California? PUH!

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

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

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

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

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!