New York

A great wine tourist area and even a few exceptional wines

Earlier this month, I took my wife and kids and we spent a few days vacationing in the Finger Lakes.  For those of you who don’t know, the Finger Lakes comprise a region in western New York State.  These lakes are remnants of the glaciers retreat at the end of the last ice age.  They are long and thin and run north south. 

Manhattan may be the bustling, hectic, cosmopolitan center of New York, but on a short drive east on the Long Island Expressway, you can see the pace of New York gradually ease from major metropolis to sprawling suburbs, and finally, as the island splits off into what are known as the North and South forks, to rural farmland. The South Fork is famous for the Hamptons, a chic vacationing resort popular with overworked Manhattanites, and though there are a handful of wineries in the south, it is in the heart of the North Fork of Long Island, once known primarily as a potato farming community, that you will find cozy bed and breakfasts, old fashioned diners boasting fresh berry pies, and best of all, the newest, and one could argue most exciting, wine region in New York State.