Sunday, September 2, 2012

On the NY Wine Trail - September 2012

What a great afternoon--checking out a couple of the wineries on the
Cayuga Wine Trail.

We visited Americana, Sheldrake Point, Thirsty Owl, and Goose Watch.
A whirlwind afternoon in Central NY with a lot of other wine lovers. There were a lot of other people out enjoying an idyllic afternoon doing the same thing.

All of these wineries have stunning views of the lake and provide nice interpretation of white wine, which are really the best varietals grown in the region. The Rieslings were generally great. Every attempt at a red wine resulted in a thin interpretation which left me wanting something more.

Americana has a large selection of wines which they do generally well. We continue to buy many of their whites to enjoy with our friends. I enjoy their tasting room and the ambiance of the winery done in a barn. Their new selection of Rieslings are especially good and come in a variety for every palette from dry, to semi-dry, to semi-sweet. They all had a vibrant character which made them very enjoyable.

Sheldrake Point does dry wines and has a really enjoyable white blend called Luckystone White. We make a special trip to the winery for this wine. And it was on a great sale, too. Sheldrake Point was designated as the NY Winery of the Year, so the place, located right on the shore of Cayuga Lake is really worth the visit and the dry wines re especially good.

Thirsty Owl, another winery with a great view, is dabbling in the reds in addition to the whites and provided a nice red wine using the Chancellor grape. But, their white wines are why people visit the winery.

The final stop of the day was Goose Watch, another winery with another great view and a nicely done tasting room. They provided some very nice whites, but I felt their offerings this year were not as desirable as some of the other wineries we visited. They are good wines--don't get me wrong, but just a bit above average. Nice drinking but not spectacular.

All in all it was a great afternoon. My parents were real troopers to dare to head out onto the wine trail with us--and it was nice to ave them along for the afternoon drive along the west shore of Cayuga Lake.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Ithaca, NY