Our view from the house on Seneca Lake.
By Lenn Thompson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief
The blog is going to be quite for the next couple of days, because Nena and I are in the Finger Lakes for a three-day post-Orlando vacation (with Jackson at my in-laws'). We're joined by our friends C&A who enjoy good food and wine as much as we do.
We got to the region yesterday in the late morning and were joined by Evan and Morgan Dawson at Ravines Wine Cellars, where owners Lisa and Morten Hallgren spent some time with us. Lisa is an amazing cook, so if you ever have a chance to eat ANYTHING she cooks, I can't recommend it enough. Her food is only matched by Morten's dry, balanced wines that are easily among not only the region's best but the state's best. Wait until you try the 2007 Meritage and 2008 Argetsinger Vineyard Riesling.
Next up was a Finger Lakes Tweetup (an offline gathering of like-minded people on Twitter), hosted by Amy Cheatle at Damiani Wine Cellars, where we met and enjoyed some delicious wines with 30 or so (mostly) members of the Finger Lakes wine community. There were so many great wines poured that I hesitate to pick any favorites. I will say that the Lembergers and Blaufrankisches were popular. As was a rose sparkler that I'll be writing about more shortly.
And finally, we ended our day with a delicious dinner at Stone Cat Cafe, just up the road from Damiani. Locally focused (both on the dinner and wine menus) good prices and great food combined to create a tremendous experience. I can't recommend Stone Cat enough. It doesn't hurt that most of the Tweetup folks ended up at the bar for the evening. Our meal warrants its own post, so look for that soon.
Today we're spending the day tasting on and around Seneca Lake and tommorrow morning we head over to Cayuga Lake for the day. It's hard work, but someone has to do it.
Lenn, If time allows please stop by our winery on Sunday. I will be at the wine festival but please ask for my wife Stephanie and she will take good care of you. Jeff Houck winemaker Lucas Vineyards
Posted by: Jeff Houck | July 18, 2009 at 08:26 PM
The Ravines wines are incredible...
Posted by: Alan Kropf | July 19, 2009 at 01:54 AM
Must be that time of the year. I had a great visit and vineyard tour at Lamoreaux Landing on Friday, with a quick stop at Shalestone. The Stone Cat is great isn't it? Dano's would be my next recommendation or the cafe at Red Newt, all on the east side of Seneca.
Posted by: Dan Updike | July 20, 2009 at 11:06 AM