Spring trip to New York’s Wine Country

We took our annual Spring trip to New York’s wine country. This year two of our friends joined us, for their first trip on the wine trail. It was our hope to show them a really good time and a fair sampling of what the area had to offer. John is confident that we did.

Friday May 1st

We ate at the Wildflower Cafe, but it is a bit early in the season for the live entertainment to be going on at the restaurant, so we didn’t hang out long. The meal was quite filling and the specialty beer got us warmed up for the weekend.
Back at the hotel, Andy shared some of his moonshine with us. Mixed in with some cranberry juice it was quite nice, better than what I thought it would be. It wasn’t the "fire water’ I was expecting. John and I tucked ourselves in bed about 10pm or so. We wanted to get on the road around 9am so we would have plenty of time to get a really good breakfast in us before we hit the wineries.

Saturday May 2nd

We headed into Hammondsport for breakfast and then started up the East side if Keuka Lake on our way to Seneca Lake. Let me first say that I have very few memories of the trip and I’m relying on the others in our party for the recount of today.

Our first stop was Ravines winery. It was one we had never been to before but it turned out to be a very nice winery. Our server was very knowledgeable about the area and gave us a quite a bit of history though he seemed to think that the names he was throwing out should have been familiar to us…they weren’t. He did talk motorcycles with Andy too. We were all still feeling well after we left the winery.

Rooster Hill was the next winery and the women serving us were quite fun. They were tasting a few of the wines right along with us. One was new so she had to taste them to get a feel for the wines and our main server, she said something about having to build up her tolerance before the real season started….hmmm From here we headed for Lake Seneca.

Our first stop was going to be Seneca Shore winery, but they had several buses and a limo, so we decided to skip that one and head for Anthony Roads. Our server seemed kind of shy and it was hard to draw him out to talk with us, so we didn’t linger long at the bar. They did have some crayfish spicy chips or something that looked interesting so Andy bought some and we ate them in the car. John made mention of our trip to Georgia to see Brad and that the chips tasted similar to the crayfish we had in the restaurant. I told them that I had never eating a crayfish before so I asked the waitress the best way. She said after we ate the main body part that some people suck the juice out of the heads of the crayfish. I told Andy and Candy that what comes out of a crayfish when you suck its head is really gross. Everyone got real quiet….they were all thinking dirty thoughts I think…so when I said that I expected to get something better tasting from sucking head, Andy burst out laughing and thanked John for bringing them along….I wondered what that was about.

Torrey Ridge was our next stop and was a new winery for John and me. However I don’t remember a whole lot about the winery.

At Pregean John started sharing in my tastings. If I really liked one he would try it too. Andy and Candy started doing that too! Well I gave them the what-for when they came out of the winery. They were not allowed to share tastings. This had to be a one for one tasting for all of us. John was excused because he was driving. They had to get just as trashed as I was going to get, that would only be fair. Andy apologized and said he thought that’s what they were supposed to do…huh, newbies!

Heron Hill has opened a satellite winery on Seneca, so we just had to stop; there are several wines that I like at this winery. We were told to pick the 5 wines we wanted to taste. Andy explained to the server that he and Candy were "winery virgins" and didn’t really know what to pick. The server was happy to give Andy and Candy a lesson. His comment was, "well let’s not worry about the numbers, we’ll take a tour of the wines and sample a good variety." There were 13 wines on the list…we tried ALL OF THEM!!! I told Andy he was not allowed to tell any more winery people that. OMG!!!

When I have too much to drink, I have trouble recalling events, ok I basically get amnesia. This is where my memory of the rest of the day stops. John, Andy and Candy have supplied the following description of our day

Our next winery was also a new one for us, Hickory Hollow. One of their wines is called Liquid Intelligence and on the wine bottle is a disclaimer explaining that their wine has not been proven to increase one’s intelligence. Apparently the "Winery God’s" said they had to put a disclaimer on it because someone might actually BELIEVE that drinking their wine would make one more intelligent…really? They had a lot of different t-shirts that everyone liked, including one with the disclaimer on it. Apparently I wanted that one and John bought it for me…hmmm, I wonder if he thought it said something about me? Hickory Hollow was our last stop on the West side of the lake, so we headed East to the other side.

On the way up the East side there is a water fall called Hector Falls. It is quite spectacular when it is running full. We pulled over and we setup for a photo. Looking over the side of the bridge made us all feel a little dizzy at the height.

We continued on up the lake to Rasta Ranch. John explained that this winery was not going to be anything like any of the others we had been to so far, trying to prepare them for the "shock". Uncle Horney was our server…so I’m sure we had a good time. Andy asked Uncle Horney what we were going to be tasting? Uncle Horney’s response…"Read the f***ing list, we are starting at the top." Andy laughed and said "I see how this is going to go"…. and we’re off!! There was quite a bit of bantering going back and forth between all of us, as well as something about Jesse James being on the Apprentice…not sure what that had to do with anything. Again I was impulse shopping and talked John into buying me a necklace. Rasta Ranch is pro military and they show their support for our veterans by offering deep discounts on their wines and merchandise, which Andy was very appreciative of as a veteran himself. On the way out to the car, Steve had to help Candy to the truck, as she kept walking out in front cars.
We were going to go right to Hazlett, but there was a winery with a cute name that I apparently wanted to stop at…like I needed any more wine at this point. Tickle Hill, I mean how could you resist? John has told me I may not like the wine I bought from there…hmm I’m not surprised about that either, but at least it was an uneventful stop, mercifully.

Pulling into Hazlett’s parking lot, we were treated to a free, X rated peep show by some very drunk college girls, who seemed to be enjoying showing their thongs off to all the passer-bys. Candy and I managed to get the guys inside to do the tasting. Hazlett was a hit of course as this is a "party winery" of a different kind. Besides they have the BEST popcorn.

With the day wearing down we hurried off to our last winery, Leidenfrost. (again at this point do I really need to taste any more wine?) This winery lets you throw peanut shells on the floor. How fun! In talking with the server at Leidenfrost about the increase in hotel prices, he suggested the cabins that they have on their property. We just might do that next time. Before we left we posed for a last picture (at the top of this page). It was time to head into Watkins Glen for supper.

We went to Geraldo’s my favorite place to eat, though I actually have only ever had their pizza and garlic knots, and haven’t really been there when I’ve been sober, so I’m not sure how good it really is. At this point I apparently still thought I was feeling pretty good though I don’t remember being at the restaurant.

Finally it was time to head for the hotel. When you are out with your friends and they are seeing you drunk for the first time, you don’t want to make a fool out of yourself. You especially don’t want to throw-up in front of them. Well….John said that he had to pull over twice for me. All I can say is thank goodness we were on back roads. The first time I basically fell down the small bank into some briars. Andy was a little concerned but John reassured him that I was used to dealing with briars and I would be fine. (well thank you for caring Andy) I manage to free myself from the briar patch and stumble back into the truck without relieving myself of my supper or wine. As I’m drifting off into unconsciousness John said I needed to hang in there to get us back to the hotel. (I’m the navigator, a tipsy navigator at that) I punched up my previous search for our hotel on my VZ Navigator so that it could guide him in….and I drift away.

A little while down the road I wakeup suddenly and tell John to stop right away. He can’t, so I roll the window down and start throwing up out the window…oops I got a little on the side of the truck. Finally he pulls over and I fall out of the truck (again) and finish my purge. Andy said he had a great view of me throwing up out the truck window but couldn’t get his camera up fast enough. Thank you for small favors!

I get back in the truck and John says "42 years old and she’s throwing up along the side of the road." (hello! I am only 41, geez) Finally we get to the hotel. I begin to gather my stuff up and notice I only have one shoe!! John guessed that my last trip out of the car is probably where I lost it. He remembers where he pulled over and I said we could wait until morning before looking for my shoe. It is about 7:30pm and I pass out until morning. He said that he basically had to undress me and tuck me in bed. No more winery virgins for me!!

Sunday, May 3rd

Morning time and I am feeling much better other than being VERY thirsty. Candy on the other hand was not. She relieved herself of discomfort by throwing up, with the help of her toothbrush. Now we were all ready for breakfast. First we headed back the road where I lost my shoe and low and behold there it was!

Tobo’s in Watkins Glen was the place we decided on for breakfast. John and Andy got an omelet with zucchini in it along with onions and sausage. Boy was that ever good, we are going to have to try that ourselves at home.

We decided, since we had some time and were feeling very full from breakfast that perhaps we should walk a little before making the hour and a half drive home.

What better place to stroll than the Watkin’s Glen Gorge. It was running pretty full following the Spring thaw and rains, but we couldn’t go very far however, because the trail was washed out.