Summer Fields
white wine
Seyval Blanc

tasting the international red
a fruity blend
great with spicy foods

Clearview vineyard

Baco Noire starting to sprout

clearview vines

Waywayanda white
Cayuga Grape

The journey to my vineyard and winery visit was a painfully long one partly because I am not one to endure hours long rides. However, the outcome was very enjoyable. Would I do it again? Nope. I visited the Apple wood winery where I took in the beautiful scenery and participated in a few tastings which included wines like:

• International Red- it was a semi-sweet, tart wine that was a blend of Pinot Noir and Baco Noir. This wine was not aged.
• The Ruby’s kiss – it was a sweet and jammy type of red wine made from 100% Concorde grapes. It was my first tasting that had my taste buds dancing in appreciation so much so that I bought a bottle so my family especially my mother could enjoy it for mother’s day.
• The Wawayanda white – as the name says it was indeed a white wine made from Cayuga grapes. It was light and crisp wine very nice but not my favorite.
• Summer Field- a white wine from Seyval Blanc grape. Its aroma was melon and peachy both to the nose and palate as well a very delightful wine.

All the wines that have tasted was bottled and produced by the Applewood winery.

As I continued on my wine journey the next stop was at the Clearview Vineyard where I met vintner Frank Graessele who shared some history and a tour of his vineyards where I got to see some vines where some were beginning to sprout. In the beginning the vineyard was originally grown organic for seven years. However, after a while three grape varieties were affected by a disease called black rot and they couldn’t control it organically. Though they were growing the grapes organically prior the wine couldn’t be sold organically because they use metabi sulphite to allow the wine to taste and be the best so the wine couldn’t be sold as organic anyway. At the vineyards eight grape varieties were grown which were Cayuga white, Vidal blanc, Traminette and New York 81 grape which they named divinity, (white wines) it’s a hybrid grape developed by Cornell. In the red variety Cabernet Franc, Baco Noir and Noire. Mr. Frank was such a nice man spearing time to engage and teach some of his vineyard even though he was providing wine to other guest for tasting. It was a good day.