One does not spend any length of time in the Fingerlakes region without visiting a few of the delightful little wineries tucked into the richly-textured countryside around these glacial lakes.
Shortly after our move up here nearly four years ago, on a cold winter's day, as Don and I were exploring our new area, we came upon Chatteau Dusseau, a quaint little cottage sitting on a hillside near Locke, NY... a snow-covered vineyard to the right, farm fields to the left, a magnificent view of woodlands and a lake off in the distance.
I'm so glad we decided to stop that day despite the snow flurries warning us of a coming storm. When we scurried up to the door and stepped into the warm chatteau, we were greeted by a genuine, smiling face that has since become our friend. What I said was going to be a "quick stop" to sample "just one or two of their reds", ended up being a lively 2-hour conversation with Robert "Bobby" and another couple that had stopped in for a tasting!
Since then, Don and I visit the Chatteau about four or five times a year to spend an afternoon sipping wine and sharing friendly, stimulating conversation with Bobby, Levi and sometimes Stephen (Bobby's brother, Levi's father, and co-founder of the business). If we time it right, we also get to hear fun acoustic music from Levi, Bobby or a friend of theirs! Often times, we meet interesting people from other parts of the northeast or Canada, who stop in for a tasting. It's always a fun "date" afternoon for us!
Because Don and I so appreciate the marriage of science and art, wine-making, an ancient artisan tradition, interests us, just like maple sugaring. We've asked these guys lots of questions, and we've even hung around to observe the bottling process one Sunday afternoon. For the last couple of years, we've offered to help the Dusseau's with the harvesting process. This year, they finally took us us up on that offer!
Time is of the essence when harvesting wine grapes, especially with the dramatic weather shifts we have up here. So, we took the girls along last weekend to harvest their Frontenac grapes. Between 3 of them and 4 of us, we made pretty short work of it!
I was impressed with my girls, as usual. They worked hard and asked great questions about the whole process! I can say with confidence, they've developed an appreciation for yet another aspect of agriculture...science and history, as well, thanks to the Dusseau's.
Then, the girls and I watched as the guys dumped the buckets of grapes into the grape crusher-destemmer, then poured the results into the drums where they will begin to ferment.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of the process this year, and tasting the end result of this harvest!
Definitely a fun and interesting afternoon...and it fits right into that experiential learning I often mention.
I hope you seize an opportunity to learn about something new this fall!
Check back here in about 2 weeks for an update on Isaac and more, My Friends!
 |
| Taken from the vineyard during the harvest party... |
I'm so glad we decided to stop that day despite the snow flurries warning us of a coming storm. When we scurried up to the door and stepped into the warm chatteau, we were greeted by a genuine, smiling face that has since become our friend. What I said was going to be a "quick stop" to sample "just one or two of their reds", ended up being a lively 2-hour conversation with Robert "Bobby" and another couple that had stopped in for a tasting!
Since then, Don and I visit the Chatteau about four or five times a year to spend an afternoon sipping wine and sharing friendly, stimulating conversation with Bobby, Levi and sometimes Stephen (Bobby's brother, Levi's father, and co-founder of the business). If we time it right, we also get to hear fun acoustic music from Levi, Bobby or a friend of theirs! Often times, we meet interesting people from other parts of the northeast or Canada, who stop in for a tasting. It's always a fun "date" afternoon for us!
Because Don and I so appreciate the marriage of science and art, wine-making, an ancient artisan tradition, interests us, just like maple sugaring. We've asked these guys lots of questions, and we've even hung around to observe the bottling process one Sunday afternoon. For the last couple of years, we've offered to help the Dusseau's with the harvesting process. This year, they finally took us us up on that offer!
Time is of the essence when harvesting wine grapes, especially with the dramatic weather shifts we have up here. So, we took the girls along last weekend to harvest their Frontenac grapes. Between 3 of them and 4 of us, we made pretty short work of it!
I was impressed with my girls, as usual. They worked hard and asked great questions about the whole process! I can say with confidence, they've developed an appreciation for yet another aspect of agriculture...science and history, as well, thanks to the Dusseau's.
 |
| An interesting critter making himself at home on this vine! |
Then, the girls and I watched as the guys dumped the buckets of grapes into the grape crusher-destemmer, then poured the results into the drums where they will begin to ferment.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of the process this year, and tasting the end result of this harvest!
Definitely a fun and interesting afternoon...and it fits right into that experiential learning I often mention.
I hope you seize an opportunity to learn about something new this fall!
Check back here in about 2 weeks for an update on Isaac and more, My Friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment