I decided to go to Millbrook Vineyards and Winery. It is considered one of the top wineries in New York State and is located in the Hudson River Valley. They have been in business since the 1970’s. They have an extension of 130 acres where only 30 are planted with few varieties. Less than half of the vineyard is planted with Chardonnay, the rest is Cabernet Frank, Riesling, Pinot Noir, and Tocai Friulano. This vineyard produces wines with French and Italian wine making techniques. This area used to be a dairy farm. They have been making wines for 30 years with the first commercial vintage in 1985.

The employees were very attentive from the time I entered the attendant ask me if I would like to attend the tasting or the tour. I chose both. I am glad I was able to tried the 6 wines they offered. I liked the blend of Riesling, Traminette, Tocai Friulano, and Pinot Grigio. It had notes of peach and melon on the palate, however I enjoyed more the 100 percent Riesling they offered because it was not as sweet as the previous one. The attendant of the tasting room was very knowledgable about the different wines, grape varieties , and food pairing. I asked him if the wines were organic and he said the vineyard do not use Fertilization or Irrigation but sometimes they have to use Fungicide. I also was surprised about the third wine Pinot Noir on the nose you can feel the strawberry and cherry with notes of violet, so on the palate you also can taste the same combination of berries. It was unusual because normally with wine you feel one thing in the nose an another thing in the palate. I told the attendant what I was experiencing and he told me I was right. At the end of the tasting of the wines we also tasted olive oil with bread produced in Tuscany, but bottled here. It was really good. This experience made me realize that because I study wine now I am able to critique wine in a professional manner. The glasses we used for the tasting had the logo of I Love New York on one side and the logo of the vineyard on the other side. It was ours to keep as a souvenir.

We continued the tour on how they make the wine. We entered in an area where they have the stainless steel tanks and then the area where they keep the barrels. The tour guide first told us how they hand pick the grapes then the fermentation process lasts from 6 to 20 months. He showed us how the color of the grape juice changes from one day to the next day when they make red wine and the skin is kept with the juice for color. I saw a barrel where you can see the inside through a glass and ask him about it, he explained to us about the Malolactic Fermentation and the sediments, Leeds that form on the bottom of the barrel. The tour guide also told us how Cold Stabilization in white wine forms crystals in the wine called Tartaric Acid. The winery removes it and sells it to another company to be processed as a tartar powder. Then we went to see the bottling process where they bottle 270 bottles at a time in a machine in circular motion and they only used solid corks.
I really enjoyed this experience. I definitely would like to come back to Millbrook Vineyard. They said the best time to come is in the summer and fall. It would have been nice if the restaurant had been open for visitors all year round.

Life cicle of the vine

Vineyard

Marketing of the wine

Tasting room

Wine making

Vineyard from above