Tradition..ending....

As I sit here with my glass of 2006 Kunde Estate Chardonnay and smell the aroma of pine from the Christmas tree we cut down today, I am starting to reflect. (oh no..)

Thanksgiving use to be a great time of year..my favorite. Thanksgiving day my entire family would gather at my moms and have dinner. It was really the only time we ever all got together as a family. That all ended three years ago when my 95 year old Grandmother was admitted to a nursing home and passed away the following year.

Then traditionally the Saturday after Thanksgiving we gathered with friends - about 20 - 25 of us and ventured to Red Hook, New York..Battenfeld's Tree Farm to cut down our tree. We have been doing this for about 18 years. We would start out tailgating at 9:30am and after we all cut our tree down, we ventured to this small diner just after the hunters left. As the years passed, we lost some people due to divorce and unfortunately one passed on at an early age of 35 (12 years ago). But the core of us carried on tradition.

Last year the tradition started to fall apart...one of the principal organizers of this event was stricken with a brain tumor at the age of 45. (she has since survived and battled a reoccurance) We carried on in their absence, our party now of 8. We weren't to happy, since we both have center halls in which we put our trees, and the trees weren't that tall. We weren't sure if we were going to continue with visiting the place that brought us all together. This year our friend was going to join us, so we decided to go back. Unfortunately due to a new cancer (lung) she decided to sit this year out. The party of 8 decided to carry on tradition and headed to Battenfelds. After an hour and a half of looking and treking, with great disappointment for that one tall tree, both families settled on smaller ones.

The tradition will continue in the coming years, however, I believe we will be in search for a new farm with taller trees.

Thanksgiving Wines

With Thanksgiving a few days away, now is the time to go to your local wine store and ask for Hudson Valley Wines. Here are some of my choices for the holiday:

Clinton Vineyards Seyval
Millbrook Unoaked Chardonnay
Whitecliff Vineyards Gamay Noir
Adair Vineyards Nouveau
Benmarl Winery Traminette

I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!!!

March On

Last night we had a very strange experience at a new local restaurant. I truly believe customer service is everything.

First we started off the evening when Teri & Frank came over. We opened a bottle of Two Oceans South African Sauvignon Blanc and decided where to go for dinner. We decided to try the March Hare which just opened by Arlington Liquors. I had eaten there for lunch and it was quite good. I gave them a call to see if there was a wait or we needed reservations. This was around 6:30p. The women I spoke to said, no problem, come over we, can seat you. I gave her my name and said we would be there in 5 minutes. When we arrived, there was a table set for 4 right by the door. I thought..that must be our table. There were 4 wait staff walking around, looking at us, and walking into a back room. They made eye contact with all 4 of us at different times. After 5 minutes, Paul and Frank decide to walk to the bar and get a glass of wine. At that time, the bartender comes up and tells us there is at least a 1/2 hour wait. I explained I had just called, but he didn't care. We turned around and walked out. We couldn't get over the lack of service and being ignored.

We went down to the Dubliner Irish Pub (guess we were in the mood for Irish food). We were greated the moment we walked in. The place was expremely busy, but the owner informed us it would be 10 minutes, put a cocktail table together for us so we could get a drink and wait.

This isn't the restaurant for a wine snob, but it did have a great selection of beers. I did start out with a glass of red wine - Cabernet to be exact. It was very grapy. After we got to our table a short time later, I did order a Long Trail to eat with my Shepards Pie.

We did have a nice evening.

Applewood Winery Harvest

My friend Jonathan Hull - owner and winemaker at Applewood Winery has a short video of his harvest. It is quite interesting how each winery in the Hudson Valley does more or less the same task, yet so differently.

Greek Wine Tasting

Sunday's Greek Wine Tasting was a blast! The wine...the food...the Greeks know how to do an event!

One of the wines I was pouring - the Kappa Xinomavro Klima 2005 was very similar to a Pinot Noir. I thought it was light bodied. It didn't have the earthy nose that some Pinots have. The other wine was a blend of a few varitials. Both wines were quite the hit.

The gentleman next to me was pourng a Vatistas Assyrtiko and Megpanos Aghiorgitiko Nema. Both of those were nice. They had more body and were a richer wine.

They had about 220 people at the event and everyone seemed to enjoy the wine and food!!

Greek Wine Tasting

Come visit me on Sunday at the the Kimisis Church Hellenic Center for a Greek Wine and Cheese Tasting 3pm - 6pm. Cost to attend is $25.

I will be pouring ">Kappa-Amyndeon Xinomavro- “Klima” and the Vatistas Monemvasios Red wine and am told there will be lots of great food and desserts to munch on. (My family favorite Greek cookie is the one with the powder sugar on top)

A little bit about the wines I'll be pouring...
Vatistas Monemvasios Red 2001 -

A blend of the indigenous varieties 40% Agiorghitiko, 30% Mavroudi and 30% Thrapsa. It has deep ruby color, aromas of black currants and olives. Good acidity and good ripe tannins that leave a lingering aftertaste. It best goes with meats, game and yellow cheeses. Aged in French oak for one year.

Kappa-Amyndeon Xinomavro - Klima -2005 -

Has a Pinot-like elegance, with pretty spice, dried cherry and berry flavours. Structured and balanced., Produced 100% from Xynomavro. Conservation time: 5-7 years. Produced: 25,000.

Greek Wine

Get your own at Scribd or explore others:

There will be many more wines poured both red and white. Come join me on Sunday!!

Stop and say hi and bring me a plate of my favorite cookies:)

3 Hudson Valley Baco Noirs

Fellow blogger Lenndevours has written about 3 Hudson Valley Baco Noirs. Benmarl, Warwick and Hudson-Chatham. I will give you my review of Warwick when I am down there on December 6. I had Benmarl's last week, but will re-taste it again in the next few weeks and give my opinion.

Until then, Len does a great job...http://tinyurl.com/683jrk

How to taste Red Wine

I though you would enjoy this video I found on Wine Spectator about tasting red wine. When you go into tasting rooms or are sitting in your living room, keep these points on hand and you will taste wines with a new outlook.

• See
• Snif
• Sip
• Summarize
  

A night of B's - Brotherhood, Benmarl, Baywood

It was an evening of B's last night...that is wines that were produced by wineries starting with the letter B.

I stayed at a friends house in Middletown last night, so I wouldn't have to drive 1 hour in the morning to get to a 7:45am appointment. What great hospitality! When I arrived they had already started on a 2006 Brotherhood Pinot Noir. A glass was poured for me. It was good. Then we opened a Benmarl Baco Noir with dinner. The Baco is a very interesting wine. I do like it. A little smokey on the end. This Baco is grown at Slate Hill Vineyards where Benmarl is located. Baco is a variety that grows well in cooler climates.

After dinner we retired to the living room to do what every household in America was doing..watching election results. We did this with a bottle from my wine cellar that I had brought. A 2002 Baywood Reserve Merlot. It's a good thing I brought it...if I had waited another year, it would have been salad dressing. It had no tannins and had cherry on the taste with a strong black licorice on the end. One candy I don't like is licorice!! I can't let good wine go to waste, so it was finished by the time I fell asleep on the couch. (I was then woken up to retire upstairs to a bed that was waiting for me)

College Visit and RAO Wines

Last week Rachael from Stew Leonard's sent me a note inviting me to a wine tasting on Saturday at Stew Leonard's in Yonkers. I am normally not down that way but this Saturday I went to Manhattan College on a site visit for my son who is a Junior in high school. Knowing I would be close, if we got out of the orientation in time, I would stop by.

Timing is everything. The tour ended just in time for lunch. So we headed to Stew Leonard's to grab something to eat and visit their liquor store.

We entered the liquor store and was roaming around when someone came up to see if we needed assistance and to inform us of the wine tasting. Funny thing..it was Rachael. We chatted, looked around then Paul and I went over and did some tasting.

We tasted Rao's Chardonnay, 2006 Merlot and 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Chardonnay was nice. Had an oaky slightly butter finish. Just like I like them . We found the 2006 Merlot with lots of tannins and nice cherry aroma. I feel this will be good if it sits for a year. The Cab was nice and smooth. Actually silky smooth. This is a drink now wine.

Every where you go, every liquor store is different. I found that Stew Leonards had a nice selection of South Africian and South America Sauvignon Blancs. I did purchase 3 Sauvignon Blancs in various price ranges from...$6.99 to $12.99. We shall see what they taste like....