With the Uncorked Wine event coming up tonight at the Statler City downtown I thought it might be interesting to take a look at how local wines compare against others produced in other parts of the country and the world. This area ranks very well and it all has to do with the soil and climate.

New York State has 31-thousand acres of vineyards and hundreds of farms dedicated to producing grapes for wine and many of them are right here in our own backyard. Vineyards in Erie and Chautauqua County along the Lake Erie shoreline are noted for growing some of the best Concord grapes. They’re used in making sweet, white wines.

Niagara grapes are common along the Lake Ontario shoreline from Canada’s Niagara Peninsula all the way to east of Rochester. Niagara grapes are used in making another sweet wine – almost the flavor of grape juice with a very strong grape aroma.

In the Finger Lakes region you’ll find over 100 wineries and several wine trails. In an article last year USA Today named the Finger Lakes region among the Top 10 in the country. The Finger Lakes is known for Riesling, another sweet grape producing a sweet wine.

One of the newest of the designated wine regions is along the Niagara Escarpment. Although there are only four wineries there – the grapes and wine they produce are slightly different.

Many of the wineries appearing at Uncorked tonight will feature their own local wines, but Passport Wine & Spirits will offer wines from other parts of the country and the world. One of the really unique wines you can sample are the African wines. And right alongside Passport Wine & Spirits will be Francesca’s Italian Cuisine offering samples of their menu items. So sample some of their food and see how it goes along with the various wines around the world.

The word wine is derived from the Latin word “vinum” meaning vine.

 

SOURCE: winegeeks.com

 

 

 

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