Finger Lakes Wine Festival 2010.

So for those of you who aren't from around here (the Finger Lakes), you may not be aware of the wide range of wineries that are at our fingertips. I happen to be a very strong supporter of "locally made wines". Not only for the fact, that about 99% of the time they are cheaper than those fancy California wines, but because they are right up my ally! Light, Sweet, and Delicious! So you can imagine my excitement when I hear of an entire festival dedicated to tasting, and experiencing different Finger Lakes wineries. Yay! I asked some of my friends and co-workers if they wanted to go, and a few said yes, a few said no. It ended up being myself, mike (kansas) and two ladies I work with (Tiffany, and Crystal). We drove down in Crystal's uncle's RV (who was eventually named Carlos).

The drive down was pretty fun, luckily it's only about an hour and a half drive to the festival grounds. The festival runs from Friday to Sunday, however Crystal and I both have little guys, so we wanted to limit it to one night. We left Saturday morning around 7:30, but after small pit-stops (and one small detour through the Town of Dix), we rolled in around 11:30. It gave us just enough time to set up camp (we were only staying one night, but still!), and get ready to head out.

After about a 5 minute walk we finally got to the gates to what I refer to as, Wine Heaven! I'm not kidding when I say there were around 60 participating wineries. You can literally take your glass to any (and all) booths, ask for whatever tastings you would like. This baffles me! What a fantastic way to get a taste of different kinds of wine, without going to the hassle of planning a wine tour.

We walked around for a bit, visited a bunch of wineries, ate some delicous food, then headed off to the beer tent! We listened to some music, and did some beer tastings as well. I liked pretty much everything I tried. It's always nice to taste new beers, and then throw them into the mix. The festival closed at 5, and we walked back to the camper.

That is where the "after-party" fun began! First off, I should thank god we had awesome "neighbors". It was an older couple who came w/ their daughter and son in law to enjoy the festival. They were great! We set up chairs and a beer pong/flip cup table between our campsites, and proceeded to hang out. We attracted a lot of new friends also! We met some great people, [Lindsay & Mike, Justin & Jeff, Missy & Brian, Wayne & Lisa] throughout the night. Later in the night, some friends from High school stopped over and had a few drinks with us.


The next morning we took off for home. We stopped for breakfast at this cute little place in Geneva that had great food. When I finally got home, I got to steal Hunter back from Grandma. He was busy hanging out in the pool (soo tortured, I know), who was happy to see mom. Trevor got home shortly after (he was at drill all weekend), and Hunter was happy camper! We all went to dinner at the new Distillery in Victor with my Mom, her boyfriend Joey, and my little brother. All in all, it was a great weekend, I will absolutely consider going next year and would highly recommend it for any wine lovers out there!

PS, My new favorite wine!!