Back Home, Looking Forward

After a fews days being back home in the Finger Lakes, I’ve had time to process my left coast experience, to “reset the palette.”

In my first post to kick off our California trip I shared my personal expectation that this trip, like most others, was an opportunity to refresh the palette: taste new foods and different preparations, sample wines crafted from lands unlike the Finger Lakes and experience a culture that’s not quite the same as mine. These seem obvious when traveling overseas, but one can’t overlook the fact that within our country’s borders you can find truly unique regional food experiences. As chain restaurant franchises carpet our country from coast to coast and grocery store shelves get stacked to the ceiling with packaged, processed, corn-based-food-like substances, it’s reassuring to discover people in America who are really passionate about creating great and unique food and wine.

Being a fan of California wine country is like being a Yankees fan - with generations of success preceding, it’s sometimes too easy to like (spoken like a Phillies fan). Sonoma County has so much working for it - fertile lands, moderate climate, unique micro-climates and soils and spell-binding diverse terrain. When I look back at our trip I sometimes see our future. What’s new seems to stick first on the west coast, like the organic movement and localvore-ism (not so sure this is a word) and then makes its way back east. One thing that struck me as unique is the next iteration of organic - biodynamics. The basic principles of biodynamic farming center on stewardship of the land and ecosystem to promote a healthy, sustainable agricultural economy. We saw biodynamics in action at Benzinger Family Winery and Michel-Schlumberger Winery where everything from the fertilizer, bugs, birds, bees, fox, deer and mountain lions where all managed in a harmonious state to create healthier vineyards yielding better wines.

Over the past five or so years I’ve witnessed change here in the Finger Lakes, maybe some of which was inspired by west coast initiatives, maybe not. Town farm markets featuring organically raised food products, grass-fed beef and heirloom varieties of vegetables grown by small-scale local farmers. It’s reassuring to see that there is still a place in our society for the small, family farm. One thing that I didn’t see as much of out west that is so pervasive in the Finger Lakes is the farm stand. At the height of summer and fall harvest I can’t drive three miles without coming across a farm stand selling seasonal produce, cut flowers or free range eggs.

The restaurant scene in Sonoma County and Mendocino was exceptional. It was easy to find good food at any price range in each of the towns we visited. It may sound thrilling to be able to dine out every evening at fine restaurants with five course meals, but in reality we found it best to pace ourselves. Yes, we enjoyed a few luxurious dining moments, but we also found great little places to enjoy wood-fired oven baked pizza and small tapas-style dishes. Regardless of price we thought the food quality to be good and equally satisfying was the service. Unfortunately it’s difficult to find similar dining opportunities in the Finger Lakes. I have a short list of my favorite dining spots in the region that offer quality food, service, and ambiance, but generally speaking, it’s not pervasive in the region like it was out west. In my opinion it’s important for restauranteurs to spend time working at, or at least visiting, quality restaurants before opening their doors. It appears obvious through a lack of consistent good quality food and service excellence, that far too many proprietors have not done so.

And of course, the wines. Sonoma County is home to over 170 wineries and so many of them are great; it’s tough to find a bad bottle among them. Our trip focused on smaller wineries whose wines we wouldn’t find back home. We were quite successful as noted in my posts, but it came at a price. Lower end prices for the wines we tasted were around $18, with a mean price of approximately $35 - prices topped out at $75. In comparison just yesterday I was in a  local wine store walking through the Finger Lakes isle and I was reminded of what great values can be found in our region’s wine: Fox Run Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay - $12, Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Reisling - $14, and a limited selection of reds: Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc in the $18-$25 range (Ravines Wine Cellars, Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars). And these are wines of character, wines with layered flavor profiles, reds that improve with extra bottle aging, wines that match up with and complement food quite well. At these price points, the quality wines of the Finger Lakes can be enjoyed on regular basis and not stored away for some future special occasion… like our purchases from California. During our travels we’ve chatted with other food and wine lovers and generally speaking, these people primarily associate sweet, fruity wines with the Finger Lakes. The Finger Lakes does produce world-class sweet dessert wines alongside the many bottlings of simple, fruity sipping wines, but the region also produces very fine wine from vinifera varietals in limited quantities. What we lack is consistency from winery to winery in quality and focus of varietals. Similar to my suggestion to restauranteurs, some of our vintners should spend time with the farmers and vintners of other great wine regions in order to develop their craft back home. It’s easy to taste which ones did from those who did not.

As I wrap up my California wine and food travel post, I offer these words of advice - make time to visit other parts of this country, and of this world and seek out those facets that define its uniqueness, the roots of their culture. I find it mainly through food, wine, and agriculture, but also in museums, architecture and living history. By getting away I’ve learned to appreciate more what I have at home because my travels have tuned my eye to see and appreciate the things that make the Finger Lakes region such a very special place.