Awash in wine

By ALAN LITTELL

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 8, 2000

A score of western New York's wineries welcome visitors with free tours that are similar in nature. But it's the tastings that define them.

HAMMONDSPORT, N.Y. -- In some ways, not much has changed along the steep, stony slopes of the Finger Lakes since the Rev. William Bostwick planted a pioneering grape arbor almost a century and a half ago in his Hammondsport garden.

In this slice of rural America, people still take time to talk about the weather or their neighbors' doings. But especially they talk about grapes. And, of course, about wine.

This western new York region is awash in wine. Statewide, small family-owned establishments have swelled the ranks of wineries from about a dozen or so in 1970 to 10 times that number today.

Production runs second only to California's, and the wines themselves, particularly light dry whites like chardonnay and seyval blanc, have come to maturity, occasionally challenging the best that California has to offer.

Although wineries now speckle New York from the Hudson Valley westward to Lake Erie, the bulk of the industry is concentrated in the protective ridges and clawlike depressions that define the Finger Lakes district. At least a score of wineries welcome visitors with free tours and/or tastings. But where the tours tend to sameness -- they cover an almost identical array of grape presses and fermentation vats -- the tastings provide variety and a bit of challenge. An opportunity to savor and compare wines is the real attraction of vineyard hopping.

Representative examples of the district's wineries center on the drowsy village of Hammondsport at the southern end of Keuka Lake. In a 14-mile stretch from just above the village to the head of the lake's west bank at Branchport, you can comfortably do a round of tastings in a day or two.

September or October is the best time to make the trip. The air is bracingly cool, the foliage season near or at its glorious peak. And with the harvest underway, the sweet-sour aroma of crushed grapes drifts over slopes.

A taste or three

The treats of New York If city streets aren't your thing, the Empire State offers more: countryside byways with hamlets and villages and a charming dose of Americana. Falling for the Finger Lakes region Nature entices visitors to northern New York with 25 state parks. And, with Cornell University at its heart, it's a breeding ground for fine inns, hotels and restaurants. Awash in wine A score of western New York's wineries welcome visitors with free tours that are similar in nature. But it's the tastings that define them. Company town reborn Corning, N.Y., reinvents itself as a prosperous marketplace, with nods to its architectural past and its ties to Corning glassware and Mark Twain. If you go Beyond all the longer articles today about western New York, there are still more places worth visiting, and they run the gamut from geologic wonders to a museum of the history of aviation and its place in warfare. Except as noted, these attractions are open year-round, closing for major holidays:

Beginning a one-day outing not long ago, I rambled north from Hammondsport on SR 54A and CR 76. A 2-mile drive into the sun-patched hills brought me to a cluster of frame buildings: Bully Hill Vineyards. Gnarled woody vines heavy with grapes climbed to a high ridge.

The 112 acres of vineyard surrounding this winery are planted almost exclusively in hybrid varieties of classical European vinifera and native American labrusca grapes. Labrusca offshoots such as the pale-red Catawba and dark-red Concord yield wines with a distinctive flavor.

Some connoisseurs find this sweetish wild-grape essence unappealing. But because of labrusca's resistance to frost and fungus, it continues as the industry's mainstay either when grown by itself or when crossed with the finicky Old World viniferas (common grapes) that account for the stylish table wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhine.

Bully Hill is the biggest winery on the lake. It produces a quarter of a million cases a year and attracts 150,000 visitors. Guided tours leave the central reception building every half hour for a brief stroll through the vineyard, the crushing and pressing plant, the fermentation and aging rooms.

Last stop is a glassed-in terrace with a splendid view of Keuka (pronounced CUE-kuh) lake. Here I joined three or four other tasters. Behind the 40-foot bar, Lisa, wearing denim and an engaging smile, doled out samples in tulip glasses.

Like most wineries, Bully Hill offers visitors a set menu. Portions are minuscule. You can either swallow the wine or do what the professionals do, spit it into a refuse tub. I did both.

With Lisa lecturing expertly on "legs" -- the wine residue that flows back to the bottom of the glass -- I began with a flowery white labrusca called Delaware, then pushed on to a sweet red labeled Ives. The legs of the red were viscous, easy to see. "Thinner is drier, thicker sweeter," Lisa noted.

From Bully Hill, I had wandered north on CR 76 about 2 miles when a long, low farm shed with a half-timbered gable came into view: Heron Hill Winery.

Now in its 25th year, Heron Hill is a boutique establishment bottling about 13,000 cases a year. The winery gives brief tours only on request, but it offers all visitors sips of up to seven wines.

The menu focused on whites -- intense vinifera chardonnays and an aromatic range of hybrids known as seyvals. Also on tap were crisp-to-fruity vinifera rieslings.

All the wines I tasted were delicious. But as memorable as the contents of any one glass was the patter of hospitality manager Anne Marie, presiding behind the bar.

Wine people have a jargon all their own. Inhaling the bouquet, or "nose," of a blended seyval, she commented on the wine's "nice quirkiness." A 1996 Riesling? "Flavors of tropical fruit."

An unassuming gem

Digesting the commentary as well as the wine, I headed a little farther north, to Shuart Road. I turned right, toward the lake, then right on Middle Road and on to a collection of nondescript buildings that looked like a scaled-down industrial park. It was, in fact, probably the most celebrated winery in the Finger Lakes: Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars.

About 49 years ago the founder of Vinifera, a Ukrainian agricultural engineer named Konstantin Frank, revolutionized winemaking in New York. Defying conventional wisdom, Frank grafted imported vinifera grape saplings onto winter-hardy Canadian root stalks -- creating vines able to withstand sub-freezing weather. These vines also yielded wines that retained the balanced aroma and taste of the European originals.

Now run by his son and grandson -- Dr. Frank died in 1985 -- the 90-acre estate produces award-winning classical wines. Output is about 20,000 cases yearly. Vinifera's wine labels carry only the name Konstantin Frank and the varietal grape name, never generic place names such as Chablis or Burgundy.

The tasting room is open to all comers; serious students of wine can call for a tour of the plant. On the day of my visit, a young server named George provided commentary. At his elbow stood a kibitzing Willy Frank, the firm's balding, 70-something chairman and son of the late founder.

I tasted eight samples, reds and whites. All were superior, but the two standouts, both reds, had the satisfying tang of France.

The Fleur de Pinot Noir was made from the great red-wine grape of Burgundy. It was slightly astringent. "Less powerful than some of the other reds," George declared.

"Healthiest wine in the world," asserted Willy Frank. "Increases good cholesterol, cuts the bad. And I'm still not happy. It doesn't grow hair."

For an encore, George produced a bottle of Vinifera's 3-year-old cabernet sauvignon, the grape responsible for the best of the full-bodied wines of Bordeaux.

The liquid in my glass glowed ruby. It had an aromatic bouquet and a robust, complex flavor with a hint of tannin, the tart substance that gives fine wines their staying power.

George didn't say a word. Neither did Willy. The wine spoke for itself.

- Alan Littell is a freelance writer who lives in Alfred, N.Y.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Hammondsport is at the southern tip of Keuka Lake, about 40 miles northwest of the Elmira/Corning Regional Airport, or about 65 miles southeast of Rochester; both airports are served by US Air.

For touring wine country, a car is essential. Keuka Lake is just north of SR 17, south of Interstate 90.

All the wineries mentioned in this article sell their products on the premises, and all are open year-round. Contact the wineries for their hours: Bully Hill, (607) 868-3610, http://www.bullyhill.com; Vinifera Wine Cellars (800) 320-0735, http://www.drfrankwines.com; Heron Hill, (800) 441-4241, http://www.heronhill.com. Bully Hill has a well-regarded terrace restaurant and a small museum of winemaking; Heron Hill has delightful covered patios looking toward the lake.

For more information, contact the Keuka Lake Wine Trail at (800) 440-4898, http://www.keukawinetrail.com. The Finger Lakes Association, 309 Lake St., Penn Yan , N.Y. 14527, (800) 548-4386, has specifics about area attractions, dining and accommodations.

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