T6a00d8341d0dbb53ef010536d71b4d970c-200wiomorrow morning, Nena and I leave from her parents' house in rural Schoharie, NY and head down to Corning to attend a couple days of PALATE, a  food, wine and art showcase  in Finger Lakes wine country. Organized by Finger Lakes Wine Country, Corning’s Gaffer District and The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes the week-long festival starts today and promises to be a fun event for the cold-this-time-of-year region.

We're going to have a fun- and wine-filled couple of days.

Before we even join the PALATE festivities, we're heading to Anthony Road Wine Company to taste with winemaker Johannes Reinardt and assistant winemaker Peter Becraft. From there we'll drive down Route 14 to our hotel at the southern tip of Seneca Lake, the still-new Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel.

In the afternoon, we'll be attending a food and wine pairing seminar led by

Shannon Brock,
wine coordinator at the NY Wine and Culinary Center. Shannon will be stepping us through the art of tasting wine and cheese and pairing several locally made cheeses with Finger Lakes wines.

In the evening, I'm very happy to be having dinner with Evan, Jason and Melissa, the LENNDEVOURS Finger Lakes staff, with spouses, at Blue Point Grille. The wine list features many great local wines and I'm bringing a few of Long Island's best with me.

Wednesday, we'll be even busier, starting the the tasting I'm co-hosting at Atwater Vineyards with winemaker Vinny Aliperti. You can read more about the tasting in a previous post about it. From there, we're probably going to shoot up the eastern side of Seneca Lake to attend a barrel tasting at Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards. Does anyone have any lunch recommendations for that area of the Seneca wine trail?

After lunch, we'll probably stop at another winery or two before driving back to Corning for a wine and cheese tasting at The Cellar at 5 p.m., which will give us just enough time to enjoy a glass of wine with Katie Marks, co-owner of Atwater Vineyard, and assistant winemaker Justin Boyette, before walking to Tony R's Steak and Seafood for a PALATE wine dinner featuring wines
from many of my favorite wineries, including Dr. Konstantin Frank, Heron Hill, Sheldrake Point, Wiemer and Atwater.

Expect some blog posts during the day (assuming I can connect to wifi at a couple of the events) and I'll also have my video camera with me.

I hope to see some of you at the goings on. Please make sure that you introduce yourself if you come, and really, why wouldn't you?