The Huggers "Go A-Winerying" - October 8th. 2005

October 8th was a dreary rainy day but that didn’t stop the Huggers much at all. We grouped together at the Perinton Square Mall parking lot in the morning, and filled our bellies with sandwiches, apples, cookies, and water in anticipation of the day’s treasures! Tour Leader (and "Mother") Carol S. gave a short rendition on how to taste wine (did she really have to?) and warned everyone that they would need something to absorb the multiple bottles of wines they were about to taste. And wine we did taste!

At our first stop, in the cellar of the Fingers Lakes Wine Center at the Sonnenberg Gardens, we were greeted with our own cheese, crackers and fruit party. There, we tasted 4 wines, and were then pleasantly treated to 16(!) more varieties being offered by Dr. Frank and Casa Larga Wineries in the upstairs retail center. Need I say more? It sure was a good thing there were sandwiches left from the morning, and cheese and crackers from the Center, because everyone needed to chow down in preparation for our next stop at Casa Larga.

"Mary" greeted our group and provided our own private tour of the winery, and wine tasting (4 more bottles!). Her instructions were to remember the 4 "S’s"-- "seeing, swirling, sniffing and sipping"...... and don’t forget to swallow! Oh yes, don’t forget to look at those "legs", too! Our "chemist" Huggers, aka Craig E. and Mike K, put her to the test with their questions, while Jonathan W. "quietly double fisted" his share of the wines! And he thought he was getting away unnoticed!?

Dan W. won the bottle of wine and Jeanne F. won the loaf of Paw-Paw bread (don’t ask!) that were raffled off at the end of the day. After Casa Larga, several of the Huggers gathered at Bocaccini’s for dinner to help absorb those 24 bottles of the day. In spite of rainy weather, 18 Huggers’ spirits had surely flown high! Special thanks to the designated drivers: Bill H, John V, and Marcia who made it all possible. Shall we do it again next year?
- Carol S.