David and I made a trip back to upstate New York last October to visit with my mother, do a few household chores and repairs for her, and drink a little wine.
On the way from Tennessee to New York we made our first stop at the Abingdon Vineyard & Winery at Abingdon, VA and we were delighted! The grounds of the winery have a creek running through with lots of trees and beautiful views. The tasting room was somewhat busy, but we were welcomed and were told that we could try 6 wines for $5, so we each picked 6 different wines and shared 12 tastings. We liked several! They had a total of 23 wines with 1 not available due to being sold out, so we had 22 to pick from. We chose to leave out the very dry and the very sweet. Our favorites were the Traminette, a semi-sweet white; the Triple Duck, a sweet white made from a blend of Riesling, Traminette, and Chardonel; the Appalachian Sunset, a sweet blush; the Our Special Red, a dry red blend made from Cabernet Franc, Chambourcin, and Cabernet Sauvignon; the Red Hawk, a semi-dry red blend of red & white Chambourcin and Chardonel; and the Alvarado Rouge, a sweet red blend of Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc. The Riesling, Misty River II, and Appalachian Autumn were also noteworthy. This winery was very welcoming and had some very enjoyable vintages. We will definitely stop here again.
After a couple of days in Afton, NY, (tiny town on the Susquehanna River) we took my mother to visit her sister and husband in Ithaca, NY. For those of you who know geography, you will know that Ithaca is Finger Lakes country, and the place where excellent wines come from. We hadn't planned to visit any wineries because my mother doesn't care about them and this was her day to visit with her sister. Well, the best laid plans....you know the rest! Right on the road we were travelling was the Six Mile Creek Vineyard, so we had to stop! Mom waited in the car with a lovely view of the vineyards, and we did a very quick tasting, but wished we had more time because the wines were incredible! Our favorite was the 2012 Merlot, which was like wine and chocolate all at once. Six Mile Creek also has a distillery and we fell in love with the Amore, which is their version of Amaretto. This winery was truly a gem that we hadn't expected to find. We made it to my aunt's home with plenty of time for a visit, so our little tasting jaunt didn't hinder our trip.
The little town of Afton, NY, is where I grew up and where my mother, brother, and assorted nieces and nephews still live. It was a wonderful, rural town to grow up in, but there's not much going on there now, however, the town boasts at least 3 restaurants with very good food. Vincent's is an Italian restaurant and pizza place with NY style pizza - you know, the kind with chewy crust, grease running down your arm, and when you eat it your arteries call for help! My mother loves it, but doesn't get to eat it very often, so we always get a large pepperoni while we're there and she freezes the left-overs to enjoy later. I'm always surprised when David says we should go visit my mother (what husband ever wants to visit his mother-in-law?), but, not only does he enjoy her company, but he gets to fully relax while he's there because of the small town and leaving the cares of our daily life behind for awhile. We try to visit twice a year and the bonus is stopping at wineries along the way there and the way home.
Our next trip north will be the beginning of May, so stay tuned. Maybe we'll find some new wineries to fall in love with!
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