Highlight a day of tasting with dinner'

With the harvest coming in, now is a great time to visit Finger Lakes wineries.

This month, let's head up the west side of Seneca Lake on Route 14 north of Dresden to Seneca Shore Wine Cellars. There, you may feel as if you have taken a big step back in time.

Pourers dressed in medieval attire will greet you in tasting room. Portions of the walls are painted to resemble stone arches, adding to the medieval atmosphere.

Seneca Shore provides a good selection of wines for a tasting. I especially liked the 2001 Dry Chardonnay. It had a full, rounded taste with a good mix of oak and fruit.

For those who like something not quite as dry, the regular chardonnay is smooth, with good fruit and acid balance.

Seneca Shore also has some exceptional reds in limited quantity. The 2001 Merlot is dark in color, with a rich, rounded taste of black cherry. The 2001 Cabernet Franc/ Cabernet Sauvignon blend was also very dark in color with full, rich plum and raspberry tastes.

After Seneca Shore, head north a short distance and you will see Fox Run Vineyards on your left. The winery offers an extensive array of wines, for preferences from dry to sweet. The 2002 Fox Run Chardonnay has wonderful balance with tastes of fruit, oak and butter.

Another little known wine you might like to sample is its 2001 Lemberger. It is a full-bodied red wine with some spicy characteristics and smooth finish. The Fox Run 2001 Meritage is a wonderful blend of merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. It is a full, rich, almost chewy glass of wine that is silky smooth with earthy tones and plum and cherry tastes. It is another shining example of how good the 2001 harvest has been for red wines.

Now, it's time for dinner. Head north again and you will come to the Ports Cafe on the left. From the outside, it appears to be a converted former farm market. What a treat waits inside.

The regular menu is posted on the cafe's Internet site, but the daily specials really impressed me. We began with an order of steamed mussels, prepared with white wine, shallots, tomato chunks, garlic, lemon and parsley.

The plump, juicy, tasty mussels came with crusty, toasted garlic bread to soak up the delicious broth in the bottom of the serving bowl.

I asked our waitress, Diana Hager, if there wasn't another seasoning in there that she had not told us about. She returned after checking with the chefs, and said that the bit of kick lingering on our tongues could be attributed to a small amount of crushed red pepper.

One of the real pluses about dining at Ports is the outstanding selection of Finger Lakes wines. The Fox Run 2001 Chardonnay complemented the mussels very well.

The main course was sea bass, cooked with an orange and soy sauce citrus marinade. The fish almost melted in your mouth. The full fruit and citrus flavor of the 2001 Fox Run Riesling melded perfectly with the glaze on the bass.

Don't wait for a storm to find your way to Ports.

Jeff Richards' wine column appears Saturdays. For comments or questions, he can be reached at 607/271-8279 or 800/836-8970, ext. 279, or e-mail: thewineguy