First Stops

When we discovered that our schedule allowed us to leave a day earlier on our New York Finger Lakes trip, Madam Ambassador took to Google.

Lo and behold, Lake Erie Wine Country , a 50-mile stretch of Pennsylvania and New York, was on the way and had a nearby campground. Since the westernmost winery, 6 Mile Cellars , is not open on Fridays, our first stop was Burch Farms Winery & Country Market.

I am not a total snob but I don't like to walk in and see wine being served in little plastic cups. Yep, this was one of them but I didn't turn around and walk out.

They had a small selection of mainly sweet wines that were true to their fruit bases. The dryest wine they offer is their Leon Millot, made from the red hybrid created in 1911 in Alsace, France, and grown on the estate. It had a nice berry nose and tasted similar to most red table wines I have had.

Next up was their semi-dry Cayuga, a slightly sweet white with a citrus nose, and Catawba, a sweet white that actually was not cloyingly sweet and had a nice clean finish. Now it was on to the fruit wines and I give props to this winery for making them from fermented juice from the fruit listed on the label. (Not all wineries do this - some flavor a white wine with fruit extracts/juice.)

The Raspberry had a nice tart taste that made you think of summer. As expected, the Niagara had a heavy grape nose but was surprisingly not icky sweet. The favorites of the day here were their Apple Empire and Apple Gala. I have had apple wines before but never the opportunity to taste two together with the variety listed on the label. Both had a great apple nose but Empire was a little drier with a crisp apple flavor while Gala put forth a sweet, muted apple note. Madam Ambassador and I both chose Apple Empire as our favorite of the two.

I finished here with Blue-Eyed Husky, a sweet ice wine made from frozen Vidal grapes. Picking grapes when they have frozen increases the sugar content, 42 brix for this one, and creates a sweet, syrupy wine usually served with dessert.

www.burchfarmscountrymarketandwinery.com

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