Waiting out Sandy....

After a particularly eventful day waiting for Sandy the Hurricane winner of 2012 that involved an early trip to work, hydroplaning and wrecking my car, and then a mandatory afternoon nap, it was finally time to unwind. To start the unwinding process, my wife and I decided we'd make one of our favorite appetizers, a big bowl of guacamole.

The question came up was what to pair with our delicious appetizer? I had recently taken a trip back home northern PA to harvest a doe for the freezer this year, and while up there I stopped by my favorite wine store to pick up some great Finger Lakes wine. For you regular twitter followers, search #FLXwine and you'll see all the popular spots to go in the finger lakes. Some of our particular favorites are Dr. Frank's, Goose Watch Winery, Shalestone Winery, and Atwater Estate. On our most recent trip to the Finger Lakes we noticed that like Virginia, local micro breweries are starting to pop up in large numbers give the more established wineries a run for their money.

After quickly running down the inventory, we were informed by our youngest kitty Gus that the winner was our  Red Newt Cellars 2010 Semi-Dry Riesling  Quickly, it went to the freezer to cool down, while I got into the process of mashing avocado's  toasting garlic, and slicing and dicing the ingredients for the delicious guacamole.

Red Newt Cellars is on the East Side of Seneca lake and has attached restaurant with a great view. They are known for making solid wines that rival any made in the finger lakes, and as you'll see below this one did not disappoint.

Before totally tearing up our appetizer, we took the time to enjoy our wine. Our thoughts included light floral notes, tropical fruits of lychee and mango were prevalent on the nose. The wine was a light to medium body with a great balance of fruit and acid. The predominant fruit was ripe Asian pear and a lasting lingering fruit that left the mouth with clean mineral effervescent feel that lasted long after the wine was no longer present on the pallet. It paired well with our afternoon snack, and was a delicious sipper to watch Sandy as she threw her best at us. If you are reading this, we won, Sandy lost, and we kept power...yeah.

Oil Tyco0n or Condiment on Hamburger?

I’m all about exposing people to wineries they don’t know about, and this year’s FLX wine tour included some places we had never been. One of those new places for us was a random stop J.R. Dill Winery .

Overall, we had a great visit at this winery. Their pourers were very entertaining, however they weren't producing the type wines my wife and I really enjoy, but they did produce some fun sipping wines that are great by themselves or with light summer fare.

After enjoying a quick evening out in VA wine country (Loundon County to be specific), the wife and I decided we were ready for easy evening drinking wine while enjoying an evening of sports and “Diners, Drivers, and Dives.” We decided to open up our bottle of Lake Glass Red.

This non-vintage blend of popular Finger Lakes red grapes has a green earthy smell. Not quite moldy, more like sniffing around the roots of a green pepper plant. The wine was a real fruit bomb. Raspberry was the predominant taste but balanced with a little green pepper, and burning sharp tannins on the back of the tongue.

This wine was not something I’d want every day but in the right situation with a juicy grilled meat, or tangy bar-b-que sauce this wine is a great compliment, or a sipping wine to top off a great evening on the start of a holiday weekend. Either way, it is fun and a signal of things to come from this winery.