Recession Road Trip: Welcome to Keuka Lake Vineyards

On Wednesday evening we arrived at what Iris considers our first official stop of Recession Road Trip Extravaganza after leaving Northfield, MA (note: this writer considers our first stop to be Northfield the first out of Boston- ah, semantics). Here we stayed at the beautiful Keuka Lake Vineyards (www.klvineyards.com) in Hammondsport, NY which is part of the Finger Lake region. This region of vineyards is best known for its Riesling: KLV boasts a dry Riesling gold ribbon winner! The vineyard is owned and operated by Zach's guardian, Edie Goldman's brother and sister-in-law, Mel and Dorothee.

Upon our arrival, Dorothee had a delicious dinner prepared for us. At this point we took the opportunity to get to know our hosts- two very interesting individuals indeed! Dorothee is a scientist and accidental inventor; while teaching about pH using make-shift litmus paper made from hibiscus flowers, she stumbled upon a simple saliva test for endometriosis! In partnership with Harvard School for Public Health, Dorothee is making historical leaps for women's health. As a person who is very interested and invested in public and women's health, this writer was very excited and inspired by this fascinating discovery. Once Mel joined us for dinner (he was busily preparing for a class he teaches at Cornell University) we spoke to him about running the vineyard and had an impromptu wine tasting with our meal!

On Thursday, we took on a challenging (and unexpectedly long) bike ride/tour de Keuka Lake through "wine country"; we stopped along the way to nibble on grapes and visit the post office, library and Hammondsport's town center to mingle with the locals. The views were breathtaking, the town was adorable, and the locals were lovely.

When we finally huffed it back, we met with Mel for the official KLV tour and tasting. We loved their wine so much that we decided to purchase a case of vino for the road (designated drivers, don't worry). Then we joined Dorothee for yet another home-made, delicious dinner. While this writer slept soundly the following morning, Zach and Iris ventured into the woods in pursuit of the apple orchard and relieved the vineyard of a bee hive as a thank you to our generous hosts. After visiting newly acquired KLV vines across Keuka Lake and saying fond farewells to Mel and Dorothee, our trio packed back into Frida to continue on to the Farm Sanctuary, Moosewood Resaurant in Ithaca, and NYC. The success of this first stop set the tone for a fabulous cross-country adventure!