See you at the Finger Lakes Riesling Festival!
As the summer seems to go blazing by, August approaches and brings with it the 3rd annual Finger Lakes Riesling Festival. This family-oriented event, August 13 and 14 brings together food, music, wine and fun. It's held on the north shore of Canandaigua Lake and has drawn over 20,000 participants the last two years. Heron Hill Winery is a major sponsor and will feature the entertainment at the music tent, including Prime Time Funk and Nik and the Nice Guys, two of Rochester's top bands. On Sunday morning the Campbell Brothers gospel music will fill the air with joy. One of the best parts of the festival is that entry is free. You pay to taste wine and beer, and over a dozen regional cheeses, but the music, the car show, the arts and crafts displays, etc. are all free. We're very excited about the mobile ap being offered to learn more about this great event. Learn more about Finger Lakes Riesling, groove to the tunes, bask in the sun and join your friends for two days of family fun. See you there!
See you this weekend at the Finger Lakes Wine Fest!
Summer is officially here! After a long, demanding Independence Day weekend we are recovering with a glass of the newly released favorite, the Blaufränkish! Just prior to the weekend, we released the newest vintage (2008) of our Reserve Blaufränkish. It has a deep dark color that foretells a rich, robust and complex wine. Upon opening the bottle, the rich aromas of anise, black raspberry and chocolate soften the rich fruit that leads you into a touch of spicy clove and soft sweet vanilla. For a special dinner we cooked up a (freshly home grown) tomato Basil pizza on the grill that was fabulous with the Blaufränkish.
I am getting SO excited for a fabulous weekend; a large group of us are headed to the Finger Lakes Wine festival. We always love to listen to the live music starting Friday night at the Toga Party; I especially love watching everybody pass by with their crazy outfits! On Saturday I am slinging and selling lots of wine in the Pit pass area; come visit!
Meanwhile, in the other sections of the festival there is FREE Live music available all day in the Brewers' Garden, Cabernet Courtyard, Sparkling Courtyard and The Park. Styles, like the festival, are eclectic so you'll find upbeat blues and jazz to singer song writer acoustic shows...you'll hear covers, you'll hear originals...you may even find that music comes to you!
On Saturday night after the close of the event we head back to the campsite and have a gourmet meal prepared by the “guys”, they are going to be using the smoker to cook two whole turkeys and there will be plenty of sides including baked beans, deviled eggs, salad, macaroni salad and my personal favorite potato salad! After dinner and a few glasses of wine we go watch the GeVa Comedy Improv group out of Rochester. They were so funny last year and kept us laughing for hours! The show starts Saturday evening at 6pm at the Tiki Hut Bar near the camper festival entrance and is open to anyone so stop by for a night cap and be prepared to laugh!!
On Sunday I finally get to be on the “right” side of the bar! I get to go around and see all my friends from the local wineries and check out the “competition”, generally buying a few cases of wine! I can’t wait to see and taste some amazing wines (other than Heron Hill’s)!
Hope to see you there, cheers!
The summer season at the Tasting Room at Bristol
We are starting off our second year being open on Canandaigua Lake. After waiting all winter to open we are feeling positive about this season. We have new management this year and a great new staff. Our new staff has been enjoying learning about our history of the winery and our wines.
Our days have been consistent for us. The weekends have been quite busy with group tastings. People love to use our facility for their friends or family to come and enjoy our wines. It is a great facility to have these kinds of events. We also have a great gift shop with local products and Heron Hill logo items to bring home for someone special. We are offering the new Game Bird White that recently came out and tastes great. We look forward to having you come and visit us during the week or on a weekend.