Finger Lakes: Part 3 (Que Syrah Syrah)

On the second and last morning at the B&B, we slept in a little (9 o' clock) and took time appreciating the house. B&Bs are an odd concept to us; the idea of living in someone else's house, with other people, and having breakfast made for you by total strangers, is kind of creepy. But somehow everything about Los Gatos was perfect and set up in a classy, non-creepy way. The house was far from old and dated, like I imagined most B&Bs to be - in fact, it was actually kind of like a posh mini-motel, and I'm sure many guests wished it were their house. The furniture was new, the decor tastefully done, there was a heated pool and gazebo overlooking acres of farmland... It was a neat little sanctuary.

When we emerged from our rooms for breakfast, Burney had already put out fresh goodies from the oven. We sat outside again, and this time Susan came to hang out with us.


Dutch babies with peach compote paired with creme fraiche. Also accompanied by bacon, freshly baked blueberry scones, assortment of homemade jams and jellies, orange juice, coffee. What a spread!

Even though check-out was at 11am, we only left a little before noon. We ended up buying a blueberry jam and apple cider syrup. Packed up the car, said our goodbyes, and we were on the road.



First stop: Fox Run Vineyards. There was a garlic festival going on, so it was packed. We did a sampling inside and bought a few bottles before exploring the festival. I have never seen so much garlic in my life.

  

Who knew there were so many kinds of garlic?

I bought a bag of German white garlic just for kicks. Brave garlic-lovers stood in line to sample different kinds of raw garlic. There was music, food, and little cups of grape juice for the kids.

Next stop: Anthony Road Wine Company. Susan mentioned liking the table red, so we decided to investigate. We were served by a young fraternity guy who was surprisingly knowledgeable about wines. We were also impressed by the vignole - tasty stuff! The place reminded me of our hometown favorite, Stone Villa Wine Cellars. There was a fun little herb garden to the side, which we explored.


  
Anthony Road Wine Company

Onward: Earle Estates Meadery. When I was planning our itinerary, I got so excited when I saw the word "meadery", because rumor has it that mead is somewhat hard to come by. We finally had the chance to satiate our curiosity - and not only did we try mead, we also tried an apple cyser and several melomels. Mead tasted deceptively like a regular fruit wine, although it had a subtle, unique aftertaste. We stocked up on the mead and melomels.


The meadery

Check out the medals! These guys are not kidding

We also checked out their sister winery next door, Torrey Ridge. Couldn't resist getting a fruit wine or two there. After the meadery, we drove on to Four Chimneys, the country's first organic(!) winery. Au naturel from the vine to the bottle - no herbicides, no preservatives, minimal amounts of sulphites. I could taste the difference. At all the other wineries, the tasting area offered fancy crackers and snacks to 'cleanse the palette', but this one had plain good ole' Cheerios. Cute! I was particularly impressed by a dry blueberry red; E and I agreed that the pear wine was also a must-get.

Finally, we were ready to head back home, but not before grabbing dinner at Castel Grisch. E said it was more "grisch" than "castel". Kinda dated, very German, but overall not a bad place. I had visions of big German women wearing pigtails and dirndl dresses dancing with steins of beer. (I think our waiter actually wore lederhosen...) There was brass music playing in the background. E ordered something he couldn't pronounce, and I had the Schweinschnitzel. We sat outside on the deck for the panoramic view of Seneca Lake, which was just past some grapevines. Beautiful place... a pity about the 80's decor.

The drive back was a little unpleasant, because I did 5 of the 6.5 hours. I drove nicely; if we should ever be pulled over for anything, our stash of booze in the trunk would need some serious explaining. We made it home around midnight, and only needed two trips to unload our booty.

What an awesome trip. It was a great get-away and well worth the drive. Now we just need to get a bigger wine rack...