A spring day trip to sample the latest wines

Now is the time for new Finger Lakes wines.

Winemakers have been busy all winter working with last fall's vintage. Several white wines from the 2002 harvest are now coming to market, and many red wines from 2001 are also being bottled after an additional year of aging.

This month's day trip takes us to the Hammondsport area. We'll sample some recently released wines at wineries in the region and stop at the Village Tavern Restaurant and Inn in Hammondsport for lunch.

Take Route 54 north out of Bath, about eight miles to the traffic light in Hammondsport. Turn left and follow the signs for Route 54A through town. As you leave town, heading up the west side of Keuka Lake, you will pass the Village Tavern. That is where we will be coming back for lunch, unless you want to stop and eat before beginning your tasting trip.

Follow the signs to Bully Hill Vineyards as you travel up the hill on county Route 76. Bully Hill produces more than 50 wines, and you will be offered several wines during a tasting there. I was fortunate to be able to taste a few new releases.

The Heritage Red, released last fall, uses a blend of vinifera and French hybrid grapes to produce a distinctly dry, dinner-style wine exhibiting good fruit. This is a limited release wine, contributing only 500 cases to the total of more than 200,000 cases produced each year at the winery.

The recently released 2002 Riesling is bursting with fruit and citrus flavors. The flavor balance provides a delightful glass of semi-dry wine.

To get to the next winery, continue north on Route 76 and follow the signs a few miles to Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars.

As the name implies, only wines made with vinifera grapes are produced at Dr. Frank's. His son Willy Frank and grandson Fred Frank continue to build on the viticulture tradition Dr. Konstantin Frank championed for so many years.

The Dr. Frank 2002 Riesling is full of fruit and citrus flavors. It also has pronounced cool, mineral tones, making it a delightful, complex dry wine.

The 2002 Dr. Frank Gewurztraminer has a rich and spicy taste with a clean, dry finish.

The 2002 Rkatsiteli also has a very distinctive, spicy character with a steely undertone. It also has a clean, dry finish. The 2001 Salmon Run Pinot Noir provided good fruit taste, balanced with some oak aging.

The 2001 Dr. Frank Reserve Pinot Noir is a fuller wine with lots of fruit and a rich, satisfying taste.

Now it is time to head back to Hammondsport and the Village Tavern for a bite to eat. During my trip last week, I had the soup and sandwich combination, and enjoyed flavorful corn and ham chowder (taking the chill out of a cold spring day) and a spicy chicken breast sandwich topped with a great slice of bacon. The chicken was served on a roll, with lettuce, tomato and onion. A side dish of crisp coleslaw, with a moderate amount of dressing, rounded out the meal.

Although the food and the service were very good, I really marveled at the wine list. The Village Tavern offers a whole page of Finger Lakes wines by the glass. I had the Fulkerson 2001 Traminette, a spicy wine with a full, smooth finish with my spicy chicken breast sandwich.

Altogether, there are 17 pages of wines listed, all from New York. The wines are listed by grape type for ease in locating one that you may want to try with your meal. Brief tasting notes accompany each wine to assist in your selection.

What a great way to celebrate touring Finger Lakes wineries. The Village Tavern is now open Wednesday through Sunday, offering lunches and dinners.

Jeff Richards' wine column appears each Thursday on the Twin Tiers Life Food Page. For comments or questions, he can be reached at 607/271-8279 or 800/836-8970, ext. 279, or e-mail: thewineguy