An actual sunny day

We went winery hopping in the Finger Lakes today. It was a beautiful sunny day with a bit of a breeze. photo one is of some vineyards and the surrounding hills north of Watkins Glen, the extra is looking towards Seneca Lake from another vineyard. I wish you could try store wines like this  before you buy them  , but it might not matter as  the taste changes so much depending on what you serve it with that it doesn't always help. We stopped at Lakewood first , then Rock Ridge  and ended in Fox Run but in the middle we stopped at Herman Wiemer.I suspect if we had stopped there first we wouldn't have bought anything anywhere else. Except the port at Fox Run. ( I don't understand it : they make wonderful ports but the wines are not in the same league.) The Finger Lakes started out with  making very sweet wines , and newer wineries always seem to start there .These days  there are some very respectable chardonnays  and I understand some make very good red (though I prefer whites myself) , but the area is made for Rieslings due to the shale  and climate. Wiemer's Rieslings are very , very good. And the Gewurtztraminer's.......and when they have it the Gruner Veltliner ( if you find a 2013 grab it).Anyway , fun to traipse around and try them out. It's not Napa ( yet) but it's a heck of a lot closer!