If any of you happen to be traveling thru the Hudson Valley and you like simple inexpensive and very drinkable wines, you should make time to stop at one or more of our 25 or so local wineries. A listing of these places can be found at “Uncork New York”. 

The whites; chardonnay, reisling, and various blends are pretty good at just about all of the local wineries. Prices are mostly in the less than  $15 range. In general, the wines made from French-American hybrid grapes, and from native American grapes are not that good, but they are worth sampling if they are offered in a tasting room. You should ask if the grapes are estate grown – a lot of wine is made around here from grapes from the Finger Lakes, Long Island, and even California. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but what’s the point of going to a local winery to buy wine made from grapes that are not locally grown – even when the wine produced is pretty good, which is the case with several that I’ve tasted recently. A few producers are specializing in sweet dessert wines – most  of these are delicious.

Cheers, John