Cayuga Lake and Niagra Falls Wine tasting with 319 Wine and Cheese pairings

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When we went on our trip to New York State and Niagara Falls, Canada we did not realize how many wineries we would visit and the amount of wine we would have accumulated during that time. As we started to buy more and more wine we decided it would be a great idea to share these bottles with some of my girlfriends.
So the time had come and it was time to share some vino with my girlfriends.
I wanted it to be a nice intimate experience with just a few friends and some good food to share. For this wine tasting I decided to create a few cheese boards. I do not know too much about pairing wines with cheeses so I asked 319 Wine and Cheese for guidance.



319 Wine and Cheese(http://www.319wineandcheese.com/)
If you live in Tallahassee and you haven’t been to 319 Wine and Cheese then you are missing out. I have been to 319 for many birthday celebrations, girls nights out and just dinner with a girlfriend or two.

When you walk into the restaurant you will see a mixture of different tables, a neat mix of chairs gather around each table, the art work on the walls and the various jams and jellies that are available for purchase.

The main thing when you notice when you open the doors is the wonderful smell of something good cooking. You can’t pinpoint what you can smell exactly but the aromas are all mixed together to create this yumminess in the air. It makes you want to grab the menu and order right away.

The last time we ate at 319 Wine and Cheese was just last week for Erin’s birthday. We ordered the Warm Lavosh and a couple of cheese boards.

I have never claimed to be a foodie or a wine connoisseur but the Warm Lovash is pretty amazing. The bread is really flat and crispy. The mixture of cheeses that make up the fontina cheese blend isn’t oily or too gooey to cut. The cheese almost melts in your mouth. The onions are perfectly caramelized and that adds another layer of just happiness in your mouth. I don’t eat mushrooms but the lure of how nicely they fit into the lavosh was almost tempting. Needless to say, we ordered two because we gobbled the first one up so quickly.

I think my first cheese board was at 319 Wine and Cheese when they first opened. I’m not really an outside the box type of eater but the boards at 319 have pushed me a little outside of my comfort zone and I have never been happier!

For my wine tasting I asked the owners of 319 to help me pair the cheeses with my wines. My wines are all white wines. I have a couple of white blends, a bubbly white, Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio and an unoaked Chardonnay.

Friday I stopped by and picked up the cheeses that they recommended. Most of the cheeses came from the Thomasville creamery called Sweet Grass Dairy (http://sweetgrassdairy.com/), a North Florida Creamery called St. Andrew’s Bay Cheese (http://www.standrewsbaycheese.com/) and The Smith Dairy Farm out of Norman Park, Georgia (https://www.facebook.com/Smith-Family-Dairy-Farm-284621271679682/)

In looking at Sweet Grass’s website they have a pairing chart that I might use in the future. http://sweetgrassdairy.com/LIVE/ourcheese/sgd_wine_pairing.jpg




• Green Hill – From Sweet Grass. According to the website this cheese, ‘is a double cream, soft ripened cow’s milk cheese made in the style of Camembert. ‘
It was a very soft cheese and reminded us of a brie. The girls loved this cheese.
• Asher Blue – From Sweet Grass. According to the website this cheese, ‘ has a slightly pungent, mushroomy aromas and earthy, grass flavors with an unexpectedly mild, salty finish.’
I like blue cheese dressing and I will occasionally eat blue cheese so I am not the best person to ask about blue cheese. I will say that the girls really liked this blue cheese and they said it isn’t as tangy as other blue cheeses they have had in the past.
• Asiago – From St. Andrews Bay. According to the website this chees,’ has a flavor similar to a combination of aged Cheddar and Parmesan. Sweeter, softer and nuttier than Parmesan. A young, firm texture and a complex taste that is accentuated by the Oak and Maple refinement. ‘
My mouth is just watering as I type the description. I was a little scared of the oak and maple description but I really didn’t taste the oak and maple. We all enjoyed eating this cheese. I don’t think was any left after we finished the wine tasting.
St. Andrews Bay cheeses can also be found at NewLeaf Market in Tallahassee.
• Smith Family Dairy Farm - Silly Goat – Sweet Heat Jalepeno Chevre – The ingredients in this cheese are I pasteurized Goat Milk, dried pineapple, dried jalapeño, salt, culture, vegetable rennet.
Last week I was introduced to this cheese at 319 last week. Oh my, this cheese is really really awesome. I wouldn’t call it hot though. The pineapple cuts the jalapeno just right. The goat cheese is creamy and smooth.
I liked it so much that I bought two packages. They could have charged me $15 for each and I would not have cared because it is that good!
This cheese can also be found at New Leaf Market.


They also recommended Wilkin ‘Tawny’ Orange Marmalade. You can dip everything on the cheese board in this marmalade and it will make your heart happy.

After I picked up my cheeses and the marmalade I headed to Publix to pick up some meats, fruits and raw nuts to complete the boards.

I really wanted to thank the owners of 319 (Lynne and Bill Edwards) for their guidance and always being the best hostesses when we go to 319. Every time I see them I feel very welcomed and look forward to sharing a cheese board with my friends.

I don’t think I have ever had the same cheese board twice at 319. They are always changing the boards up and adding new a fresh products.
If you haven’t been there make some time to you. You can thank me later.




• Completed Cheeseboards



Board 1:
• Granny Smith Apple slices
• Raw Almonds drizzled with Tupelo Honey
• Blackberries
• Feta Stuffed red peppers – these peppers are on the Olive Bar at the Centerville Publix. They have a heat to them but the sweetness from the feta makes you want ‘just one more bite’. You need to plan to have at least two for each person!
• Boar’s Head – Hard Salami
• Sweet Grass Dairy – Green Hill
• Sweet Grass Dairy – Asher Blue

Board 2:
• Pistachios
• Tawny Orange Thick Cut Marmalade
• Boar’s Head – Pepperoni slices
• St. Andrews Bay Cheese – Asiago
• Hard Salami Panino Fingers
• Feta Stuffed red peppers

Board 3:
Red Grapes
• Raw Pecans drizzled with Tupelo Honey
• Olives from 319 Wine and Cheeses
• Boar’s Head – Prosciutto
• Silly Goat – Sweet Heat Jalapeno Chevre
• Jarlsberg Cheese (from Publix)

I paired the boards with four different type of crackers. Carr’s Table Water Cracked Pepper, Keebler’s Toasteds buttercrisp, Red Oval Farms Stoned Wheat Thins and Water Wheel Seasame and Poppy Seed Wafer Thin Crackers.



Flowers and Table Settings
I started planting zinnias a couple of years ago. Some years I plant them and some years I don’t. This year I obviously did. They add such a pretty color to my mailbox area. You can clip them and more with bloom and bloom with very little maintenance.



About every other year Jeff gives me a new hydrangea plant for the backyard. Hydrangea flowers are my absolute favorite plant on the planet. I love the fullness of the bloom and how big the blooms are. Hydrangeas require very little maintenance and if you are a savvy planter you can change the color of the bloom by messing with the acidity of the soil. The downside to the Hydrangea is that once they bloom that is all you get that season so love them while you got them.

My plates are from the Wedgewood collection. The plates were part of Sarah’s Garden. This is a design was created by Sarah the Duchess of York (Fergie). When we lived in Birmingham, AL we had a friend that was able to get me a plate signed by Sarah. It was such a special treat to have a plate signed. It’s a gift I treasure to this day.

The glasses are an eclectic mixture. I had various water glasses, champagne glasses and wine glasses. The difference in the glasses added a little fun flare to the table.

My table cloth was a gift from my sister in law and I always look forward to using it. The table cloth was hand made by the Amish. Laura gifted it to me years ago and I just love the design and the specialness of the table cloth. It holds a special place in my heart and when I put it on the table I am always reminded of the specialness of the gift.

The dining room table and chairs are actually from Jeff’s parents. It is the same table that his family ate around growing up. It is always fun to have a little piece of Jeff’s childhood decorating our house. To think that a second generation is now gathering around the table is a special treat to me.



Cayuga Lake Wines
When we decided to spend a week in Ithaca, New York we really didn’t know what we were going to do. We knew that Kirby was going to attend the conference during the day but we didn’t know how we would spend our days.
I searched around the internet and I found out about all the parks in the area that had natural waterfalls and I kind of heard about the wineries.
Ithaca is at the Cayuga Lake which is part of the Fingers Lakes. All around the Finger Lakes area there are wineries, creameries and breweries.
The number of wineries can be overwhelming but we decided to visit a State Park in the morning and then one or two wineries in the afternoon.
During our trip we visited Hosmer, Lucas, Six Mile Creek, Thirsty Owl and Americana Vineyard. Each vineyard was a different experience and I wanted to share the experience with my girls.



Americana Vineyards (http://www.americanavineyards.com/)
Listen, I drink wine but I had never been to a vineyard for wine tastings. The first winery we went to was a little intimidating but by the time we ended up at the Ameicana Winery we were old pros.
The way a wine tasting works is that you pay either $3, $4 or even up to $6 for anywhere between 3 and 6 wines to taste. Some places use the same glass every time and others will offer you a new glass for each tasting. Each winery does offer a carafe of water for you to drink or rinse out your glass they also offer crackers to cleanse your pallet.



We did come to understand that sometime couples share a tasting. That means that they will pay one tasting fee and they would share the glasses. Jeff and I would each purchase a wine tasting and we sampled the same wines. I picked up on that couples do not normally taste the same wines so when we told them that we would sample the same wines they would always perk up a little (less work for them).

Some wineries offer discounts on bottles purchased after the wine tasting so in some instances we would end up paying for out tasting through the discount.
We wanted a variety of wines to bring home so we tried to buy each wineries signature bottle and a second bottle that was a different variety that was not already in the collection we had created.

The thing that struck me about the Americana Winery is that they had more fruit based wines. We tried a blueberry wine that was really good. It was sweet but smooth. If I went back to the winery I would definitely buy a bottle of it.
After the tasting at the Americana Winery we decided on two bottles.



• Rubies Bubbling Wine – On the menu it states, ‘A dry sparkling Cayuga White made in the style of champagne with a soft apple flavor.’
o I served this bubbling wine very cold with frozen grapes in the glasses
o The wine was very smooth just on its own.



• Crystal Lake – The website states, ‘Niagara "grape juice with a kick".
o That is true. This tastes just like grape juice. The consensus is that this was a very sweet but nice wine.



The American Winery was very inviting. The barista that served us was very knowledgeable and made us feel welcome.
After our wine tasting we purchased a wine slushy made with the Crystal Lake wine. We went out onto their patio and enjoyed the scenery while Timmy played with the two labs that wanted to play fetch.
This winery does have a restaurant but it was closed the day we were there because we visited close to closing time and we were visiting a little before the season started.

Thirsty Owl (https://thirstyowl.com/ )
At the wineries we visited we kept seeing the words Cayuga and Seyval. These are two different type of grapes that are grown in the Cayuga Lake or Finger Lakes area.



In looking into the Cayuga White grape I found out that the Cayuga White is a grape that is a cross between Seyval and a Schuyler. The first sample of wine made from this grape was in 1955. Based on what I could find online I believe Cornell (which is in Ithaca) developed this type of grape.

The Thirsty Owl has a beautiful tasting room and bistro that is nestled in the middle of the vineyard overlooking the Cayuga Lake. The view is breath taking.
When you walk into the tasting room the walls are lined with all these beautiful bottles of wine and little stuffed owls everywhere. There is plenty of room to roam around the tasting room and the bar is big and roomy.

The day we visited there were a few other groups at the tasting bar with us. No big deal, the bartender still made us feel like we were the only ones in the building. He listened to our likes and dislikes and recommended different wines based on how we liked the wine we just tasted. He really took an interest in helping us find the right bottle or two for us.

The wines we chose were:
• Snow Owl – According to the website, ‘A perfect blend of Cayuga and Seyval, for a pleasant balance of fruit and acidity’
o The girls liked this wine. One of them wrote that this was a ‘a very smooth wine’ and another wrote ‘good Saturday afternoon wine’
o At the end of the tasting all of the girls wanted a full glass of the Snow Owl.



• Pinot Gris – According to the website, ‘A summery white with faint, floral aromas. Flavors of pineapple, pear, green melon and a light, dry finish.’
o Some of the girls liked the wine while others did not. The general consensus was that is tasted kind of like a Chardonnay.
o It was definitely a drier wine than the previous wines that we had tasted today.



My favorite part about the Thirsty Owl was that they have a video playing that showed the different season, pruning of the grape vines and how they create and test their wines. It was very interesting.



Lucas Vineyard (https://www.lucasvineyards.com/ )
The Lucas vineyard was one of our favorite wineries. We actually visited Lucas twice during our trip to Ithaca.

The Lucas vineyard is the oldest vineyard in the area. Their first bottle of wine was bottled in 1980.

The tasting room is set on the top of a hill that overlooks a field and the Cayuga Lake. It is a beautiful setting.

When we walked into Lucas we were immediately met with a friendly face. When we visited the winery this was only our second time at a wine tasting so we had a lot of questions. The friendly face at the door answered all of our questions with a smile.

We found our place at the wine tasting area and began to select our wines. This tasting room was a little more crowded than the last place we went to so we did have to find our space.

The bartender explained all of the wines and helped us pick the two bottles that were right for us.

We did choose the Butterfly wine that is one of the most popular wines but the girls didn’t get to taste that today because Jeff and I drank it earlier in the week. Opps.

Today the girls tried the wine called ‘Blues’. According to the website, ‘Blues is a Bright, crisp and smooth with tangy citrus fruit flavors. This refreshing blend of Seyval and Cayuga grapes is a great versatile white wine.’

Each of the girls enjoyed the Blues wine. I think it falls under the category of a nice Saturday afternoon wine.

The thing I liked most about visting Lucas was that after Jeff and I were done with the tasting we ordered a glass of the Blues and went and sat under the pergola the over looked the field and the lake. It was a very nice enjoyable way to wrap up the day.

We actually went back to the winery to pick up a couple of bottles before we left the Ithaca area and when we walked in the door the bartender said, ‘oh, hey, you guys are back.’ Yep, and we ordered another glass of Blues and sat under our pergola while Timmy did cartwheels in the grass.

We found out that they host ‘family’ nights during the summer. If I lived in the area I would pack my lawn chair on a Friday or Saturday night and head to Lucas. It sounds like the perfect place to spend an evening with friends, family and a really nice bottle of wine.



Two Sisters Winery – Niagara Falls, Canada (https://www.twosistersvineyards.com/ )
When we were in Canada we did not have much time to visit wineries but we really wanted to visit a couple. We looked for recommendations and we were guided to the Two Sisters Winery.

When we pulled into the drive of the winery it was just beautiful. The vineyards lined the driveway and the building was big and grand. It was really a site to see.

We walked into the tasting room and as we walked toward the tasting bar a guy kind of a ppear from nowhere and informed us that children and not allowed to touch the bottles nor are they allowed to participate in the tastings. Uh, well duh!

I explained to the gentleman that we were in Niagara for a short period of time and that we were only visiting two wineries that day and Two Sisters was one of them. He didn’t really seem too concerned with that. Well, Timmy had been to most of the wineries with us in Ithaca and I guess he didn’t really like the way the guy presented himself so he just looked and me and Jeff told us he was going to wait in the car. I didn’t particularly like the way the guy greeted us but we decided to go ahead with the tasting.

At this winery they give you a different glass for each wine tasting which is kind of cool. I just feel bad for whoever has to wash the dished. Ha.

The bartender was very nice and explained each wine to us. She even included Kirby in the tasting and offered him a glass of grape juice in a wine glass. Kirby really liked listening to the descriptions of the wines and probably asked more questions than we did. When the girls tasted the wine from Two Sisters Kirby jumped on in with his two cents about the wines (no, he’s never tasted wine).

Today we had the girls try an Unoaked Chardonnay. I am not able to find a description on this wine but it is a Chardonnay that is processed in a steel barrel instead of an oak barrel.

The girls didn’t really like this one but I think that is because they do not like Chardonnay’s or it could be that the guys attitude showed up in the bottle. Either way, we put this on the ‘we don’t have to buy this again’ list.



Inniskillin - http://www.inniskillin.com/
The reason I picked Inniskillin is because at every restaurant we ate at in Niagara this particular wine was on the menu. It made me very curious to visit this winery.

The tasting room is set between the vineyards and has lots of picnic tables around the outside. The setup really makes you feel welcome and it appears they want you to stay a while.

The day we visited a tasting tour had just completed so the tasting room was packed. Even though it was very busy we were able to find a place at the tasting table and were immediately greeted by a friendly bartender.

The interesting thing about Inniskillin that I had not seen at other tasting rooms is that they have a different tasting area for the Ice Wine. If you are not familiar with Ice Wine it is a very sweet wine. The grapes are harvested when the grapes are frozen on the vines. We were told that some people use the ice wine on ice cream or even pancakes. After you taste it you can understand why.

At Inniskillin we bought a Pinot Grigio and a sample pack of Ice Wines to share with the girls.

The girls liked the Pinot Grigio but the Ice Wine was a different story.

The Ice Wine is a dessert wine and is meant to be sipped on. The sweetness can be overwhelming if you drink too much too fast. I do like the Ice Wine but I could not see drinking it very often. If you have not had Ice Wine I do think you should put that on your list of drinks. If anything you should try it with a family gathering like Christmas or Thanksgiving. It will give you something to talk about for sure. Please don’t get me wrong, I do like the Ice Wine.
If you are in the Niagara Falls, Canada region I do recommend Inniskillin. They are very v=welcoming and insist you stay a while.
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After the wine tasting the girls and I sat around and chatted about the wines and other things. When Jeff and I decided on the wine tasting at home this was the exact day I imagined. Some wine were hits and some were misses. The company of the girls was awesome and it was a very relaxing way to spend a summer afternoon. We look forward to doing it again soon.

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Photos

Cheeseboard 1
• Granny Smith Apple slices
• Raw Almonds drizzled with Tupelo Honey
• Blackberries
• Feta Stuffed red peppers – these peppers are on the Olive Bar at the Centerville Publix. They have a heat to them but the sweetness from the feta makes you want ‘just one more bite’. You need to plan to have at least two for each person!
• Boar’s Head – Hard Salami
• Sweet Grass Dairy – Green Hill
• Sweet Grass Dairy – Asher Blue

Cheeseboard 2
• Pistachios
• Tawny Orange Thick Cut Marmalade
• Boar’s Head – Pepperoni slices
• St. Andrews Bay Cheese – Asiago
• Hard Salami Panino Fingers
• Feta Stuffed red peppers

Cheeseboard 3
• Raw Pecans drizzled with Tupelo Honey
• Olives from 319 Wine and Cheeses
• Boar’s Head – Prosciutto
• Silly Goat – Sweet Heat Jalapeno Chevre
• Jarlsberg Cheese (from Publix)