Whodunit?

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!