charge.

So drink up, drink responsibly and enjoy!

Finger Lakes International Wine Competition Chpt. 3

2010-03-29T21:33:00.009-04:00

The FLIWC finished up yesterday. Jim and I had a great time pouring and serving our table of judges. We came home with some great wines and VERY sore legs. This was the tenth year of the competition, so things were extremely well organized and orchestrated. Here is a sampling of what we had to do at our pouring station... First the "corkers" uncorked and brought us the wines in our flight. We had usually 5 judges (the 5th being a "visiting" judge) with flights of 7-8 wines per flight. Therefore we had 40 Riedel wine glasses to stage. First we had to dry and inspect them for water spots or chips. Next, because this is a blind tasting and the judges only know the type of wine not the winery, we had to place a sticker on each wine glass denoting the number of the wine. We then poured the wines into their designated glasses, checked and double checked our accuracy and waited to be called. When the boss man (Tom King) said "lets roll", all the wine stations (there were 15 of us) VERY CAREFULLY rolled our wine carts with our 40 filled glasses out of our room, down a hallway to the judging room. In the judge's room we collected the old scoring sheets and cleaned the previous flight's glasses from the tables, then arranged the next flight before each judge in left to right sequence matching their scoring sheets. But our work was not done. Now we had to take the used glasses to the glass washers, a wonderful group of very dedicated volunteers who washed thousands of very expensive Riedel glasses all day long. We took our cart back to our station and started over again. There was a total of 27 flights of wine over the 2 days!

We were just a tiny part of this wonderful day. The judges volunteer their time and come from Canada, Europe and across the United States because they believe in Camp Good Days and Special Times. We spoke with several who judge year after year and consider it the highlight of their year. Then there are the hours and hours that go into gathering the 3010 wines, numbering them, separating them for the competition and the dinner (May 1st), hauling them into the Rochester Plaza, coordinating the volunteers, the food, the judge's dinner, the rooms for staging, judging and processing the scores, the set-up and dismantling...the list goes on and on and is mind boggling. This is truly a labor of love for the coordinators and planners: Peter Parts, Scott Osborne, Ed Schramm, Tom King and others such as Joelle Cain. I know I have left out tons of important people involved and I apologize for not knowing who you all are. Suffice it to say, I felt a part of something so inspirational that I know I want to return and keep paying forward all the good that this competition and dinner represent for the children who attend Camp Good Days and Special Times.

The afternoon highlight was when Gary Mervis, the camp's founder spoke softly and eloquently to the judges and volunteers about his daughter, Teddi. Teddi was his reason for founding the camp as a place where children dealing with cancer can go - free of charge- and have fun. Having those "good days" at camp and keeping the memories of those "special times" at camp to help them through other, not so pleasant days, is what the camp is all about. Gary went on to explain his vision of cancer research and hopes for the future. I was humbled to be a part of something so important.

So here is a photo of our awesome "K" team - Tony, Denise, Jim and I, as well as some of the staging and work areas at the competition.

Thank-you Peter Bell for your recommendation and Peter Parts for allowing us to be a part of this important occasion.

Finger Lakes International Wine Competition Chpt 2.

2010-03-27T23:04:00.003-04:00

The FLIWC is half way over. 3,010 wines were entered from ALL 50 States in the US and countries around the world. 666 wineries in total! Wow. We attended the judge's dinner tonight at the German House, sat with several judges and spoke with one from California and one from Prince Edward Island, Canada. The food was marvelous and the wine plentiful (all bottles from today's competition). We had a chance to sample some we had heard about but never tried. We are a little nervous about tomorrow. What will our job entail? What do we wear on are feet? (Joelle tonight told us sneakers were OK but no jeans!) Who will be the judges in our group?
Stay tuned...

Finger Lakes International Wine Competition

2010-03-21T10:05:00.004-04:00

Next weekend the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition comes to Rochester. This year there are somewhere around 2800 wine entries from around the world as well as our own back yard. Jim and I are really excited about working at it this year and at the dinner and silent auction on May 1st. ALL proceeds for both events go to benefit Camp Good Days and Special Times. I will keep you posted about these events through the blog, but if you want more information go to these websites:

Finger Lakes International Wine Competition: http://www.fliwc.com/

Camp Good Days and Special Times: http://www.campgooddays.org/

Wine Clubs Are the Way to GO!

2010-03-15T20:36:00.003-04:00

Many of the Finger Lakes wineries offer wine clubs. Wine clubs offer several benefits:

They are a great way to get special bottles of wine from your favorite winery throughout the year.

Frequently Reserve wines and specialty wines are offered. (Sometimes they are only offered to Club members)

Discounts are given to Club members for tastings, dinners, other special events.

You may get a newsletter with information non happenings at the winery.

If you attend the special events you get a discount to, you will meet fantastic people who share your love of a winery.

Wine Clubs usually involve wine shipments 3-4 times a year. The only catch is that someone over age 21 has to be home to sign for the shipments. This hasn't been too big a deal for us as UPS or Fed Ex will try delivering at another time. We haven't missed one yet! We have been members of several different wine Clubs over the years and have enjoyed the benefits of each. I would highly recommend trying one out.

Dignity Matters

2010-02-22T20:31:00.004-05:00

We worked this past Columbus Day weekend at Standing Stone Vineyards. Columbus Day weekend is traditionally one of the busiest for the Finger Lakes Wineries as people want to take in the gorgeous Fall Foliage. We knew there would be bus loads of wine tasters and were happy to help out.

Jim was in his element explaining the wines in detail to small groups of 4-6 people. His strategy: to make the experience as personal as possible; chatting about what brought the tasters to the winery and which types of wine they prefer, then educating them on what they were tasting.

Then there was Joyce, in the "bus load" room in the back, pouring wine for 20 people at a time whose main focus was drinking, not learning.

There were several lessons learned through this experience, but possibly the most important was that dignity matters. This point was brought home last weekend when we read in our local newspaper that the owner of a Seneca Lake winery was assaulted by patrons visiting his winery because he refused to serve people who obviously had had too much already. I know, I know they just wanted to have fun and the owner was bringing them down. But let's take a look at the whole picture. First, you have the bus load of people whose stop at this winery at the top of Seneca Lake could have easily been the last stop of a LOOOONG day of wine tasting. The tourism these bus groups represent are what supports our Finger Lakes Wine industry. However, winery owners want to showcase their products, not deal with the irrational, inebriated public.

My advice to those who go on wine tastings just to catch a buzz is: stop watching the reality shows where obnoxious behavior is glorified and take a long hard look at yourself. You are losing a real learning opportunity and you are portraying yourself in a very poor light. Don't you want others to come to this region because it is a beautiful, classy up-and-coming major wine producing area? Or do you want the area to have the reputation of having to deal with obnoxious, belligerent drunks?

My father told me to always put my best foot forward, that people DO judge a book by its cover and to treat others the way you want to be treated. Yes, dignity matters. And yes, our Finger Lakes Wineries should shine with all the possibilities that await them. Hurray for the owner for not serving them.

Fox Run Vineyards Does It Again!

2010-02-15T23:27:00.016-05:00

Where could you go to meet great people, learn about wine and food pairings, eat delicious foods, try wines and have a GREAT time? Why a winemaker’s dinner of course! And Ruth Osborn hosted a beautiful evening Saturday night at Fox Run Vineyards on Seneca Lake. If you have never had the chance to experience a winemaker’s dinner, I highly recommend it. The intimate setting where winemaker and chef explain their specialties and why they work so well together is second to none as a truly hands-on learning experience.
We joined about 30 other people at 6:00 sharp in the Lakeview Tasting Room where appetizers where offered with your choice of wine. Jim and I sampled crab brochette which was delicious, but according to the buzz, Executive Chef Heather Tompkins’ baked brie was the big hit! Next we were ushered into the restaurant dining room (it was too cold to eat in the barrel room) where tables in groups of 4-6 were elegantly set with red flower centerpieces on flowered tablecloths. Our dinner companions were winemaker Peter Bell and his wife, Joanna. As we discussed children in and out of college, the first course was served: seafood bouillabaisse (shrimp, scallops, clams and mussels in a saffron-tomato broth). WOW. This was paired with a wine-event exclusive: a delicious dry rose. Only 10 cases of this superb rose were bottled this year, so it is only available to wine club members (see the Fox Run website for details to become a club member). I savored every sip of the rose with the hope that next year more will be bottled. It was the perfect pairing with seafood.
Next we were served house-made crepes filled with Lively Run goat cheese, spinach and leeks topped with wine soaked cherries and hazelnuts. This was paired with the 2008 Riesling. I could have happily eaten this all night long! Heather, a true artist, explains that she starts out with a basic idea, then embellishes the recipe with her own inspirations. The wine soaked cherries were one of her additions on this dish and they just elevated the crepes to truly outstanding.
The main course was Beef Bourguignon (full of beef, root vegetables, mushrooms, and a rich wine gravy) served on a crusty baguette. The 2007 Meritage (rhymes with heritage) was an excellent pairing with the beef’s deep flavors.
And lastly, dessert was an outrageous red velvet cupcake with chocolate ganache and port caramel sauce. Paired perfectly with the Ruby Port, the bittersweet chocolate-frosted cupcake and wine combination was to die for!
Each course and wine pairing was described by Heather, Peter or Kelby Russell, intern extraordinaire to Peter Bell. It was interesting to find out that the wine pairing could be changed at the last minute as each course is taste-tested!
Thank-you Ruth, Peter, Heather, Kelby and all the staff at Fox Run for a fabulous evening and a very special way to celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Step up Danny Wegman!

2010-02-04T20:22:00.004-05:00

We have a wonderful grocery store - Wegman's - in our area. Wegman's is a great sponsor of many important initiatives locally and we are glad to have them. One of the areas that they support is the local farmers and local produce. They are an integral part of the New York Wine and Culinary Center located in Canandaigua. OK, so far so good. But I need to call Danny out on his minimal support of the Finger Lakes wineries in the Menu magazine that Wegman's puts out a few times a year. I conducted a little informal research by looking back into the 2009 Menu magazines and this is what I found:
Winter 09 - out of 16 wine and food pairings printed, Wegman's paired 0 (that is the big ZERO) New York State wines with their recipes. Boo.
Summer 09 - out of 18 recipes and wine pairings, Dr. Frank's Salmon Run Riesling is the only Finger Lakes wine suggested. (come on, Salmon Run is Dr. Frank's low-end wine, not his really good stuff, but we'll take whatever we can get).
Fall 09 - of 14 wine and food pairings, only Fox Run's Chardonnay was suggested to represent NY wines. Boo again (NOT to Fox Run, but to Wegman's for such minimal support).
Holiday 09 - again - only Dr. Frank's Salmon Run Riesling suggested out of the 22 wines mentioned.
Finally, Winter 10 - a little better - 2 wines were mentioned: Dr. Frank's Chardonnay and Heron Hill Pinot Noir

Overall, I would say a pretty poor showing for someone as powerful and influential in the Rochester Area as Wegman's. Many of the wines they pair with their recipes are from California. My suggestion is that if Wegman's wants to promote their California wine connections (as I'm sure they are doing), then they should at least suggest 2 wines with each pairing - one from the Finger Lakes and the other from California or elsewhere.
Come on Danny Wegman, Step up and promote the wineries in your backyard!

Upcoming Wine Events at Fox Run and on Seneca Lake!

2010-01-31T22:14:00.008-05:00

Something very special is happening at Fox Run Vineyards: Fox Run's Valentine's Dinner with the Winemaker on February 13th! Check out Fox Run's website http://www.foxrunvineyards.com/

because they have a link to my video post of last year's Wine maker's Dinner! I know that will convince you to attend! But seriously, the menu looks great. Heather Tomkins is the new Executive Chef at Fox Run and she is fabulous. It is a very special way to show your Valentine how much they mean to you! Join us - you won't be sorry.

Another Fox Run event coming up is a Winter Tasting on February 26 from 5:30 - 7:30. Heather will create 4 different taste treats to pair with Fox Run's wines. Peter Bell, Fox Run's winemaker, will be there to explain the wines that will be paired with Heather's delicious creations. Jim and I attended a tasting in the fall where Heather created such wonderful treats such as pumpkin hummus (paired with Reserve Chardonnay), roasted dates wrapped in bacon stuffed with Red Buddy (paired with Merlot) and fried cauliflower with green curry sauce (paired with Riesling). For this event (held near Halloween), it was optional to dress in costume. So Jim and I debated - should we dress up? What is no one else does? What can we"dress up" as that might also pass for normal clothes? We came up with Clark Kent and Lois Lane as you can see. Thank goodness because other than someone with a NY Yankees jersey on, no one else appeared to be wearing a costume! None-the-less, we had a great time eating, participating in the blind wine tasting/guessing the wine game and talking to fellow Fox Run wine lovers!

Also February 12-14, the Seneca Lake Wine Trail will be hosting their Chocolates and Wines at numerous wineries around the lake. You can order tickets to that event at this website: senecalakewine.com

All great fun events to warm you up on these long, cold winter days! See you there!

Canadian Wine Tastings

2010-01-28T21:37:00.003-05:00

This morning's local fish wrapper had an article about how Canadians are charged an exorbitant amount of taxes/duty when bringing Finger Lakes wines home. It seems to me a shame that the Canadian government penalizes its people for bringing American wines into their country. Yet they want Americans to head north and spend our money in their country. Case in point, Jim and I spent a weekend up at Niagara-On-The-Lake this fall. We went to visit the wineries in the area. The wineries we went to were sleek; very European in look and style. And - get this- to have a TASTING of ONE of their ice wines...$10.00! Hmmmm

Play-off Wines

2010-01-25T20:52:00.004-05:00

I was going to Tweet the wines we served yesterday for the play-offs, but decided I needed more room than a tweet offers, so here goes:
We served Ravine Wine Cellar's 2007 Chardonnay, Hermann J. Wiemer's 2007 Merlot and Standing Stone's Smokehouse White a semi-dry Vidal Blanc. They were all great choices. Karen and Dan really liked the Smokehouse White which is Standing Stone's white table wine. It is slightly sweet and very drinkable - and at under $10 a bottle, very easy on the pocket. A good sipping wine while watching the game. Ravine's Wine Cellars produces dry wines. This Chardonnay, while dry, is very pleasant. It is aged in stainless steel, but undergoes a second fermentation process that produces a slightly buttery taste and feel. Kathy and I enjoyed sipping and having the Chardonnay with our dinner. (Dry wines are perfect to pair with foods). Jim tried the Wiemer Merlot and raved about it. When I tried it later, I could see why. Rich with plum and cherry flavors and oh so smooth, this Merlot is a keeper. Least you think we are all sissy wine drinkers watching manly football games, we also served everyone's favorite beers including a local brewery, Rohrbach's Highland Lager in a growler. Yum.
A couple nights ago we opened Ravines 2007 Cabernet Franc. We had visited the winery last weekend, joined their wine club, and brought a couple bottles home. The Cab Franc is very light and dry - I almost thought it was a Pinot Noir. (Jim makes me guess what wine I am drinking and whose winery it is from). Again this wine pairs nicely with food - we had salmon that night. While I liked the Cab Franc, if I were to choose which I liked better, the Cab Franc or Chardonnay, I would definitely chose the Chardonnay.

Help! I'm sandwiched!

2010-01-18T21:19:00.003-05:00

Wow! It has been along time since my last blog. I hope at least you are following my Twitters on this website where I give a brief description of Finger Lakes wines that Jim and I have tasted this fall.

Last spring I found myself suddenly a part of the sandwich generation (aging, needy relatives, kid and work) and little time for anything else (other than drinking wonderful Finger Lakes wines). My blogging obviously took a hit, and this lack of blogging has lead to a New Year's resolution. I would like to open up this blog and invite fellow NY wine drinkers to send me your thoughts about the Finger Lakes (or other NY State) wines you are drinking. I know, for example, my friend Jon loves McGregor, Shaw and Damiani wines. I would love his opinions to be posted here. And I know there are members of the FLWR "Pack" who would be great contributors also. So here are the ground rules to become one of the "Rovers"

1. I am the editor and have the right to edit as I see fit. This is a professional blog and it should remain so, therefore...

2. No inappropriate language, cursing, off color jokes or images will be allowed. I will post only those pieces that are professional, thoughtful and appropriate.

3. You can e-mail your written blog entry to me at fingerlakeswineretrievers@gmail.com along with any photos you wish to be part of the piece.

4. I will post you entry in a timely manner. Please let me know how you want it signed: first name only, whole name, etc.

5. If I have any questions about your entry, I will contact you by e-mail.

6. You will officially become a FLWR Rover when your entry is published.

So get out there and drink some fabulous NY State wines. Several were mentioned in the Wine Spectator the last several months and are available in local liquor stores. I would also encourage you to submit your opinions about wine related topics (ex: wines in grocery stores).

I will also try to catch you up on what wine events we attended this fall and local winery visits. So stay tuned, and PLEASE participate. I would love to have a large number of FLWR Rovers out there!

Vertical Pinnacle Tasting at Standing Stone Vineyards

2009-08-31T21:54:00.003-04:00

Jim is looking happy here even though it is 90 degrees in the shade! We had a great time at the Pinnacle Vertical tasting at Standing Stone a few weeks back. (Note winery owner Marti Macinski in the background). Pinnacle is a blend of Cab Sav, Cab Franc and Merlot. It started with 80%

Cab Sav, but now is 90% Cab Sav and since 2000 all the grapes used in the Pinnacle are grown at Standing Stone.

Marti gave us the history of each vintage we tasted of the Pinnacle - '95,'03,'05,'06 and '07. 1995 was a good year - hot and dry, 2003 was wet and cool ( like this year?), in 2005 there weren't many reds available because in the winter of 2004 the temperature went from 67 degrees on Jan. 6th to -10 degrees on Jan 10th killing many of the vines. The 2006 vintage is ready to drink now and the 2007 was just bottled last month and has not yet been released. We had wonderful food pairings - olive bread and spreads, duck, sausage. Overall a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We left with several bottles of their 2005 Pinnacle and a Chardonnay Ice Wine. Here are some upcoming verticals at Standing Stone.

UPCOMING VERTICAL TASTINGS
at STANDING STONE VINEYARDS

September 6, 2009 2-4 pm: Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

October 4, 2009: Merlot

Cost: $20 per person, call to make a reservation
Standing Stone Vineyards9934 Route 414Hector, NY 14841 (607) 582-6051www.standingstonewines.com

Raspberries and Wine

2009-07-20T23:12:00.003-04:00

Anyone who has raspberry bushes knows what I have been doing several times a day every day for the past 3 weeks! Yes, it's been a bumper crop of berries. I have created pies and more pies, muffins and more pies. I have frozen them by the bag full! There is absolutely NOTHING to compare to having raspberries in vanilla yogurt in February. You are instantaneously transported back to July. Heaven.

Now I don't want to mislead you into thinking I didn't have any help with the picking. But first, flash back a to a year ago to when my helper, Rory was around. Rory would sit patiently by the bushes as I picked. There would be a raspberry for me, one for Rory, and one for the basket as I went merrily picking along. That dog could catch a raspberry tossed at him from any angle. He was a dead-eye! Fast forward to Maggie (aka: Pac-man as shown above). So much work to do on that dog - so little time (and energy!)

Anyway, I got to thinking as I was picking, how growing raspberries is very much like growing grapes (but on a MUCH less intense scale). I worry about how low I trimmed the plants during the fall and winter. I obsess over the little berries as they sprout in the Spring: Will this be a good crop? Will it be too wet or dry this season? As the berries develop, then pop, I become concerned with mold, spots on the fruit, too many berries together on one branch. And now as the picking winds down, I am already planning my growing strategy for next year. Is it worth it? You bet, especially in those seemingly endless days of winter. Just as a smooth, deep red Cabernet Franc or Merlot is well worth the effort as you sip it by the fire on a cold winter's night.

We waited until the cows came home!

2009-07-09T20:36:00.011-04:00

It's not every day you run into a cattle stampede on the east side of Seneca Lake on the way to visit wineries! OK, so they were calves and there were only about 8 of them. They had obviously

"escaped" from home and were giddy with freedom. They had traffic stopped in both directions as they merrily darted back and forth down the road (jumping over the white and yellow lines). You could almost hear them talking to each other:

"Hey, let's head for that big wine barrel down the road."

"OK, we're all with you!"

"Well, no, maybe we should turn around..."

"OK let's turn around."

"Hey look, there's some really sweet looking grass over there!"

"Let's go for it - hey watch that white line - come on!"

"No, I really think we should..."

As we carefull drove around them on our way to Damiani Wine Cellars, we couldn't help but chuckle at their great escape and obvious enjoyment of freedom. They reminded me of school kids let out for the summer - free at last and not sure what to do first. Oh, to live in the moment like that!

Damiani Wine Cellars (http://www.damianiwinecellars.com/) is owned and operated by Phil Davis and Lou Damiani, friends and natives of Seneca Lake. They produce limited quantities of "fine, hand-crafted wine." Their wines are dry or "off dry" and they even offer a few unfiltered wines (like tasting it directly out of the barrel). In the white wines, they are currently offering Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio,and Riesling all 2007 vintage. They also offer a Dolce Bianco NV (blend of Vignoles, Cayuga and Vidal grapes) which won the Bronze Medal at the 2007 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition and a Silver medal from the 2008 Golden Nose Competition. The reds include Vino Rosso NV (Pinot Noir and Rougeon,Vincent and Leon Millet hybrids blend), 2006 Pinot Noir, 2007 Pinot Noir, 2007 Cabernet Franc (double gold medal winner and scored an 87 in Wine Spectator), 2006 Merlot, 2007 Merlot (double gold and gold medal winner and Wine Spectator score of 86), 2006 Meritage and a 2007 Barrel Select Merlot Reserve wine. We had a great time doing vertical tastings of the Pinot Noir and Merlot as well as pairing wines with artisan chocolates available at the winery. Damiani's wines were delicious - smooth and flavorful. While we know the reds in the Finger Lakes keep getting better, Damiani's really excel. And what a thrill to see their wines (and the Finger Lakes Region) represented in Wine Spectator! Hard choices, but we ended up purchasing the Cab Sauv (unfiltered) and the 2007 Merlot. Then we found 2 bottles of the Cab Franc at a local liquor store (the winery is sold out), so will try one of them soon and let you know our impression. My friend, Jon, who was at Damiani Cellars earlier in the day, purchased the Barrel Select Merlot (it is a double gold, gold and silver medal winner with a rating of 87 in Wine Spectator). Jon is planning a return trip in October when the 2008's are released! We're with you Jon, we will definately make a return trip to Damiani Wine Cellars! (Hopefully the cows will stay home!)

Shaw Vineyard and other spring fieldtrips

2009-07-03T20:10:00.009-04:00

This spring Jim and I enjoyed several wine trips and a vertical tasting!

In March we were back at Standing Stone for a vertical wine tasting of Cabernet Franc. Marti (the owner) was full of great information and it is just so much fun to be able to compare wines throughout several years. I believe we tried the 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007. The type of summer, methods of pruning and wine making improvements all contributed to the taste of the wine in a given year. The wines were accompanied by delicious crackers, breads, cheeses and spreads. It was a lot of fun as always.

April saw us at Hunt Country. Sadly Gus, the Bernese Mountain Dog and winery mascot passed away, but we spied the new puppy in her kennel. The winery said they were planning on releasing a "Sweet Gus" wine in May. As always, their wines are delicious. We stopped down the road at Dr. Franks for some more enjoyable wine tasting. We really liked their Lemberger, which is available only at the winery. We also got quite an education and a demonstration on the use of proper wineglasses for the type of wine you are drinking and the difference (yes, you can tell the difference) it makes in the taste of the wine.

In May the kid came home from college, so we just did more drinking in general as we all readjusted to each other! By June we made the trip to Shaw Vineyard on the West shore of Seneca Lake. Shaw Vineyard http://www.shawvineyard.com/ is a boutique winery that specializes in dry wines and the philosophy of "quality over quantity." Housed in a beautiful timber framed structure, the tasting room opened in 2007. Steve Shaw Jr. , whose father is the winemaker and owner, poured us tastes of their award winning wines. True to their philosophy, they offer the following white wines: Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Dry Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. Being Riesling lovers, we thought the Dry Riesling was excellent and purchased a bottle, however the reds really stood out. They offer a Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cab Sav, and N.V. Keuka Hill Reserve (a Bordeaux style blend). We purchased and last week enjoyed the 2003 (yes, 2003) Cabernet Sauvignon. Steve believes in letting his reds age before bottling them much like what is done in Europe. It was delicious on its own as well as paired with our beef dinner. An interesting note is that Steve Shaw and friend, Morton Hallgren winemaker and owner of Ravines Cellars, share space at Shaws to craft their wines. We highly recommend a trip to Shaw Vineyards- it is well worth the visit.

Coming up: the winemaker's dinner at the Pultneyville Grill and the cattle stampede on the way to Damiani Wine Cellars!

Wine in Supermarkets? What's your opinion?

2009-03-04T21:37:00.004-05:00

There has been an awful lot in the newspapers lately about selling wine in supermarkets in New York State. Wineries are divided between those who see it as an avenue for more exposure (and who are blacklisted by liquor stores as a result) and those who remain loyal to their liquor stores. Consumers are divided also between those who feel it would increase drunk driving fatalities and those who would like the convenience of picking up a bottle of wine to go with dinner at Wegmans. I think it is an interesting question and I would like to hear from people in one of those 35 or so states who do sell wine in supermarkets. How has it impacted liquor store sales, the local wine industry and the state's revenues?
Some thoughts:
Will grocery stores be selling the lower end wines mainly and if so how will that impact the local wine industries and liquor store sales? I know I go to the liquor stores for their expertise and to get a "nice" bottle of wine.
How much of the NY State wines will the groceries carry in relation to California wines or wines from other countries? Will it be a huge plus for the local wineries or will just some of the more prominent wineries get their table whites and reds on the shelf?
Why can't the liquor stores expand in other areas to compensate? One wrote that different types/flavors of vodkas alone could take over their stores. What about liquor stores being able to carry beer to make up the losses in wine sales?
As for the ability of youth to get their hands on the wine from grocery stores and therefore increase the number of teen drinking and driving fatalities, I guess I would have to do a little research to get some objective statistics on that.
What about those of you in those states where they sell wine in grocery stores? What can you tell us? I would certainly like to see it happen if it is truly promoting and increasing sales for our local wineries and I find it appalling that local wineries would get their product delegated to the bottom shelf in local liquor stores because of their stand on the issue. How can we find the win-win for liquor stores and wineries in this scenario?

Fox Run's Valentine Dinner - Awesome!

2009-02-18T18:02:00.004-05:00

Whodunit?

2009-01-04T16:48:00.010-05:00

Most cities have "All of (insert name of your city) Reads" to promote literacy by having a book the whole city or town reads and discusses at their book clubs! Well now we have "All of the Finger Lakes Region Solves the Wine Murder Mystery!" This great promotional idea comes from a Webster consulting firm, CLI, with the goal of promoting Finger Lakes Wineries and their excellent wines. So - go to http://www.areuinthegame.com/home.htm to find out how to play the game and gather clues. The deadline to submit your entry form is January 31 with winners to be announced February 2nd. You will want to start playing now as some clues can only be obtained at the wineries. And yes- there is a cash prize! Wouldn't it be cool if one of us figures out who killed the world renowned wine expert at a tasting conference held in Geneva NY (at a place sounding very similar to Belhurst Castle pictured above)? See you sleuths at the wineries!

2008 Reflections

2008-12-22T21:41:00.010-05:00

As the end of the year draws close, I reflect on this past year and a few of the wonderful wines we've tried recently and which deserve a mention:

Hermann J. Wiemer 2007 Merlot

Hermann J. Wiemer 2007 Estate White

Dr. Frank 's 2006 Merlot

Standing Stone Pinnacle 2005

Standing Stone Cab Franc 2006

Happy New Year!

Drink Finger Lakes Wines - responsibly!

Fox Run Vineyard's Harvest Winemakers Dinner

2008-11-12T20:21:00.023-05:00

My loving husband, bless his soul, knew that the only way to help me come to grips with my monumental birthday was to wine and dine me! And he made a spectacular choice. Nothing could have been more perfect than our Harvest Winemakers Dinner at Fox Run Vineyards on November 1. You can see by the photo that it was an enchanting evening! From the picture perfect setting in the old wine making room to each course and glass of wine to the company, the evening was spectacular!

Jim and I entered the Fox Run Winery at 6:00 pm sharp and proceeded to the front wine tasting room facing Seneca Lake. Hors d'oeuvres abounded: crab cakes, bacon wrapped scallops, shrimp, cheese galore and more. You could sample any of the wines to go with them. We were approached by a gentleman who asked what wine we wanted to try and of course our first response was "Riesling" . He suggested the semi-dry as we were having the Dry Riesling with one of our dinner courses. We got chatting and the gentleman introduced himself to us as Peter Bell (the winemaker!!!) We had a great conversation about NY State wines, fun wine gatherings (especially our "Try the Tierce" party) and kids in college and otherwise. Then it was time to eat...

The group all went downstairs into the candle-lit Barrel Room and took our seats at the beautifully set long table (There were 30 of us). As we were taking our seats and chatting to the people around us, Peter came over and sat next to me! The owners of the winery, Scott and Ruth Osborn sat down at the other end of the table. Scott got up and introduced himself , his wife, Peter, executive Chef Frank Caravita and then spoke a little about the winery and the dinner and what to expect.

Peter then got up to tell about the first wine/food pairing:

Celery Root Soup with Bacon and Green Apple along with Fox Runs 2006 Chardonnay. Delicious! Our next course was a mixed Baby Green Salad topped with Fried Brie Cheese and Walnut Dressing. This was paired with their exquisite 2007 Dry Riesling. Course 3: Cheese Raviolis with Pumpkin and Sage Sauce paired with the 2007 Reserve Pinot Noir. The fourth course was Roasted Pork Loin with Root Vegetables and Pear Chutney paired with the 2006 Lemberger (very much like a Shiraz) and finally dessert - Normandy Apple Tart paired with Tawny Port. PHEW! Everything was out of this world. In between courses, we had plenty of time to learn about how wine glasses influence the wine's taste, what good things are in wine that keep us healthy, what "umami" is (google it!) and mostly about the wonderful wines this winery produces (and has produced for the past 15 years). Fox Run has been chosen as one of the top 100 wineries in the world by Wine and Spirits Magazine and Peter Bell is considered one of the top 22 winemakers in the United States! This dinner is proof positive of why they are so successful.

After the dinner/feast we were able to purchase some wines, so we happily left with a bottle of 2006 Lemberger (which we have already enjoyed with Jim's famous smoked pulled pork) and a bottle of the 2005 Reserve Cab Franc that we will save for an occasion. We also had time to chat with the Scott and Ruth and let them know what a fantastic time we had at the dinner.

Fox Run will host another winemakers dinner in February (Valentine's Dinner) and Jim and I are already looking forward to it!

Conesus and Hemlock Lake Wineries, Deer Run and Eagle Crest

2008-10-18T16:34:00.009-04:00

Wow, what an absolutely spectacular autumn day in upstate New York. And the perfect day to check out some wineries we have never been to before. Pack member Lorri and I had attended a wine-tasting fundraiser for AIDS a few weeks back and tried some wines from various wineries, one of which was Eagle Crest. So on this perfect fall day a few weeks back, Jim and I decided to go to the wineries themselves.

Deer Run Winery (http://www.deerrunwinery.com/), located on the west side of Conesus Lake was founded in 2002 by George and Joan Kuton. Their son, Scott has joined them as vineyard manager. The building used for wine production, tasting and other functions was finished in 2003. They currently offer 19 varieties of wine! Jim and I tried several wines and ended up bringing home the Chambourcin 2006 which is made from Noiret grapes and is peppery and dry ( .4% RS and a steal at $10.99 a bottle). We had it with pizza tonight and it stood up to the pepperoni quite well! We also bought their Cab Franc at $14.99 because Jim loves Cab Franc! We may have a Cab Franc blind tasting party, so need to gather some of these wines up. We are also going to take advantage of their special offerings such as their dinners and special tastings as they are only 30 miles/minutes south of us.

Eagle Crest Vineyards(http://www.eaglecrestvineyards.com/), located on the western shore of Hemlock Lake, has an unusual story. Founded in 1872 by Bishop Bernard McQuaid as O-Neh-Da Vineyard, they made sacramental alter wines for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester. While they still make sacramental wines, under the current name of Eagle Crest (for the bald Eagles that nest in the Hemlock Lake area), they specialize in making pure grape wines from Finger Lakes grapes, using only natural grape sugars (no corn sweeteners or cane sugars).
We tried their dry wines: Hemlock Lake Red ($9.99) Cabernet Franc ($13.99), unoaked Chardonnay ($11.99), Riesling ($12.99), their semi dry- On-no-lee($8.99), Midnight Moon ($10.99) and their Solar Flare ($13.99 - a bargain) late harvest wine. They also offer Hemlock Lake White ($9.99), a dry blend of Seval and Vidal Blanc grapes, sweet wines: Diamond ($8.99)and Niagara ($7.99), and even sweeter Queen of Hearts($8.49), Yummy($8.99), and Concord ($8.99). We thought all the wines we tasted were very good and ended up taking the Solar Flare (thinking about having a dessert wine party) and the Hemlock Lake Red to have with pasta one of thee nights.. Eagle Crest uses screw tops on all their wines so you don't lose any wines to a bad cork. It also comes in handy when your wine puller broke like our Bully Hill one did this month after 25 years of pulling corks!

Stay tuned. Jim and I went to Fox Run's 5 course dinner with the wine maker last weekend to celebrate my birthday (OK, it's official, I'm OLD) and it was fabulous!

Standing Stone's Vertical Wine Tasting

2008-09-04T20:04:00.015-04:00

Let me set the stage: early August, 85 degrees, a big tent in the front of the winery facing the lake where a wedding had been the day before (what a setting for a wedding!), a cloudless summer day with a blue sky and a gentle breeze. We sat on (what is now) an enclosed porch facing the lake as we enjoyed the wines and the informal chat with the winery's owner, Marti Macinski, a lawyer turned vintner with her husband Tom. This was a vertical wine tasting where you sample the same wine from different years. The wine - Cabernet Franc - yum!

The Cab Franc's we tasted were from 1995, 1998, 2001, 2005, and 2006. If you have never been to a vertical wine tasting, it is a real experience to taste older wines. Sometimes you don't really know what to expect from an older wine and wonder, when you open it, if it is corked or if that's the way it is supposed to taste. Vertical tastings or tastings of library wines give you an experience that most of us have never had who don't have extensive, really aged wines in our wine cellars (or the boxes of wine in the basement as the case may be). Jim and I went to a tasting at McGregor's Winery about 5 years back where we tasted a really old (20+ year old) Riesling. It tasted like petroleum! That is what old Rieslings apparently taste like, but I would have thrown it out after smelling it! Go figure!

Anyway, these Cab Franc's really showed the growth of the Cab Franc wine at Standing Stone. The 1995 Cab Franc was what you would expect from a red wine of the Finger Lakes region at that point in time. It was OK, but nothing special. 1998 was a little better because it was a good growing year, but still - none of the nuances and flavors that make a really good Cab Franc. The 2001 was MUCH better due to different techniques in the growing, harvesting and aging processes and a new winemaker who came on board in 2000. We both liked the 2005 the best. This was a fantastic growing season and all the improvements came together to produce a wonderful, smooth Cab Franc with lots of cherry and plum flavors. The 2006 was good, too, but not quite as full bodied as the 2005 due to a different growing season. (And we know the 2007 growing season was really good, too, so get ready for another excellent Cab Franc)! We discussed terrior (how the minerals in the land affect flavor) with Marti. Seneca, Keuka, and Cayuga Lakes all have different flavors in their Cab Francs depending on the lake the grapes are grown on as well as the side of the lake they are on.

Standing Stone Winery in Lodi, New York offers vertical and other wine tastings. Check out their website http://www.standingstonewines.com/ for more details. We enjoyed it so much, we joined their wine club which allows us to come back for more vertical or library wine tastings as well as receiving 2 bottles of wine every few months.

I think a good idea for our next wine tasting with The Pack would be to blind taste Rieslings or Cab Francs from each lake and see which ones we like best. I'll get back to you with the results! Better yet, let me know if your wine group does this and what you liked and I'll post everyone's results!

A Toast to Rory

2008-08-19T11:21:00.003-04:00

Please find a glass and a lovely bottle of something golden - the American Oak Reserve Chardonnay from Casa Larga, Lamoreaux Landing's Chardonnay, or perhaps a lovely, sweet late harvest (Standing Stone) or ice wine with a deep golden, amber color. Raise your glass in a toast to Rory, who went out with his boots on. To a super golden dog!

Wine, Lilacs and Mother's Day!

2008-05-09T16:17:00.012-04:00

Where did April go? We really did go visit wineries in April: Penguin Bay, a return trip to Standing Stone to see their latest renovations as well as taste their outstanding wines and Wagner's. The 2007 vintages are starting to come out and they are VERY promising. I will get information up on each trip soon. But for now, with Mother's Day coming up I thought I'd forward a Mother's Day event! Here is a great combo - visit Casa Larga in Fairport, NY for their Mother's Day at the Vineyard event . Moms can have free tastings from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm. Then, after purchasing a bottle of wine, visit the Lilac Hill Nursery http://lilachillnursery.com/ right across the street from the winery. There mom can choose a lilac for her yard! They have a wonderful collection of lilac varieties. My two favorites currently in bloom in my yard are my bluish Abraham Lincoln (which you can see above with Maggie) and my exquisite Sensation (not quite in bloom yet, but still sensational)! Only people from Rochester NY would get so excited by lilacs, but come on - it's the weekend of the Lilac Festival, Mother's Day AND free wine tastings for moms at Casa Larga! Does it get any better than this? By the way, Laura Wilder designed this year's Lilac Festival Poster. (Laura designed our Logo and did the print of Rory on this website). You can visit the festival website at: http://www.lilacfestival.com/

I promise to get back to the wines after Mother's Day. Right now, the real retrievers are waiting for a walk with mom around the yard to smell the lilacs. And mom will be sipping a glass of Lilac Hill or Tapestry wine from Casa Larga!

Hunt Country Vineyards and the elusive Gus spotting

2008-03-31T20:35:00.006-04:00

Sunday was such a beautiful day , a great day to take advantage of by hopping in the car to check out the Keuka Lake wineries. This weekend was Keuka Lake's World Tour of Food and Wine. (Don't panic if you missed it, they will have another one on April 19-20th!) . We stopped in Hunt Country Vineyards just a mile west of Branchport upon the recommendation of fellow "pack" members, Lorri and Dave. We were not disappointed. This 6th generation of winemakers produce award winning (and very delicious) wines. But before I get to the wines, I want to tell you about Gus. As we pulled into the parking lot, we could see an amusing cut out caricature of grape stompers. If you look closely you can see that in the barrel with the man and woman are 2 Bernese Mountain dogs! Thus the winery's mascot - 8 year old Gus the Bernese Mountain Dog. We didn't see Gus when we arrived so asked where he was. We were told that Gus had just had his bath and couldn't be allowed back out in the mud. He was hanging out on the porch of the homestead. However, as we were leaving, we were lucky enough to have a "Gus spotting." Gus saw us looking at him and quietly, stealthily slipped off the porch and started inching his way toward us. But, knowing he was on the brink of getting in trouble, he hesitated. At that moment, with the zoom camera, we snapped that elusive Gus photo! So there you have it - a rare Gus spotting!

Now about the wines at Hunt Country. I am sipping a glass of Alchemy as I write this. It is a delicious red wine combination: 45% Cab Franc, 40% Cab Sauv and 15% Noiret. Noiret is a peppery grape that Cornell is test-growing. It adds a really nice little zing to this wine. The other wines we tried were as follows:
Dry Riesling 2006 ($13.99) Very delicious, crisp and dry.

Pinot Gris 2007 ($15.99) Nice and light - this one will only get better with age.

Champagne Chardonnay ($13.99). What a delightful, light champagne at a really great price! You could drink this everyday!
Valvin Muscat 2007 ($14.99) A new white, apricot-y and smooth.

Semi-Dry Riesling 2007 ($13.99) - good, but personally, I like the Dry Riesling better. This one has 2% residual sugar,

Cabernet Franc 2005 ($21.99) Very dry - great aroma. A delicious Cab Franc only sold at the winery, but worth the trip. The Finger Lakes are doing Cab Franc's better and better.
Alchemy ($13.99) As stated above, really nice. This one tastes better after breathing a bit!

The "before and after dinner wines" were a real treat:

Late Harvest Vignoles 2007 ($19.99) I really liked this sweet wine. It would go great with blue-veined or cranberry cheeses. Excellent.
Ruby Port ($14.99) This was a real surprise treat, especially when paired with dark chocolate.

Vidal Blanc Ice Wine 2006 ($39.99) Very good and very sweet!

We really enjoyed chatting with Pat, our server and with Joyce Hunt, the owner. This is a trip worth taking.

(And as you can see, this winery helped me out with my problem mentioned in the previous post!)

It's all in the details

2008-03-22T14:34:00.010-04:00

My house was absolutely euphoric this morning! You might think it was because the sun has been shining for 2 days in a row (even though it's 27 degrees outside) or because Spring is on the way and robins are arriving. But no, it was because Jim read in this morning's paper that Jamie Lee Curtis is posing "shirtless" for AARP magazine! Wow. That got his attention right away! As a new AARP, he is ecstatic - going on and on about what a GREAT group these AARPS are and aren't I jealous I'm not "in" with them? I don't know how I can keep him contained until the magazine comes out Monday with Jamie Lee on the cover!

OK, let's look a little closer at the story. It says Jamie Lee is shown "sporting silver hair and wading in water up to her chest" on the May/June AARP magazine cover. Come on, what will they really be showing... her shoulders? Sorry Mr. AARP, we don't want any of you "cool" members having a heart attack when you get your AARP magazine! Reading further, it says the Jamie herself won't be an AARP until November 22nd! Snap! She's YOUNGER than me, has gray hair and is hiding under water! Now I'm feeling pretty darn good about myself until the teenage daughter brings me down by pointing out that I got the short straw in the important female attribute gene pool. Poor me. Poor Jim. Damn those details!

On the plus side, a winery that pays meticulous attention to detail is the Vineyard of Hermann J. Wiemer. We visited his winery on the west side of Seneca Lake late last summer and had a wonderful chat with Laura who served us the wines. The tasting room is located off the retail shop in an enchanting old stone and wood barn on the property. It was cool and shady inside, although you could wander out on a sunlit stone patio. We were the only ones there initially, so we got the chance to try some wines that we might not have had the opportunity to in a large group. Fred Merwarth is the current winemaker, but Hermann J. Wiemer is still very involved and checks the vintages daily. The winery produces small lots which enables the winemaker to have the best control of the final product. As a legend in Finger Lakes wine development, Hermann J. Wiemer's Vineyard has won many, many awards. Check out their website at http://www.wiemer.com/ for more information and to sign up on their e-mail list.

Here's what we tried:

1999 Chardonnay. It was sold in limited quantities until gone, but was at its peak last summer. Really nice - bold.

Cabernet Franc - dry and delicious. It was in the top 3 of 100 in international wine competition.

Gewurztraminer - tasted of peaches and melon. Yumm. I really like Gewerz.

2006 Dry Riesling described by Laura as"heaven in a glass". And it was! .9 percent residual sugar - crisp!

2006 Reserve Dry ( 1.5% residual sugar)

Semi-Dry Riesling (2.4% rs) sweeter with a nice finish.

Late Harvest (3.4% rs) Yumm.

I loved everything I tasted, but the best was yet to come. We were able to taste the ....

Trochenbeerenauslese ($50.00 a bottle). Wow - this was the nectar of the Gods!

Finally, we sampled the 2003 Select Late Harvest Riesling- at 13% residual sugar it's honey taste just lingered.

It is well worth a trip to the Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyards to sample the wines. You will understand the meticulous care and attention to details that make this winery stand out!

Updates and Ramblings

2008-03-12T20:13:00.005-04:00

I have been very bad about updating. Let's see, there were the college FASFA forms, Rory's surgery, Bryn AND Jim's big milestone birthdays. I turned around and it is March! By the way, Rory is doing fine. Of the 2 tumors on his liver, one was benign and the other a slow growing cancer. We are hoping that the other spots on his liver are also the slow growing kind and that we will have much more time in the pleasure of his company! He was a real trooper (6 days at the vets) and is back to rough housing with Maggie.

Maggie will be 3 this month, and we're still waiting for our female "Marley" to settle down. Case in point: the dog is very talented in the barking department. She can bark with a bone, stick, 5 pound dumbbell, sock or just about anything else in her mouth. The other day she was out in the back yard barking and barking. I was going to call her in before the neighbors started complaining, when I notice a deer standing in the thicket about 10 feet from her, staring at her. There's our Maggie sitting in the snow, stick in mouth, barking at the deer, tail wagging, as if to say "look at me, look at my cool stick - let's play!" The deer-statue must have stood there staring at her for a good 5 minutes before she snorted ("you're nuts") and ran off -much to Maggie's disappointment. Fortunately our girl doesn't let things get her down (combined with her memory lasting about 1/17th of a second), and she came bounding happily back to the door.

Did you notice in this morning's D&C, the article about the Wine Spectator scoring several of Seneca Lake's 2006 Rieslings? The ratings were as follows:

Anthony Road's semi-dry Riesling - 89 points
Atwater Estate's Riesling - 88 points

Chateau LaFayette Reneau Johannisberg Riesling- 88 points

Fox Run Reserve Riesling - 88 points

Red Newt Reserve Riesling - 88 points

White Spring Riesling - 87 points
What a real honor for those Seneca Lake wineries to be among the top rated wines!

Here are some upcoming wine events in March (thanks to http://www.localwineevents.com/). By the way, March is a great time to hit the wineries because there are usually smaller crowds and you can often get some quality chatting time with the people there.

St. Patrick's Irish Weekend
Mar 15, 2008 (Sat) to Mar 16, 2008 (Sun) @ 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Place: Cobblestone Farm Winery and Vineyard
Romulus
Cost: Free Admission
Wine Event
Join us for a St. Patrick's Irish Weekend. Enjoy award winning wines paired with complimentary Irish fare such as Irish stew and scones.more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-172014.html

Finger Lake International Wine Competition
Mar 28, 2008 (Fri) to Mar 31, 2008 (Mon) @ 9:00 AM - 5:00 AM
Place: The Crowne Plaza Hotel
Rochester
Cost: No cost
Wine Event
The fastest growing wine competition in North America. WINERIES; You are cordially invited to enter THE 8TH ANNUAL FINGER LAKES INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION TO BENEFIT CAMP GOOD...more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-158119.html

World Tour of Food and Wine I
Mar 29, 2008 (Sat) to Mar 30, 2008 (Sun) @ 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Place: Nine wineries surrounding Keuka Lake
Penn Yan
Cost: Fee $20 per person in advance, $25 per p...
Combo Event
Join us for an inspiring event of food and wine pairings on quaint and charming Keuka Lake. Each winery has selected a country or regional food to feature along with fine wines. As...more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-159452.html

Cruisin' the Tropics Weekend
Mar 29, 2008 (Sat) to Mar 30, 2008 (Sun) @ 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Place: Wineries along the Seneca Lake Wine Trai...
Watkins Glen
Cost: $25 per person/$18 for designated driver...
Combo Event
Pull out your tropical shirts, put on your sunglasses, go sockless in your boat shoes, wear your favorite beach hat, and join us for a weekend of relaxation in the tropics . . . ju...more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-159723.html

Enjoy!

February Finger Lakes Wine Events

2008-02-05T21:46:00.000-05:00

Upcoming Wine Events (some events have no cost listed. Please contact the wineries to find out about costs):

Casa Larga Vineyards - Sweetheart's Saturday
Feb 09, 2008 (Sat) @ 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Place: Casa Larga Vineyards
Fairport
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with your sweetheart at Casa Larga! Our Wine Shop will be offering a variety of special treats in honor of the holiday, including samples of our Blanc de...more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-153251.html

Celebrate Chocolate & Wine Weekend
Feb 09, 2008 (Sat) to Feb 10, 2008 (Sun) @ 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Place: Wineries along the Seneca Lake Wine Trai...
Watkins Glen
Cost: $25/person or $18 for designated driver
Enjoy a self-guided tour around beautiful Seneca Lake. Pick up your gift item at your assigned starting winery then start sampling chocolates, or foods prepared with chocolate, ...more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-159728.html

Cobblestone Farm Winery Sweet Sensation Weekend
Feb 09, 2008 (Sat) to Feb 10, 2008 (Sun) @ 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Place: Cobblestone Farm Winery and Vineyard
Romulus
Cost: None
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with your loved one. Enjoy fine wines paired with complimentary tasty treats such as cheesecake, apple pie, and chocolate brownies. more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-165233.html

Fire and Ice Ice Wine Festival - Casa Larga Vineyards
Feb 10, 2008 (Sun) @ 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Place: Casa Larga Vineyards
Fairport
Cost: $12; $10 for Club Members
Ice Wine takes the stage at this annual event! 2008 marks the 12th year for Fire and Ice™, the celebration of Casa Larga's Ice Wines. Each year, this festival draws hundreds of i...more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-153252.html

Casa Larga Vineyards - Fiori Wine Enthusiast's Dinner
Feb 29, 2008 (Fri) @ 6:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Place: Casa Larga Vineyards
Fairport
Join Casa Larga for an elegant evening of celebration! The dinner is part of a month-long celebration of award winning wines, including Fiori Vidal and Fiori Cabernet Franc ice wi...more: http://www.localwineevents.com/Finger-Lakes-Wine/event-153253.html

Then LIFE steps in...

2008-01-27T20:45:00.000-05:00

Wow. I just re-read the last blog and realized how quickly things change. How wonderful that warm, content, Christmasy-cozy feeling of the last blog entry. Then the wind blew in changes - changes that have yet to fall out and settle. It all started with that beastly blast of wind and the flying pieces of siding, branches and whole trees (not to mention it was TRASH DAY)! After surviving days of electrical ons and offs, life again settled into the quiet routine of work, school, home. Little did we know event number two was just lurking around the corner. Sitting down to an Instructional Council meeting, my cell rang and I heard those dreaded words that every parent hopes they'll never hear... "I was in a car accident Mom." Thankfully, no one was hurt badly (except the cars) but it was a hair whitening, palpitation producing experience! Watching the other car being towed away, flashers flashing, police sweeping the glass, I knew it could have been much worse. So we deal and move on from event number two. Event three started inconspicuously but gained momentum throughout the month. Our Logo/Poster-boy Golden, Rory, went in for his rabies shot and a possible "lump" was uncertainly found. Bringing him back for a second "feel" a week later and it still was as clear as mud. Blood work, however revealed high liver enzymes (not a good sign and indicative of a fast acting cancer), but an ultrasound would possibly clarify things. Meanwhile Rory is acting just fine - chasing Maggie, jumping on the bed.... The ultrasound showed what looked to be a healthy liver, kidneys and heart, but a very large mass possibly coming off his spleen. It was important to get him in to have it removed or it could burst and he could bleed out. Long story short, as he lay on the table, the vet called to say it was indeed coming off the liver (with other bumps evident on the liver) and what did I want to do. GULP. Rory has had the large (size of 2 grapefruits) growth removed as well as part of his liver. He has been at the vets for 5 days now and we're hoping to pick him up tomorrow. The good news is that every time I call, they re-iterate how they can't believe this dog just went through major surgery. I hope we bought him some time and I really hope our run of 3's is over!

I will add a review of the Hermann J. Weimer Vineyard in the next blog posting as well as some upcoming events And I will keep you posted on Rory's progress.

Golden toasting by a cracklin' fire!

2007-12-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

Here are the promised photos of the new room. Rory especially loves the warmth of the fire. This is pure dog contentment!

It was an exceptionally busy holiday season this year. Between births, birthdays, a graduation and Christmas, it has been quite a December!

Our family seems to have a tradition of having birthdays as close to Christmas as possible! On December 23rd my nephew George turned 8 this year. December 24th another nephew, Adam, turned 26. On January 3rd, Adam's daughter Noel will be 7. And we have a new Christmas blessing -Adam's newest daughter, Mia Rose, was born on December 18th! What a tiny, sweet delight she is. She slept peacefully through the presents, the food and all the hoopla! Her parents report that she sleeps pretty well through the night also. How lucky is that?

We have so much to celebrate this New Year. A friend who has just completed radiation treatments for cancer, a child whose college applications are all mailed, a new room for wine tastings in the new year, many dear friends with whom to celebrate throughout the year, and lots of great wines from the 2007 growing season to taste! Our New Year's resolutions will center around New York State wines. Jim and I hope to take a course in February offered at the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua that will give us an internationally recognized certification from the Wine and Education Trust of London, England. We will also keep up our tradition of wine tasting parties throughout the year as well as excursions to the wineries to bring the best wines back to you.

In the mean time, we'll sit back with a glass of Standing Stone's Cab Franc and enjoy the room, the warmth of the fire and the company of our goldens.

So, raise your glass for a toast to 2008. May it be a fabulous, memorable year!

Chateau Lafayette Reneau

2007-12-16T21:26:00.000-05:00

The snow is falling as we sit by a warm fire enjoying a glass of Seyval Chardonnay from Chateau Lafayette Reneau. Yes, the "Porch Room" is done and the fireplace installed. What better way to enjoy the winter than to look out from a toasty-warm room with a glass of wine! I'll post photos soon, I promise. (It could be a good wine-tasting room.....)

Chateau Lafayette Reneau (established in 1985) is located on the East shore of Seneca Lake in Hector, NY and produces a wide variety of premium wines. This delightful Seyval (51%) Chardonnay (49%) blend is light, fruity, yet has a subtle oak/chardonnay flavor, too. A unique twist on a chardonnay that goes down easy and is easy on the wallet ($9.49 at the winery)!

When we were at Chateau Lafayette Reneau this summer we sampled 15 wines for $4.00 and met Jenny the winery cat! We enjoyed the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon ($17.99) which had a smooth cherry and smokey flavor that should age well. We also liked the 2006 Dry Riesling (surprise!), the Seyval Chardonnay and the Pinot Noir Blanc (referred to as "a giant step above White Zinfandel" and a real deal at $9.49).

The setting was gorgeous (especially so now with snow on the ground) and the staff was fun. I don't know how the wine server remembered all the details about each of the wines while serving them all to various small groups in random order around the bar. She was amazing.

Chateau Lafayette Reneau will be among the wineries on Seneca Lake celebrating the Bargain Bash - Saturday through Sunday, January 13th - 21st, 2007, 10:00am-6:00 pm. This Seneca Lake Wine Trail Event is open to the public and a good way to stock up on the wines you like to help you through the rest of the snowy, cold winter!

Tom Turkey and Standing Stone Vineyards

2007-11-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

What wines did you serve with your Thanksgiving dinner? We opted for a Gewurztraminer and a Cabernet Franc with dinner and a tasty late harvest vignoles as our dessert wine. I chose the white wine, a 2006 Gewurztraminer from Casa Larga Vineyards. Light and slightly spicy, it really complimented the big bird and all the trimmings. Jim, the red wine lover, chose a 2006 Cabernet Franc from Standing Stone Vineyards. This cab franc is delicious - light and dry, lots of cherry/fruitiness, and a smooth finish. We tried a piece of dark chocolate with it tonight - it tasted like chocolate covered cherries! Really wonderful!
This wine took us back to when we visited the Standing Stone Vineyards this past summer. Located on the east side of Seneca Lake near Hector, NY, Standing Stone has a spectacular view of the Lake! Now I sit here writing in 28 degree weather with snow on the ground, but the day we were at Standing Stone was one of those 90 degree days. We walked from the stifling heat into the cool, cottage-like tasting room. Outside the tasting room is a huge deck overlooking the lake. The owners do it all - landscaping, serving people and bottling their wines. We sampled their 2005 Reserve Chardonnay, the 2006 Gewurztraminer, the 2006 Riesling, the 2006 Cabernet Franc and the Vidal Ice Wine. All were very, very good, but the Cabernet Franc ($17.99) and Gewurztraminer ($18.99) were our choices to bring home.
We haven't tried the Gewurztraminer yet- we're saving it for a Gewurztraminer tasting/rating one of these days. But the Cab Franc was the perfect addition to our Thanksgiving table! Yum!

Mayers Lake Ontario Winery and Vineyards

2007-11-04T16:35:00.000-05:00

Wow! Another stunning fall day! We have been so blessed this fall with the warm weather and stunning fall colors... AND everything I read says that this year's grape harvest is the best in many years. I can't wait to start tasting the '07 wines!

Jim and I took a few minutes out of our weekend to visit a small winery close to us - Mayers Lake Ontario Winery and Vineyards located at Mayers Cider Mill. Mayers makes their wine currently in Webster, but grows their grapes on land in Hilton, NY. They are planning on building the beautiful winery in Hilton that they depict on their labels. We had visited Mayers this summer to purchase beer-making supplies (they have wine making supplies and classes also!) and knew they were working on the new wine tasting room and deck. The room is quaint - nicely decorated with a small wood bar, tables and shelves. They offer polo shirts and baseball caps with their logo as well as unique wine bottle bags and other wine paraphernalia. We both started out with a delicious semi-dry Riesling (of course). I went on to sample the Pinot Grigo (appropriately light and smooth) and the Pinot Noir (light, fruity with a nice finish). Jim sampled the Oaked Chardonnay (nice and oak-y!) and the Cabernet Franc, which he especially enjoyed. They also offer specialty wines (reds and whites), a Blush Chardonnay, a nice middle-of-the-road-in-sweetness Cayuga wine, and sweeter Niagara and sweet Riesling wines. As new wines are bottled, they are added to the sampling list. If you are up North in the Webster area, it is well worth the stop (pick up some cider while you're there, too!). We are eagerly anticipating the opening of the new winery in Hilton when it is complete. We'll keep you posted!

"Best of Show" Newsletter

2007-10-27T14:36:00.000-04:00

It's finally here - our "Best of Show" Newsletter - the super-informative newsletter in which we champion New York State wines to help you with your wine selection needs. This first issue will spotlight the "Best of Breed" Rieslings and you will want to lap them up! Now is the time to stockpile those Rieslings to pair with your Thanksgiving turkey! Your guests will howl about your wonderful selections much like Maggie howls for her latest love - Friz (as in frisbee).

When you sign up to subscribe to the semi-annual e-newsletter we will also include you in exclusive notifications of hidden treasures and limited offerings. What a deal for $5.00! Please send a note with your name, e-mail address and payment to:

Finger Lakes Wine Retrievers

PO Box 8105

Webster, NY 14580

Riesling, Riesling, Riesling

2007-10-14T21:38:00.000-04:00

The PACK got together last night to judge the best of the Finger Lakes Rieslings and what a tough job it was! Jim and I retrieved our 10 favorite Rieslings this summer: 2006 Dr. Frank Dry Riesling, 2006 Dr. Frank Semi-Dry Riesling, 2006 Prejean Dry Riesling, 2006 Brickstone Semi Dry Riesling, 2006 Hermann Wiemer Semi-Dry Riesling, 2006 Hermann Wiemer Dry Riesling,2006 Fox Run Riesling, 2006 McGregor Semi-Dry Riesling, 2006 Thirsty Owl Dry Riesling, and 2005 Tierce Dry Riesling. Now remember, we are just average dogs, no sophisticated palates in this group! We had cool rating sheets, bottles in bags labeled A,B,C, etc. and cups with the letters of the wine bags written on them. One cup per wine. To cleanse our palates, we had plenty of Gouda, cheddar and other delicious cheeses that compliment Rieslings. We poured the first 5 and were set to go! Whoa – this suddenly seemed like work. The Aromas, Color and Clarity were easy. It was the Taste, (body, acidity, intensity),Finish and Balance that were tough. Remember that each of these wines is excellent on its own, so to try to compare them, well, was darn difficult! We forged on even as some encountered obstacles! The next 5 wines seemed easier – maybe we were getting the hang of all this. We took a break, ate our seafood chowder in Panera bread bowls (yum), and got ready for rating the 5 finalists. There were some surprises and shocks in our final scores, but overall, we were fairly consistent among ourselves in our findings. To find out how each of the wines scored, you’ll have to subscribe to our newsletter (information on how to subscribe forthcoming this week), so stay tuned. Now I’m dogged tired and need a nap!

Thirsty Owl Wine Company

2007-09-30T20:36:00.000-04:00

We were in the liquor store today making our wine selections for our wine tasting at the Yarn Tasting at Spiritwork Knitting this Friday night. Looking at all the Finger Lakes, wines brought back many great memories of our travels to the wineries this summer. Our trip to the Thirsty Owl Wine Company was one really fond memory that I’ll tell you about in a minute. First, I want to let you know about the wines we will offer at the yarn shop. We thought we would present a variety of wines for all wallets and tastes! Our lowest priced but very delicious favorite is Fox Run’s Arctic Fox. This is a white blend (table wine) that is very drinkable with or without food pairings. Next, we will have a Casa Larga’s Limited Release American Oak Reserve Chardonnay (2004). For Riesling lovers, we will offer Dr. Frank’s Semi Dry Riesling (2006). Brickstone’s Cabernet Franc (2004)will be our red selection and we’ll also have Prejean’s Late Harvest Vignoles (2005)in our dessert wine category. To find out what you need to do to attend go to Spiritworkknits.com. We’ll take lots of pictures to post here, too.
So, about the Thirsty Owl Wine Company… we traveled to Thirsty Owl on the west side of Cayuga Lake on a hot summer afternoon. Being famished by the time we got there from Skaneateles, we decided to eat at their bistro. We sat out on their beautiful pergola overlooking the lake where the intertwining grape vine shade, and soft breeze and made it at least ten degrees cooler. The bistro offered Panini sandwiches, salads, sandwiches and a great fruit and cheese platter. We had the fruit and cheese with a glass of wine- a totally relaxing way to spend the afternoon! (It would be a blast with a group of friends, too) Alas, we did have to leave the pergola and go inside to the beautiful tasting room. We especially wanted to try the award winning 2006 Dry Riesling – an exceptional wine! Of the dry whites, we tried the 2005 Chardonnay, the 2006 Snow Owl (a white blend of sevel blanc and Cayuga white grapes), and the 2006 Vidal Blanc, which was delicious. The semi sweet tasting included a 2006 Riesling and the 2006 Diamond. The diamond grape is a sister grape to the Niagara grape (think Lake Niagara wine). This had a very grape-y smell, but had a much softer, milder taste. We also tried the 2005 Pinot Noir with its subtle plum taste and smoky finish. We enjoyed our visit to Thirsty Owl. Check out their website at http://www.thirstyowl.com/ or better yet, visit the winery. It is worth the trip and I will bet the view is awesome with the fall foliage!

White Springs Farm and Estate Winery

2007-09-12T20:44:00.000-04:00

Every day it seems you read about new wineries in the newspaper. The Three Brother's Winery and Estate was mentioned the other day in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. So many road trips - so little time! Jim and I did get to one of the newer wineries this summer - White Springs Farm Estate Winery on Seneca Lake. It was officially established as an independent winery last year according to the 6/17/07 Democrat and Chronicle. Located on the tip of Seneca Lake in Geneva, NY it has location, location, location and the wine tasting room is beautifully constructed as you can see. We sampled 6 wines for $2.00 (the $2.00 was refundable toward a wine purchase). With Corey pouring the wines, we tried dry whites: 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, 2005 Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio, 2005 Dry Riesling, 2006 Gewurztraminer, then the semi sweet 2005 Riesling, and lastly the dry red 2004 Cabernet Franc. All were $12.99- $14.99 a bottle. The Sauv Blanc was very nice - light and crisp. Jim enjoyed the floral quality to it. The Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio is a 56% Chardonnay, 44% Pinot Grigio blend. The Chardonnay comes across first and it finishes lighter. We also enjoyed the Gewurztraminer with it's long spicy finish and crisp citrus flavors. The 2005 Riesling was fruity, but not too sweet and the Cab Franc was nicely smokey. The winery suggests food pairings on their tasting list - a nice touch. The winery also offered a Friday Night Flight Series which will finish on September 14th (6:30 pm) with "Reds for Every Taste". Tickets are $15 per person and reservations are required. We are sure this winery will do well! Visit it on your fall trip around Seneca Lake.

Grape Stomping and running at Casa Larga Sept. 8, 9

2007-09-05T21:42:00.000-04:00

Casa Larga Vineyards is hosting two special events this weekend September 8th and 9th.
The Race for the Grapes is the winery's 2nd Annual 5K run (or walk) benefiting CURE Childhood Cancer Association. It will be held Saturday, September 8th at 9AM. Registration is at 8AM- $20 per person.

On September 9th from 12:00 to 5:00 PM, clean your feet because it is the 12th annual Purple Foot Festival and Harvest Celebration! You can enjoy Grape Stomping, Vineyard Hay Rides, Wine Tasting, Facility Tours, Wine Seminars and more! Admission is $12.00 ($10.00 for Wine Lover's Club members).

Casa Larga is located on Turk Hill Road in Fairport, NY.

New York Wine and Culinary Center

2007-09-03T16:25:00.000-04:00

Picture this: Family is in the car driving to see a college. Daughter is plugged into her i-pod in the back seat with husband and wife up front. Husband is deep in thought, musing (grumbling) over something, so the good wife asks, “What are you thinking about, dear?” Husband responds with his deepest of thoughts, “I could easily be House” (Referring to the TV show and House’s cranky, dry wit). Daughter: “You’re already Mr. Monk.” (Referring to the TV show and Monk’s obsessive cleanliness). Wife “You could be a combination of both – how about Mouse? Or better yet (laughing hysterically) you could be Hunk!” Husband ponders some more, then says, “You’re really killing INDEPENDENT JIM”
Independent Jim and I decided we needed a little libation to smooth over the roughness of the day. Since we were in Canandaigua, we decided to stop at the New York Wine and Culinary Center, right on the tip of the lake. If you have never been there, GO. It is awesome - from the post and beam construction to all the educational resources about NY State agriculture. At the Center you can eat in the restaurant on the second floor (with outside decks), take a wine and food pairing class in the Educational Theatre, take a cooking lesson in the Hands-On Kitchen or have a private party in the gorgeous Private Dining Room. There is a great range of activities available for the public as well as many special events and a gift shop. Click on the link on the right and explore all the Culinary Center has to offer. I haven’t mentioned one wonderful feature of the Center and that is their wine tasting room. The pictures don’t do justice to the huge 2-story room with its fireplace, wood tones and windows galore. It is breathtaking. The wine tasting room offers “flights’ of wine that you can sample and compare. The wines are from three major areas in New York State: the Finger Lakes, the Niagara Escarpment (near Lake Ontario- Lockport area) and Long Island. It provides us the wonderful option of trying and buying wines that we can’t get here from the Long Island and Buffalo areas.
I had the Riesling Flight that offered three Rieslings to try for $5.00. Jim had the Dry White Flight with five whites to taste for $8.00. Other flight choices were Dry Reds, Empire Tasting, Semi-Dry and Semi-Sweet Wines and New York Harvest Juices (for those not wanting alcohol). Both of our flights featured Finger Lakes wineries only. My flight offered: Hosmer Winery Dry Riesling 2006, Anthony Road Wine Co. Semi-Dry Riesling 2006, and Autumn Falls Semi Dry Riesling 2006. I also snuck a sip off Jim’s Flight- the Fox Run Riesling 2006. Jim’s flight offered: Chateau Frank Célèbre Rose Sparkling Wine, Heron Hill Winery Eclipse White 2005, Belhurst Estate Winery Legends Chardonnay 2004, Sonnenberg Gardens Abundance and Fox Run Vineyards Riesling 2006. The Hosmer Riesling was crisp and delicious and a real deal at $11.99 a bottle. Anthony Road’s Riesling was really delicate, light and citrus-y; a great wine for sipping on a hot summer day! The Autumn Falls (2.7% RS) with hints of peach was most comparable to the Fox Run Riesling (2.6% RS) with its hints of apricot. Jim enjoyed the Chateau Frank (Dr. Konstantin Frank) Rose Sparkling Wine (a dry French Rose style wine) made from estate grown Pinot Meunier grapes. The Heron Hill Eclipse White is Heron Hill’s signature white made from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc grapes. Delicious. The Belhurst Chardonnay was very oaky, having gone through a long oak aging, so if you like really oaky Chardonnays, you will love this one. Lastly, the Sonnenberg Gardens Abundance was an off-dry Chardonnay with a touch of Riesling. Both flavors came through nicely.
We spent a great deal of time chatting with Sarah and the other staff. They were full of interesting information. One topic of discussion was the new wineries. The previous day, we noticed a new winery on East Lake Road just north of Deep Run. The staff at the Culinary Center thought it just opened the last week of August. We will make a trek there in the near future to check it out. They also recommended a new winery in Naples – Imagine something. We will check that out, too as we head to Widmer for our favorite Brickstone wines. You will truly enjoy a visit to the New York State Wine and Culinary Center!

Independent Jim (aka Hunk) rides again!

Rate Dr. Frank's Salmon Run Riesling!

2007-08-26T20:59:00.000-04:00

It's Dr. Frank's 45th Anniversary today so we chose his 2005 Salmon Run Riesling as our first poll. This wine is very affordable at about $12.99 per bottle. Buy one, try it and get back to us with your opinion! (The poll is along the right hand side). If you respond, you will be listed as honorary "Pack" members!

Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars

2007-08-22T23:45:00.000-04:00

Rory, our 10-year-old (golden), is our poster boy! My good friend, Laura Wilder, is a VERY talented Roycroft Artisan. I have linked to her website, www.laurawilder.com, so you can see her wonderful Arts and Crafts Style prints, as well as her portraits, house paintings and drawings. About a year ago, she began a line of dog breed prints and needed models, so Rory volunteered to be “The Golden Retriever”. I believe he embodies all that a Golden Retriever is: friendly, happy, alert and VERY handsome. My Rory is my shadow, my protector and my bodyguard! He worries if I am out of the house; when I go away on trips, he sleeps by the back door. All is right in Rory’s world when I am home and he is snoozing on the floor beside me.
Unfortunately, I had to leave Rory when Jim and I took a trek on the west side of Keuka Lake to visit Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars. What a great experience we had! I feel terrible that I didn’t write down the name of the man who served us the wine because he was chock full of information. Moreover, I must say that every wine we tasted was delicious. And the atmosphere was VERRY nice - oriental rugs- a beautiful wood bar - classy.
We started out tasting champagnes: the 2000 Blanc de Noirs ($34.99) and the Célèbre ($19.99). The Blanc de Noirs was delicious dry champagne. The Célèbre, made from Riesling grapes, was also dry and very good. Next, we compared the Dry Riesling ($17.99) to the Semi Dry Riesling ($15.99). These two Rieslings were big winners this year in wine competitions. The Dry Riesling won five gold medals at competitions as well as a Platinum “Best of Class” medal at the Los Angeles International Wine Competition. Of the 20 Best of Class awards given out, Dr. Frank’s Dry Riesling was the only New York State wine to earn the top honor. And it is exceptional! Pick up a bottle if you can! By the way, the Semi Dry Riesling was no slouch either, winning six gold medals at various competitions. You can’t go wrong with either one.
Next, we tried the 2006 Rkatsiteli ($24.99) and the 2006 Gewurztraminer ($24.99). The Rkatsiteli is usually gone by June or July, so be warned for the future. We were able to taste it a few weeks ago so there were still bottles available. The Rkatsiteli is an ancient grape. Rkatsiteli grape seeds were discovered on Mt. Ararat dating back to 3000 BC (Noah’s Ark?) Only a handful of wineries on the East Coast – McGregor’s and Dr. Frank in New York State and Horton Wines in Virginia grow Rkatsiteli grapes. This 2006 Rkatsiteli had a green apple flavor (usually it has more of a grapefriuty flavor). The Gewurztraminer was also delicious – a great wine to have with spicy meals or Thanksgiving dinner.
Moving into the “pink”, we sampled the 2006 Dry Rose ($14.99) which is a Pinot- Bordeaux blend. With .2% residual sugar, this wine surprises the “blush wines must be sweet” people. It could be paired nicely with fish or vegetable dishes or stand alone as a nice summer sipping wine.
We tried three red wines. The 2005 Pinot Noir ($24.99) is made from grapes grown on the original vines that are now 50+ years old – the oldest on the East Coast and the 3rd oldest in the US! The roots run 16 feet deep (and would go deeper except they hit shale and are now growing sideways)! The Cabernet Franc ($19.99) is a dry red that would be great with steak. This wine could be aged 10-20 years if stored properly. The last wine we sampled was the 2004 Meritage ($12.99). This is an exceptional value for such a good wine (Meritages generally run in the $20 range).
Let me just point out that at this winery alone, we sampled 10 wines. This is not unusual, so here is my plug for wise alcohol consumption. If you are going to more than one winery, you could be drinking the equivalent of several glasses of wine in a short amount of time. The average amount of wine per tasting is 1 oz. Five ounces equals a standard glass of wine, so we had the equivalent of two glasses of wine at Dr. Franks. While all the wineries are very careful in the amounts they serve and provide crackers, I know that I can’t keep up that pace at each winery- especially if I am visiting more than one winery in a day. So know that the wineries are very obliging when you ask to split a tasting. In fact, all praised us for doing so. In other words, we purchase one tasting and Jim and I share the glass (about 2 sips each). That way, we are only drinking half the amount that we would have if we each ordered a tasting. I know I want to get home in one piece because Rory will be waiting by the door!

Maggie Yarn Tasting!

2007-08-17T23:42:00.000-04:00

Yarn tasting has a whole new meaning when it comes to Maggie. I recently moved her toys into a new basket so that I could fill her original basket with yarn! Maggie found the basket in my office and obviously thought the balls of yarn were great new toys. As I have said, Maggie is our "problem child" See for yourself!

The Finger Lakes Wine Retrievers are doing a wine tasting at Spiritwork Knitting and Designs on October 5th. For more information, go to the Spiritwork website where information about the "Yarn Tasting" will be forthcoming. Please come to see, touch, drool over and buy the yarns and taste the Finger Lakes wines we will be offering!

Ravines Wine Cellars

2007-08-11T22:31:00.000-04:00

This year being a “Big One” for us – 25 years – I have been thinking of our life together. But I found when I reflect on our married life, I think in terms of Golden Retrievers! It seems we have had different goldens at different stages of our marriage. Amber was our first. She was with us during our early, carefree days and she was carefree. Then we had Hanna (or Saint Hanna as we now refer to her) who literally grew up with our daughter. Hanna was a lady from day one. Always well behaved, very willing to wear whatever outfit was requested of her; the ideal dog. Why would we even contemplate another dog when we had Hanna? Well, blame it on the kid who wanted a puppy. We took her to Indian Acres where we purchased Hanna and - DUH - ended up waiting for a puppy. When we took Rory home in November, Hanna sulked for several weeks! She and Rory eventually became good buddies. Rory did everything the Big Dog did and was totally lost without her when Hanna passed away at age 13. So what did we do? Slow learners that we are, we ran right out and got another puppy. Unfortunately, we couldn’t return to Indian Acres because Barb Clark, the breeder had passed away. If anyone has read Marley and Me, (by John Grogan) you will understand what we have gone through with Maggie our 4th golden. She could be Marley’s sister! We met her father – a nice, mellow golden who sat patiently in a washtub for an hour while we talked to the breeder, however, Maggie’s mother was conveniently not on the premises. She was visiting a friend. Riiiiiight. Long story short, after 2 years, we are still adjusting to Maggie, as she obviously isn’t even TRYING to adjust to us! But I’m rambling.
I wanted to continue our wine trail down route 54 South on the East side of Keuka Lake. Just a few yards past the turn off to McGregor Vinyards going towards Hammondsport is Ravines Wine Cellars - a relative newcomer to the Keuka Lake wineries. Ravines Wine Cellars was started about 5 years ago by the Hallgren Family. The wine maker, Morten Hallgren, learned to make wines on his family’s estate in the South of France before coming to the area and is currently one of the Finger Lakes most award-winning winemakers. Ravines Wine Cellars is known for producing “fine, dry wines in an elegant, European style.” and has been written up in Gourmet magazine as a “Don’t Miss” winery!
Having barely escaped a huge downpour, Jim and I ran up to the elegant winery that sits on a bluff overlooking the lake, (providing the employees with what they call the best “office view” of anyone they know!) The wine tasting cost $2.00 for a choice of 5 wines. We were provided with a list of 9 wines from which to choose: Dry Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Keuka Village, Dry Pinot Rose, Chardonnay, Cerise, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Meritage. Phil, our host, started us with the Dry Riesling, explaining that dry wines are meant for food pairings. This Riesling had a nice minerally finish. We purchased the Sav Blanc 2006 as a possibility for our pack to rate or for the wine tasting we are doing at Spirit Work Knitting and Design’s Yarn Tasting In October. It was light and crisp with citrus (lemon, grapefruit) flavors. We also liked their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We purchased the Cab Franc for our pack and lastly tried the Meritage. (Meritage is a word developed from 2 words -merit or outstanding value and heritage). A meritage must have at least 2 Bordeaux blends in it. Ravine has a really great meritage made from Cab Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot varietals. Delicious!
Here are a few of the food and wine events Ravines Wine Cellars hosts:
August 17 The Winemaker’s Tasting Dinner: The Many Faces of Riesling.
$55 per person. Reservations required.
August 18, 19 5th Anniversary Weekend with live jazz and food and wine pairings
Sept 15, 16 Chocolate Tasting. All types of chocolate paired with Ravine’s red wines.
Enjoy!

The McGregor Vineyard

2007-08-04T23:01:00.000-04:00

What can you do these long, hot dog days of summer? Well, Maggie keeps busy fishing the Nylabones out of the bottom of her pool. However, since we don’t enjoy the prospect of sharing a slimy, dog-hair and grass-filled wading pool with Maggie, Jim and I took off to visit McGregor’s Winery.
The winery is located off Route 54 on the east side of Keuka Lake (up Hyatt Rd, with a left turn on Dutch Rd). The McGregor family established the winery in 1980; John McGregor is the current owner. The 36 acres of land that they own support their estate-grown wines. McGregors has a casual, rustic atmosphere that invites you to slow down, sit down and enjoy your samplings of wine. If you are not a clan member, the tasting of five wines of your choice costs $5.00 and you get to keep the glass! You are also provided with a “cheese tray” that includes a nice sampling of cheese, crackers, pesto dip, mints and a scrumptious Concord grape bread. We joined four others at a picnic table with a tartan plaid runner and a small vase of Black-eyed Susans. As we peered at the long rows of Sunflowers outside the window, our server, John (not McGregor) provided us with the Summer Tasting Record that lists 20 wines from which to choose our tastings.
Jim started out with the 2006 unoaked Chardonnay, while I tried the traditional Chardonnay. We remembered to use the 2-sip rule: the first sip clears your mouth of the previous tastes that have lingered there, so the second sip gives a truer taste of the wine’s flavors. The unoaked chardonnay was aged in stainless steel barrels as opposed to oak barrels, which gives it a crisp, citrus-like flavor much like a Sav Blanc. This dry, medium- bodied wine was delicious. Really a nice summer wine.
The Chardonnay, made from a blend of 2003 and 2004 harvests was aged in French Oak. This produced a more traditional chardonnay, but lighter and crisper. We learned from John about the different flavors different types of oak barrels infuse into the wines: French Oak barrels give wines an almond-y flavor, American Oak gives a strong nutty flavor and Spanish Oak (John’s favorite) imparts a soft, cashew-y flavor.
We also sampled the 2006 Dry Riesling, the 2006 Gewürztraminer Reserve, the 2006 Rkatsiteli-Sereksiya, the 2006 Semi-Dry Riesling and two reds – the 2002 Rob Roy Red and the 2004 Rob Roy Red.
OK – a word about the two “difficult to pronounce” wines. Both are white wines that have interesting stories behind them. Gewürztraminer: Gewurtz means “spicy” and Trimine is an Italian village in the Alps. McGregor’s Gerwurtz lived up to the name. It was a delicious, rich wine with a nice, spicy kick at the end. Rkatsiteli grapes have a LONG history. McGregors is one of only two wineries in the Finger Lakes that grow Rkat vines, the other winery being Dr. Konstantin Frank. Stay tuned for more about the history of Rkatsiteli grapes in a later column. McGregor’s is also the only Sereksiya Rose producer in the USA. The 2006 Rkatsiteli-Sereksiya is a limited release for McGregors and is an outstanding semi-sweet white wine that is light and crisp with finishing hints of Clementine. It is meant to be consumed within the next 2 years.
The Rob Roys are “Meritages”. A Meritage is classified as a Bordeaux blend that must contain at least two different Bordeaux grapes in the blend. Both the Rob Roys are blends of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. We both agreed that the 2002 was smoother and richer than the 2004. However, the 2004 was heartier with a smokier flavor.
We “retrieved” the Semi Dry Riesling for our pack to sample and rate, so we won’t tell about it now!
McGregor’s has a wine club they call their "Clan". By joining the clan, you are sent wines on a regular basis as well as attending special events. Jim and I were fortunate enough to join one of the special events in March a few years back, even though we were not clan members. We were taken, with the clan members into the large barn. Inside we saw a long table illuminated with large, lit candlesticks and set with many wine glasses. It looked like something out of a medieval, Scottish castle! We sat around the table with John McGregor hosting and sampled many of the winery’s reserve wines. John spoke of the history of the winery and the specific wines we tasted. What really stuck out in my mind was the sampling of some Rieslings that were aged so that we could see the effects of aging on the wine. One bottle was 25 years old! It had a distinct taste of petroleum! From the wine tasting barn, we went into the winery where a delicious buffet was set up for our enjoyment. We mingled with the other “clansmen” and John McGregor. This experience was truly memorable and speaks to the down-to-earth atmosphere of the winery and its owner. You will enjoy a visit to the McGregor Winery.

Who is "The Pack"?

2007-08-01T01:44:00.000-04:00

"The Pack" is our group of wine tasters extraordinaire!

How does "the pack" work? Well, these are folks with whom we have had a long standing tradition of sharing wine, food and laughter. Jim and I have officially promoted them to become our exclusive wine tasting/rating committee. We and our pack will prowl the wineries and retrieve the best wines tasted at each stop. The bottles will be gathered together periodically with our pack and we will drool, lap up and otherwise have a dog-gone good time tasting them and rating them. Here's where we get serious. To find out how the wines stack up, you'll want to subscribe to our newsletter, which will be e-mailed to you twice a year with our "numbers". (Sort of like the Wine Spectator of the Finger Lakes). Soon we will have the link to sign up for the newsletter as well as some polls so we can get your input, too. Stay tuned.....

In The Beginning

2007-07-26T22:55:00.000-04:00

Our wine tasting experiences started about the time we became the proud parents of our first golden retriever. Indian Summer's Amber Leigh was my birthday gift the second year we were married. Amber was a free spirit who lived to race down the stairs and leap off the end of the dock at the family cottage on Canandaigua Lake. Her mission: to rescue anyone or anything she saw in the water even if it meant jumping off a moving sailboat to retrieve her victim! We spent many a sultry summer's day at "The Lake" and of course at the nearest wineries in Naples and Hammondsport.

Bully Hill in particular was our favorite. We soaked up the wisdom of Walter S. Taylor, Bully Hill's founder of the "they took my name and my heritage but they didn't get my goat" fame. I still have the bottles - empty of course - of the year the staff took black magic markers and blackened out "Taylor" from Walter S's name due to legal issues with the Taylor Wine Co.

While sipping wines produced by the winemaker at the time, Hermann J. Weimer, we learned the basics of wine tasting: how to hold the glass, sniff, swirl and spit (or swallow!) as well as phrases like "tank car wines." We also learned about a Butler's Key. A Butler's Key is a cork puller that has 2 prongs instead of a screw device. You "walk" the 2 prongs down the neck of the bottle on either side of the cork and pull the cork out whole. It is the easiest, most fail-safe method to uncork a bottle of wine. According to the staff at Bully Hill, it was developed by butlers so they could sneak a sip of wine and replace the cork with no one the wiser! We were sold on it and still use our Bully Hill Butler's Key 25 years later.

Bully Hill was a staple to us in our early days as well as a refuge to us when we started our family. We'll never forget the late October trip we took with Pam and Dave - leaving our infant daughters at home with their grandmothers. Snow squall aside, we had a blast sampling wines and I enjoyed being a volunteer bartender that evening at the winery. Flash forward 17 years and 4 golden retrievers later, and Bully Hill Winery is still a fun visit. Stay tuned for updates on a recent trip to the winery.