On a Friday morning, I took a drive out to exit 73 (and then some), and found myself parked outside of a beautiful wooden old house surrounded by dormant vines, on a trellis structure. The whole town was farmland, vineyards, and local fresh produce stands which is literally a breathe of fresh air being that I was born and raised in the city. Once I walked in I noticed a sign of upcoming events, and to the left of me was some merchandise the family was selling. All around there were bottles of wine the vineyard had produced. I was shocked by how many different varieties were present. I especially liked their marketing strategies with the different design of the labels on most of them.
Once greeted, I introduced myself to the woman behind the bar, and she knew all the scoop on the place. Some questions that were asked and responses I received:
- What grapes were grown on the vineyard? Abigail, gave me a list of the wines, and proceeded to list “Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viogner, Grüner Veltliner, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier and Syrah.” (macariwines.com, nd.)
- What type of soil does the grounds have, and if there are any approaches to sustainable agriculture? She told me she didnt know that one but one of the employees who worked on the grounds near by knew and told me that the soil is sandy lome, and that the vineyard tries their best to be sustainable and that they have a compost on the premises, and a small farm.
- How are the grapes picked? Some are hand picked for quality and others are machine picked.
- Are there any irrigation systems in place? She told me there is a drip- irrigation system in place for emergencies, for the years that are super dry.
- How long are wines aged for? There is an “early release” wine that is picked and bottled and released to be sold within in 8 weeks, and that other wines can be from 18 months to 26 months.
- When is harvest? There are two harvest sessions, one in the beginning of September for their “early wine” and the second one occurs at the end of September to the beginning of October.
- Are all the grapes for the wines grown here? All the grapes for the wines are grown on premise except for the Reisling which is sourced from a family relative that has a vineyard in the Fingerlakes. She told me that they source that grape from there because there is a different microclimate there and that allows the reisling grape to grow better.
- What type of barrels are used for fermentation? They use only French oak barrels.
- Any special wines? She told me all of the ice wines are dessert wines.
- How many tasting rooms are there? There are 2 tasting rooms, the one that I was in and then a smaller one in Cathogue NY.
After the small interview, Abigail, the tasting personnel I had the interview with took me on a tour into the wine making room. We walked in, and immediately to my left I noticed two very big concrete eggs. She told me that those eggs were the only of its kind and that they were specially made for their chardonnays. There was many stainless steel vats for there white wines. Some of the vats had ice on the outside of them for their sparkling wines. Walking further back into the room were rows of the French oak barrels holding there red wines. To the right of the barrels was the bottling section.
After the tour, I went to the area of the tasting room where there was a refrigerator full of goodies. There was cheeses (locally sourced) charcuterie, crackers, and some bottled soda. I grabbed a package of goat cheese, some fig jam, and some crackers. I walked over to the bar and ordered a flight of medium bodied wines. The flight consisted of five different wines, two white, two red, and a dessert wine. My favorite was the Cabernet Franc because it had a beautiful mouth feel, and notes of red berries and finished with a licorice taste.
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- Dormant Vines
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- Tasting room looking into the wine making room. Flags represent countries of interns that have worked in the vineyard.
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- Marketing of their wines.
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- French oak barrels
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- Concrete eggs for Chardonnay
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- Vats for their sparkling wines are covered with ice.
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- My cheese board with Sauvignon Blanc
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