Golden toasting by a cracklin' fire!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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"?

"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

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.