The next day was beautiful and, after a hearty bacon and egg breakfast, we were headed towards my favorite Finger Lakes winery, Wagner Vineyards. This is also the home of the Wagner Valley Brewery, so lots to taste here. Wagner has a special place in our lives because this is where David asked me to marry him in July of 2013. Right by the pond with the swans.
The swans had cygnets this year and the daddy was very protective. David bent over to pick a piece of grass for him and the swan reached up over the fence and smacked David in the head with his beak! Poor David....starting off a wine and beer tasting with a headache!
The wine at Wagner is exceptional. Their red table wine is named Alta B and it was the first red wine I found that was very drinkable without being too dry or too sweet. They now have an Alta B blush and an Alta B white, both of which are also very good. At $6.99 per bottle these are a real bargain! The Sunset Red is also a favorite. Wagner makes Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir as well, but they are a bit dry for us. The list of white wines includes 4 Rieslings, 3 Chardonnays, 2 Gewurztraminers, 2 Niagaras, Melody, and several others. We weren't fans of the Chardonnays, but enjoyed most of the others. After tasting the wines we headed into the brewery and tasted some of the beer. I had found last year that most of the beer was too heavy for my taste, so I only had the root beer, which is very good. David and my cousin sampled a few of the beers while I headed to the gift shop to pick out a case of wine. Wagner has a great website and easy online ordering at www.wagnervineyards.com.
The next stop was right up the road at a new winery that had been recommended to us. It's called Idol Ridge and has a fantastic view of the lake. They didn't have an extensive list of wines, so it was a fairly quick tasting. We found that the Dry Riesling and the Timber Lodge Red were our favorites. We enjoyed looking around their gift shop before leaving with a bottle of each.
After this stop we had to leave wine tasting behind and head east to Afton, NY, where I grew up. My mother was waiting for us to have dinner with her and spend a few days there visiting family. She has the most wonderful covered porch to sit on during a hot, sultry summer day, so David and I enjoy visiting her and relaxing there. While we were there my brother and sister-in-law hosted a family reunion and we were able to catch up with aunts, uncles, cousins, and some family friends. Several of us piled into the back of my cousin's pick up truck and headed into the woods where I used to hike to look for the lady slipper flowers. Unfortunately we were too late to see them, but we enjoyed the hike and found a red newt and a spring peeper.
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| Red Newt |
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| Spring peeper (full grown) |
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| Some of my wonderful family |
