Suzanne Fine Regional Cuisine

I have to talk about this restaurant we ate in at the Finger Lakes. It's called Suzanna Fine Regional Cuisine - country dishes, beautiful farmhouse dining room, friendly staff, and the most important, fresh local, seasonal foods.

I heard about this restaurant from a couple of places. It specializes in regional foods and produce. Whenever I visit a place, I always want to eat local foods. How else are you going to get to know a place until you eat food that's been grown and raised there?

It was an easy drive, and the restaurant looks over Seneca Lake. A beautiful farmhouse. Our server was such a sweetheart. For dinner, we ordered 2 salads and a corn soup - for entrees, a pork tenderloin, duck breast, and cod. For wine, a 2006 Hermann J. Weimer Riesling. Everything we ate was from the region, it was fresh, and it was in season. Perfect. I enjoyed the food. Not inexpensive though. Simple, country dishes, nothing fancy. And I mean, nothing fancy. The food was so fresh, the cuts were top quality. And that's all you can ask out of a restaurant. Very impressed. Really got a taste of the local produce. Interesting experience.

Here's a couple of pictures of the outside and the dining room. If you're in the area, make sure you visit.

Taxes and tasting in an uncivil manner

Writing about Shalestone got me worked up about something. I purchased 2 bottles of Shalestone wine - the Cabernet Franc of course, as well as the Merlot. The merlot was a bit too soft for me - pleasant but a little soft. My father wanted it, so we got it. Definitely would have prefered to get 2 bottles of cabernet franc, but I wasn't paying.

Anyways, I thought that we could bring 2 bottles back to Canada, no problem. Turns out its only duty free if you've been away for at least 48 hours. The wines cost $43 in total, but the customs duties were $28.53. How does that make sense? Punishing honest Canadian citizens just for buying some wine? A really negligible amount, if you think about it. It's not like I was bringing back 20 cases. Just 2 bottles, between 3 people. This is why all this talk about economic closeness between the two countries is absolute bullshit, because everyone just wants to make money, even if its off their own citizens.

What I was a bit disappointed about was that there were so many people visiting the wineries that you never are able to engage in a real dialogue with the staff. Its nothing more than a tasting bar - they pour you the wine, then they have to move on to the next group of people.

Unbelievable. I'm sure it'll be better after the summer tourist season passes, but it's such a different experience than being in Niagara. I'm not plugging for Niagara, but Ontario offers such a better experience. I'm leaving out the commentary about loud, obnoxious, boorish Americans, but you get the idea.

Shalestone Vineyards

When I was researching which wineries in the Finger Lakes I was going to visit, the name Shalestone came up quite a bit. It had the reputation as producing the best red wines in the region, so of course this was going to be my first stop. Quite wary of claims like this, but eager to taste and find out.

The winery is on a stretch of nice road parallel to Seneca Lake, on the east shore. The winemaker, Rob Thomas, was pouring, and he was a very personable guy. Really likes to get to know the people who come into the winery. And the flow of people coming in never stopped.

We tasted through all thes wines. The wine list is below. I can do without all the colourful descriptions, but it shows the personality of the winery.

The wines had a common character to them. They had had lovely, aromatic noses, with lots of character and varietal typicity. The were dense, very focussed wines, with a clean, long finish. Purity and silkiness, but with enough stiff structure to hold its hold up. Wonderfully made wines, really exceptional. I fell in love with the cabernet franc. Really, I don't think I've tasted a better cabernet franc outside of the Loire Valley. So rich, but not over-manipulated. The density and clarity of the texture is amazing. As yet, this is definitely the best cabernet franc in the New World.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to taste the pinot noir. We did taste the pinot noir rose, but I wanted to try the red wine. And also, they didn't have a 100% syrah. Would have been interesting to compare it with the Lailey syrah.

Overall, Rob makes excellent wines. Focussed, honest wines, just like the winemaker. Brave and unapologetic about the fact that this is riesling country, and people don't really expect great red wine to come out of the region. That's why you have to keep an open mind about wine - you never know what to expect. As far as Bordeaux-style blends and cabernet, Shalestone is definitely one of the best. I can't stress that enough, how happy I am to have visited this winery and to have tasted Rob's wines. Just incredible wines. Everyone in Niagara who says they make great cabernets - you need to taste Shalestone wines, because this is the benchmark that EVERYONE should be aiming for.

The winery and production facility entrance:

Back from the Finger Lakes

Returned from the Finger Lakes today, one day ahead of schedule. Just wasn't really feeling the area, or the wines. No point in staying another night.

Not that I really dislike the place. It's just - something. It doesn't give me anything to be excited about. The place is like the wines - little to no character.

Drove all day today, about 500 km. Very tired. And to make things worse - we got taxed at customs. For the wine we bought back. A grand total of 2 bottles. TWO f*cking bottles! Unbelievable. Judging by how aggressively the Cdn government goes after its own citizens, they do a pretty f*cking shitty job at stopping actual felonies. I mean, if they went after real crimes like they go after taxing petty purchases, we'd be living in an exceptional country.

Anyways, I'm still hurting over the $28.53 in taxes and fines they made us pay. Will post up some pictures tomorrow. Don't plan on getting up until at least noon.

Not impressed...at all

I'm sitting in our hotel, in the Finger Lakes region. We visited a couple of wineries, tasted about 30 wines. Not that many, but enough to get an impression of the region. And I'm not impressed. With the exception of Shalestone Vineyards, the wineries here make flabby wine, for learning disabled drinkers.

Very happy with what I tasted at Shalestone. Not only was Rob friendly and genuine, he was honest. That's the most important thing you can ask for from an owner/winemaker. Honesty. And on top of that, he makes magnificent red wines. The cabernet franc was so impressive. Dense, focussed, tight and hard. Just delicious. As were all his wines, from his Bordeaux blends to his merlot. I had hoped to taste his pinot noir, but it wasn't available. Also, I would have wanted to try his syrah, if he made a 100% varietal. Just for comparison with the Lailey Syrah that we tasted last month.

Americans have a very different idea about wine than Canadians and Niagara winemakers. I don't want to call it flawed, but they just value different things - I think it's not the proper approach, but who am I to pass judgement? And another thing that really pisses me off... They insist on having you pay for tastings! It's so foreign to me, because Niagara wineries never ASK for payment. Even if I don't buy any wines, I feel like there's no obligation. I try to engage the people at the winery in dialogue about their wines, about their philosophy, and I never feel forced to buy wine. You feel that pressure in the Finger Lakes. It's a horrible feeling - especially when this rabid bitch chases you at the door to pay $4 for a tasting of wines, that were genuinely quite f*cking horrible.

I will post some pictures tomorrow. Really surprised by Shalestone, really grew attached to all their wines. Compelling, well-made, honest wines. And I have to post some pictures of the restaurant we had dinner at.

Anyways - at this point - I want to get out of here. This place jsut doesn't hold up to Niagara at all, in any way. No way. Any one of Thirty Bench's wines will knock these so called "top riesling estates" out. You're kidding me right? Feeding me this bullshit about how Finger Lakes makes world quality riesling? Give me a f*cking break.

The Finger Lakes

Just finished planning out a route for a road trip. I'm going up to the Finger Lakes, in New York State. Don't really know what to expect - to me, this is just another one of those cookie cutter tourist spots, like a cheap version of Niagara Falls without all the casinos. Wow, I probably offended some people saying that. Sorry.

Visiting some wineries, of course. Going to Shalestone Vineyards, Hermann J. Wiemer, Miles Wine Cellar and Attwater Estate. Don't know any of these places, or what wine they make. This list was made based on recommendations, so I hope they turn out to be nice.

Stuck in middle-aged tourism hell for an entire weekend.