North East WineFest Day 2

If you missed part 1 of my WineFest weekend, you can find it here! Going into this weekend, we knew that we wanted to hit all of the North East wineries one day and the New York wineries the next. So Saturday morning, we woke up and got breakfast at our hotel and got ready for the day.

Grape Discovery Center

There was a new winery that opened in Fredonia New York, and while we weren't expecting to travel as far as we did for it I am so glad we did! First of all, the drive there was absolutely beautiful. There were vineyards as far as you could see, and we passed a wind mill farm! This was so cool to see from the road, and after a quick Google search, the Arkwright Summit Wind Farm creates enough power to power about 35,000 homes!

The winery is called Woodbury winery, and they had the best wine that I tasted all weekend. I bought two bottles, but easily could have bought 4. They have a cute gift shop that has wine goodies, as well as all their wines. The young man that did our tasting Terry, was so appreciative of us driving all the way out there that he footed the bill for our tasting, and gave us ample time to taste and answered any questions we had. My picks from this winery are the Foxy Red, Niagara, Zombie Red, and Zombie White. They also had an AMAZING wine slushie! I purchased the Foxy Red and Niagara, but definitely could have bought the Zombie Red and Zombie White as well.

After leaving that winery, we drove through Fredonia, and again, it is just the cutest charming little town. They had a festival in the downtown area, but we had more wineries to get to!

Our next stop was the Grape Discovery Center. This is located in Westfield NY, and definitely a must stop if you are a first timer to wine country. There is a gift shop that has most of the local wine, honey, jellies, and dips, as well as other items with a "grape" or wine feel to them. There is a whole section filled with exhibits that shows how grapes are grown in this region, as well as other facts. This part is completely interactive, and very interesting! They also had samples of 100% Concord grape juice, and can I just say it was absolutely fantastic! In the back of the Grape Discovery Center was my favorite part, miles upon miles of grapes. The smell was heavenly, and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous.

Noble Winery view

Our lunch stop was one that I was looking forward to. Noble winery has probably the best view of wine country. It sits on a hill that has vineyards both in front of and behind the building. You have an excellent view of Lake Erie, and we were lucky enough to be able to see into Canada! We packed some cheese and crackers, and enjoyed a wine slushie overlooking the scenic backdrop. I highly recommend the Vino Colada wine slushie. I've gotten it twice, and haven't been disappointed yet! They were picking grapes while we were there, and I absolutely loved seeing that machine in action! During the summer months, they have sunset closings, and I can't imagine how beautiful that must be on that setting!

Grape picker at Noble Winery

After our picturesque lunch, we went to Heritage Wine Cellars. Let me tell you, that place is a PARTY! They always go all out, and their tasting tables is always packed! (They don't charge a fee!) You can bring your own food, and listen to the band with a bottle of wine you purchased there. I was all set on my wine from there but my tip is to get the Dark Cherry and Almonderia and mix them together. You'd swear you were drinking cherry pie. No lie! My other favorites are the Very Beary Blackberry and Peach Fuzz.

Me vs. size of Grape Picker

We also went to Arrowhead Wine Cellars. They always have a band, and we were hoping that the Elvis impersonator would be there be we must have missed him. They have a great shop, and have a great selection of clothes and jewelry, as well as wine related gifts to choose from. They had a grape picker out front, and I loved getting to see that machine up close.

Serafini's dinner

Our dinner stop that evening was at Serafini's Restaurant. This is a nice restaurant inside, and quite large. They serve homemade Italian food. My aunt and I split the spaghetti and ravioli platter. It was such a huge portion. My uncle got the gnocchi and I tested his, and it was very good as well. They make all of their pasta homemade. It was very good!

Our last stop was a drive through Presque Isle. We were able to capture the sunset over Lake Erie, and it was spectacular. Because the sun was going down, and it was chilly that day, plus the lake effect wind, we were freezing!  I will say though, even though it was cold, that sunset was absolutely worth it!

After that, it was back to the hotel to get ready to go home the next day.

Lake Erie sunset

If you have never been to the Lake Erie wine trail, I highly recommend you do! Between the picturesque setting, the delicious wines and quaint shopping, I'm sure you'd find something for everyone. If you have any questions, I'd love to see if I can answer them for you!