Weekend visit to Widmer's

I found the Widmer's Wine Cellars tours are terrific.

The facility is nestled on the hillside in Naples, overlooking the north end of town. It is a bit of a drive from Elmira, but worth the trip.

Simply take Interstate 86 West to I-390 North and get off at the Cohocton Exit. Signs will direct you the last 10 miles to Naples from there.

The visitor's center is closed for the season, but park near the wine shop and go in to register for one of the four daily tours, offered at noon, 1, 2, or 3 p.m.

Our guide, Sarah Yacona, provided lots of interesting historical details as we walked from one building to the next on a tour that lasted almost an hour.

We went by the original house where Swiss winemaker John Jacob Widmer started his business in 1888 after coming to America with his wife Lisette. Our next stop was in front of a building that now houses Brickstone Cellars, a small winery label within the Widmer family of wines.

Winemaker Glenn Curtis produces vinifera wines in small quantities using grapes from vineyards established decades ago on the east side of Seneca Lake. Some of his red wines use fruit grown on Long Island.

Our next stop took us inside one of the wine cellars that housed dozens of wooden tanks. The huge, cylindrical vessels, standing more than 10 feet tall, were made with 4-inch thick white oak staves. The contents varied from tank to tank, but each was capable of storing about 10,000 gallons of wine.

We moved on to another building and learned that Widmer makes Manischewitz kosher wines. Kosher wines such as Concord blackberry, elderberry and loganberry are made using stringent rules to obtain certification as 100 percent kosher wines by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregation of America.

The next stop on our tour afforded us a view overlooking a bottling line that can bottle at least 300 bottles of wine per minute. As we turned the corner of the hallway, we came upon a gallery filled with historical items and images.

We learned that during Prohibition, Widmer sold juice in 5-gallon jugs with instructions on how NOT to make wine at home.

Sarah also told us that during World War II, German prisoners of war were put to work at the winery. She told us that some of the vineyards in production today were planted by those prisoners.

Our last stop on the tour was the tasting room. And what a treat that turned out to be.

"We wouldn't be here if it weren't for Lake Niagara," Sarah said, referring to their most popular wine made from the grape of the same name. The fresh, vibrant, green apple and lemon flavor really jumps out at your taste buds.

The tasting area offered a lot more than Niagara. Widmer's line of Brickstone Cellars wines, ranging from whites such as chardonnay and Riesling to reds such as pinot noir, cabernet franc and a Meritage blend are all available.

In addition, because Widmer's is part of the international Constellation Wines, there are wines from Australia, South America and California. With Constellation's purchase offer this week for Robert Mondavi Corporation, we may eventually see some of their wines in the tasting room as well.

For now, there are Australian wines from Alice White; Talus from California; Marcus Jams from Argentina; and Santa Carolina from Chile.

You can finish off your visit with the sweet taste of a Widmer's cream sherry or port.

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: jrichards@stargazette.com