[Leica] Re; Great wines in NY.

[lrzeitlin at aol.com]

I have been reluctant to send any recent pictures to the LUG because 
they do not meet the usual standards of Luggers. In fact most of mine 
would be indistinguishable from typical drugstore shots. It' requires 
so little though to take pictures nowadays that it is almost a reflex 
action. While Nathan was exploring the rundown towns in the Hudson 
Valley I was in Connecticut watching my daughter run a triathlon. It 
was the first athletic event she had competed in in 20 years and she 
did herself proud, finishing second for all competitors. I just shows 
what a long, long, long rest will do. Interestingly I was the only one 
using a real camera amongst the spectators (except for the media 
photographers). All the rest were using iPhones, iPods, and similar 
gadgets. Not a single Leica to be seen.
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Karen+finishes+triathelon.jpg.html
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Karen_+Ben_+Maggie.jpg.html

Now about the surprisingly good wines that Nathan encountered in New 
York and Canada. Travel writers are fond of comparing the Hudson River 
to Germany’s Rhine. Like its European counterpart the Hudson has 
vineyards on either shore. The oldest commercial vineyards in the US 
were established in the Hudson Valley during Colonial times. Old Norse 
records show that Viking explorers roamed as far south as what is now 
New York and the lower reaches of the Hudson. There is local myth that 
the area might have been the Vinland of the Viking sagas. Wild grapes 
grow plentifully on the river banks. Croton Point, about a 15 minute 
bike ride from my house, was the site of the Underhill Winery, the 
first commercial winery in the country. The ruins of the stone wine 
cellars are visible on the south side of the point.

New York's wine region is on the same latitude as Europe's most 
cherished vineyards. Climate and weather conditions vary greatly across 
the state ranging from a marine climate in Long Island similar to that 
of Provence, a Hudson Valley climate resembling that of the Rhine, and 
the glacial lake climate of the Finger Lakes. This varied terroir 
combined with an assortment of ideal grape growing microclimates has 
produced a surprising number of prize-winning vintages. A century 
before wines were planted in the Napa Valley, French settlers were 
planting vines along the Hudson. Hudson Valley wines have “outlasted 
revolutions, wars, blights, bad weather and Prohibition.” Native 
Anerican grapes are still being grown today for grape juice and Kosher 
ceremonial wines.

Thanks to the efforts of Cornell University’s viniculture program and 
independent researchers such as the late Dr. Konstantin Frank, vintners 
were successful in making European grapes and hybrid French-American 
varieties grow in the harsh lake effect snow winters of the Finger Lake 
region and the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The New York wine 
industry now makes more varieties of wine than any other wine region in 
the world. The red wines are good to excellent but New York vintners 
excel in making white wines. Many New York wines have achieved 
world-class status winning Gold and Double Gold medals in international 
competition.
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/NY+wine.jpg.html

So put that in your glass and drink it.

Larry Z