Exploring the Finger Lakes Wine Region

Whether you call it a charcuterie plate or a charcuterie board, it’s easy to make when you start with quality smoked, cured, and cooked meats. The perfect charcuterie plate will contain at least 3 to 5 types of charcuterie representing different styles and textures, plus something acidic, like pickles, and something sweet like fruit chutney to complement the flavors. Nuts, fresh and dried fruits, bread, and crackers also make great accompaniments. Wine is the perfect pairing for the popular charcuterie cheese board here in Finger Lake wine country. 

A constant mist with rain on and off seems to be just the right recipe for the healthiest looking flowers and plants that rival Hawaii here in this region. Adding to the climate, fertile soil surrounded by lakes that have some of the richest sediments around them full of limestone and shale wine production is particularly abundant, especially Riesling wines. 

Each winery is unique in terms of their wines produced, facilities, types of barrels used and length of time wine is stored.  

We have found the food to be quite amazing on this trip. Many of the restaurants embrace the Food to Table Movement with emphasis on using food made from locally-sourced ingredients, often natural or organic. 

My daughter thought she had literally died and gone to heaven with Mushroom Confit. It was a dish made with Silverfox Farms micro greens and locally sourced mushrooms in a red pepper coulis (pureed sauce).   

I went with Chicken Caesar Salad but elevated way above a normal one with Romaine,  potato Parmesan tuile (crisp baked wafer) , crumbled eggs and grape tomatoes. 

Of course, remember its all about the presentation that make each of these dishes shine.  

Ithaca and Mark Twain Country