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Finger Lakes By Nancy and Richard Woodworth Anyone who has indulged in the pleasures of the grape in the California wine country yearns to return, especially when the harvest is at its height. But Easterners no longer have to go out West. Closer to home, the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York embraces a growing cluster of vineyards and wineries that produce wines of international distinction. The New York Times headlined an article posted later at many a local winery: “Sorry, France. Too Bad, California. Some New York Wines Outshine Even Yours.” At last count, 60 wineries were located in an area about the size of Connecticut. It is a landscape of rolling hills, lakes and vineyard vistas that are not only the equal in terms of scenery of most in California but often exceed them because of their proximity to water. The Finger Lakes wineries range from venerable Widmer’s, which attracts hundreds of tourists on busy days, to newish Shalestone Vineyards, a tiny winery with an underground cellar and a tasting room marked by a shale sign and the words, “Red is all we do.” Many are clustered along the hillsides rising sharply from the southern ends of Cayuga, Seneca and Keuka lakes. The wine boom has spawned related ventures, far beyond the winery visits that beckon more than one million tourists annually to the Finger Lakes, most in the late summer and fall. Foremost, of course, is the sale of grapes – pick-your-own, or available by the basket or in juice for wine. Grape pie is a staple on traditional dessert menus. Fire hydrants are painted purple in Naples for the annual Grape Festival in September. Good restaurants, most featuring Finger Lakes wines, have emerged, particularly in the Ithaca area. So have a handful of new or refurbished inns and a multitude of B&Bs. Also emerging lately is a cottage food industry, which is at roughly the same stage of development as the wine scene was 25 years ago. Particularly noteworthy is the local cheese industry. Ithaca was the site for the first annual meeting of the American Cheese Society, and the Ithaca Journal reported the Finger Lakes were “becoming known as the wine and cheese region of the country.” Ithaca's Farmers' Market is a model of the genre. These days, a tour of the Finger Lakes wine country
is much more than a one-day affair, and involves far more than simply
touring a winery or two. On a leisurely trip, all the senses are at once
heightened and lulled as you sample wines and indigenous foods on a
sun-bathed deck overlooking one of the Finger Lakes, particularly in
autumn when the grapes are being harvested and the hillsides are ablaze
in color. Material excerpted from Getaways for Gourmets in the Northeast, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2006. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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