The first place on our stop was Standing Stone Vineyards here we had the opportunity to explore the vineyards and the barrel room. The first 2 wines we tried were from the barrel room they were the 2010 chardonnay, 2009 cabernet sauvignon they were not very good I think they still needed time to ferment longer in the barrels. We then moved the the tasting room where they gave us a variety of wines to try and paired they with brie cheese and bread. They suggested we taste the wine then eat a piece of cheese and bread then take another taste of wine. It was amazing how the food made the wine taste so much different! The wines we tried were:
2007 chardonnay
2008 gewurztraminer (pairs well with spicy thai food)
2006 pinnacle
2007 pinnacle
2006 reserve cabernet sauvignon
2010 semi dry vidal
2009 vidal ice
2007 pinot noir
The next stop on our tour was Penguin Bay Winery, this was a little bit of a different stop because they specialized in sparking wine. The lady who gave us the history of the winery and sparkling wine was very knowledgeable and helpful. To try with the sparkling wines they had 2 different types of cheese a strawberry & chardonnay and a bergenost from a local farm called Yancey's Fancy. (this is the most delicious cheese I ever had especially the bergenost!) We tried the following sparkling wines and regular wines:
2003 brut (my favorite)
Naturel sparkling
Pinot noir brutrose
Blanc de blanc
Golden spumante
Spumante blush
Percussion
Lemberger pinot noir
Cabernet
The 3rd winery was Red Newt Cellars this was my least favorite of the 4 that we tried. None of the wines that we tried here were really good, they were very sweet tasting. Here they had a goat cheese with dill and honey. Red Newt owners are also a cook and they added a bistro on to the side of their tasting room. We didn't get a chance to try their food but their menu looked really good and I would love to go back and give it a try. Here We had the opportunity to try the following:
08 pinot gris
Salamander white
07 reserve riesling
08 tierce riesling
09 semi dry riesling
09 sawmill creek vineyards
07 gewurtraminer sawmill creek vineyards
08 cabermet franc
07 hellbender soiree
The last winery was called Pamiani Wine Cellars I think this was my second favorite. The view from the winery was beautiful it was on a hill that overlooked the lake and the vineyards, All of their wines were pretty good. When we arrived they had a plate of different chocolates to try.
09 chardonnay
10 dry riesling (paired with chocolate with sesame seeds on top)
09 pinot noir (paired with chocolate & almonds)
08 merlot (paired with chocolate covered in ginger & pistachios)
09 meritage (paired with a chocolate truffle)
09 cabernet sauvignon (my favorite here)
Cab blend
Overall, I really enjoyed the tour it was really well organized and it was nice not to have to worry about driving around trying to find the different places. I believe because we were part of the tour we were also able to try additional wines that were not part of the tour. I would highly recommend booking with this company if you ever make it to the Finger Lakes for a wine tour.
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