At Our Fingertips

We just returned from a long weekend in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Over the course of two and a half days we tasted more than a hundred wines—mostly Rieslings, but also a little Gewürtztraminer, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris for white; Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot for red.

We drove home in a minor spring gale, with temperatures in the mid thirties and blustery flurries skittering across the road ahead. The Finger Lakes are cold, and their wines show it. Nearly all of the Rieslings we tasted were bracing, dry as bone with searing acidity. And the reds are—well, let's just say they're not exactly "fruit-forward." It doesn't get warm enough for fruit-forward in the Finger Lakes of New York.

The journey back is long, about six and a half hours. We hit home just as the skies were clearing for the evening, gray clouds dragging off to the east, the western horizon opening up to the last streaks of spring sun. We piled our jumble of baggage into the mudroom as the kitties somersaulted their hello, showing us their spotty bellies and asking for a scrumble behind the ears, poor lonely souls.

We obliged them first, of course. But after the unpacking, after the clothes found their way into the washer, the mail got sorted into piles, the luggage was duly stowed, we were ready to unwind with a glass of something completely different. We reached for this Windy Oaks Pinot, a Terra Narro 2007 from the Santa Cruz mountains. It was a warm smile at the end of a cold day, welcoming.