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!