Eating with Bob and Suzette: May 3, 2016 a day in the Finger Lake vineyards, Breakfast at Juniper Hill Inn, Corning Glass Museum and Studio, Dinner at Graft Wine and Cider Bar in Watkins Glen

May 3, 2016 a day in the Finger Lake vineyards, Breakfast at Juniper Hill Inn, Corning Glass Museum and Studio, Dinner at Graft Wine and Cider Bar in Watkins Glen

Our day started with a three course breakfast at Juniper Hill Inn, a pecan bread, then a stack of a potato pancake, then a sausage patty, then an egg and garnished with fresh spinach and served with a chipotle tomato red chili sauce. We both enjoyed our breakfasts and the conversations with David and Jett.

We then drove to Lake Seneca to drink some wine. We first stopped a Lammoreaux winery and tried five Rieslings and an ice wine that was very good. Because Riesling is a dominant grape raised in the region, it is manipulated in many different ways from 0% sugar to ice wine with 17% sugar. It is also made into sparkling wine. So there is almost an infinite variety of Riesling wines to choose from. We drank five a Lammoreaux. Gewurtztraminer and pinot Gris and pinot Blanc and chardonnay are also raised. The two reds we found in abundance were Cabernet franc and Pinot Noir. Wagner had an estate bottled Pinot Noir and Meritage (Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and merlot) that would stand up to any in California offerings. We were impressed with Wagner’s wines and bought a Cabernet Franc rose and a Riesling.

View of Lake Seneca from Wagner Winery

Wagner's Cabernet Franc Rose and 2014 Semi-dry Riesling

One of the reasons the area is so productive is because the glacial action that carved the Finger Lakes exposed shake and limestone. At Standing Stone Vineyard, which was the original state experimental vineyard planted in the early 70’s, we drank an amazing Riesling ice wine and a Saperavi red from Georgia plus several Rieslings and Gewurtztraminers. One of the employees said that there was so much shale that in the early years the custom was to blow holes in the shale with dynamite to make holes for the wine vines. He also said that growing in the limestone and shale naturally stresses the vines s well as flavoring and mineralizing the grape juice.

We were running out of time because we had booked a glass making time at Corning Studio, so we decided to stop for a free tasting at Red Newt Winery. We were assisted by a very knowledgeable lady who has been working at Finger Lake wineries for 25 years. She knew everything. There was also a greater variety of wines at Red Newt because they bought grapes from a large area and number of growers. They offered three single vineyard selections for most grapes and most years plus an array of wines we had seen nowhere else, like essences, which were eau d vie mixed with their sweet extractions of grapes. We bought Essences of Cabernet Franc, Gewurtztraminer, and Merlot plus a Bullhorn Riesling,and one other bottle.

Gewürztraminer, Cabernrt Franc, and Merlot Essences at Red Newt

Then it was on to Corning, N.Y. to Corning Glass, we arrived at 3:00, just in time to tour ½ of the contemporary glass and go to the Studio for our 3:40 glassmaking activity. We watched some students making glass objects and then went to our activity area and met Kalli, our instructor. Suzette andI had signed up to make a flower. First, Kalli showed us how to make one and then Suzette sat a2014t a bench with a paddle and tweezers. After we selected the colors for our flower’ stem and pedals, Kalli put blobs of glass on the blowing stick and we used the paddle to flatten the glass against the end of the stick. Then Kalli rolled the glass in the decorative colored glass we had selected and heated the glass mixture again and then we each pulled the edges of the flattened glass out into pedals. After a second heating by Kalli, we pulled again to lengthen the pedals and lengthen an twist the glass to make the blob into a stem. We both loved the experience and paid to have our flowers shipped to our home. Then we went through the rest of the museum, which included an interesting box of segmented vapor coated glass made by Larry Bell.

We decided to drive back to Watkins Glen to Graft Wine and Cider Bar for dinner. We were very pleased with its selection of ciders and wines and fresh ingredients.

We each started with a lovely bowl of pea soup. Suzette drank a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and I drank a glass of hard cider. We then had the best dish of the trip, Steamed Asparagus, ramps, and fiddlehead ferns with a caper, Dijonnaise dressing. The asparagus were large and ultra fresh. With the asparagus we ordered a thick layer of chicken liver pate on a thick slice of toasted bread garnished with pickled red onions.