Let the Spring Season Flourish!

If you’re like me, you got your hopes up when Puxatony Phil predicted that an early Spring was on its way! And if you’re like me, each additional snowfall makes you more and more stir crazy! Cabin Fever has officially set in and I can’t help but look forward to spring!

While summer is the season that most of you associate us with, springtime at Adirondack Winery is one of the most exciting times of the year! It means a new, seasonal wine, free tasting events and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Lake George. It is a teaser of what’s to come in the summer months ahead.

Season’s Flourish (Pomegranate Zinfandel) is Back!

Many of you wait all year for our Spring wine, Season’s Flourish, to hit the shelves, and don’t worry, it is right on schedule! If you are one of our wine club members, you will  be the first to enjoy this seasonal, Pomegranate Zinfandel! A fan favorite, this easy-drinking, tart and slightly spicy-sweet red wine will leave you wanting more, so it is best to stock up while you can, since it only comes around once a year! Season’s Flourish is out!

Free Wine Tasting Event March 16th & 17th!

Itching to get out? Relieve Your Cabin Fever, FREE Wine Tasting Event on St. Patrick’s Day weekend (Sat. 3/16 11:30a – 5:30p & Sun. 3/17 11:30a – 4p)! Always a fun event, it will take place during Lake George’s Shamrock the Block celebrations! Stop into the Tasting Room to see us for free tastes of your favorite wines and gourmet foods while enjoying the St. Patrick’s Day parade and festivities on Lower Amherst Street.

Red Carriage (Cranberry Chianti) Won Gold!

While you are here, it is a great time to check out some of the new things we have at the winery and maybe even try some wines you haven’t tried yet… if there are any left! Have you tried our Red Carriage yet? This cranberry Chianti is our newest gold-medal winner! Entered among more than 800 other wines from wineries across the country, we are proud to announce that Red Carriage brought home a gold medal from the 2013 Florida State Fair International Wine Competition!

Adirondack Winery’s NEW Big Red Wine Glass!

With an upgraded tasting, you can now try our wines in our new, bigger, red wine glass!  What’s that you say? You haven’t seen our NEW Big Red Wine Glass! Most of you that collect our wine glasses know that we change our wine glass logo color each year. Well, this year, it’s silver; but we have added a big red wine glass as an option too! For an additional $2 on your tasting session, you can take home our Big Red Wine Glass – that’s right, only $2.00 extra – It holds almost a full bottle of wine and is a great quality, too!

AND NOW FOR THE BIGGEST NEWS OF SPRING FOR ADIRONDACK WINERY!

Olivia Kay Brown born 2/28/13

Our Marketing Coordinator, Danielle Brown, is out on Maternity Leave! On February 28, 2013 she became the proud Mama of her first child, Olivia Kay Brown! Darling Olivia was born healthy and happy at 8lbs, 8oz and 21 inches long!

Danielle is doing well at home with Olivia, relishing this time. She will return in May, and until then, you will see us slacking a little bit on our email newsletters, blog posts, social media posts, and more. Danielle does so much she is missed!

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Adirondack Winery Saves the Day…. Valentine’s Day!

If you are like many of us, Valentine’s Day tends to sneak up on you. You think you’re in the clear after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve and then the next thing you know, February 14th is just a few days away and you are left scrambling for the perfect (last-minute) gift that says, “thoughtful” not “forgetful!”

Luckily you are a friend of Adirondack Winery and we always have your solution for gifts for any occasion; especially when it comes to gifts for your wine-loving Sweetheart! We even have special hours this week so you can get in all of your last-minute shopping! We will be open both February 13th & 14th so that you have plenty of time to pick up all of your Valentine’s Day necessities!

Wine, chocolates & flowers are always a nice gesture for your Valentine’s Day celebration, but why not take it to the next level and pair one of our specially-labeled Valentine’s Day wines with our delicious, Gourmet Lake Champlain Chocolates! Not sure how to pair them? Ask one of our Tasting Room staff and they will be happy to help you create the perfect combination! Our Valentine’s Day wines are available in Red Coat, Gewurztraminer and Red Carriage (our most recent Gold Medal Winner at the Florida State Fair!)  and are all adorned with romantic labels for you and your Valentine to treasure & enjoy! As for the flowers, you’re on your own!

If one of these wines doesn’t suit you or your Sweetheart, or maybe you just want to give your gift more of a personal touch, try one of our NEW, Personalized Wines with a handwritten message! Choose from Strawsling, Pinot Noir or Pinot Grigio (our best-selling fruity, red & white wines) and 3 different labels and we will customize your label with a heartfelt, handwritten Valentine’s Day message that you provide!

If you are lucky enough to live close by to the Tasting Room in Lake George, our FREE Valentine’s Day Wine Tasting Event is the perfect event for Sweethearts & Wine Lovers! Treat your Valentine to free tastes of our wines, gourmet food & chocolates as well as a champagne toast! All this event will cost you is a kiss with your Valentine and if you treat her to a little shopping spree while you are here, we think you are sure to get that kiss! We have picture frame cork cages, love-themed bottle stoppers and corkscrews and many more gifts for people in love to sweep your Valentine off her feet!

I hope we have taken some of the pressure off of you this year & given you some unique ideas to wow your Valentine! Once again, Adirondack Winery saves the day…. this time, Valentine’s Day!

Cheers!

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Adirondack Winery Pinot Noir Wins Another Medal!

Hey everyone it’s Mike again with another exciting blog post!   I hope everyone is having a great week and I hope I will be seeing everyone at this years Winter Carnival, which runs every weekend in February, and the best part is it looks like we will have tons and tons of snow!    Were expecting 1 to 2 feet over the next two days so it should be fun.

In this blog post, I’m talking about our wonderful Pinot Noir.   We just got word that our Pinot Noir won yet another Silver Medal — this time at the 2011 International Pinot Noir Shootout, which is held each year in Chicago.  The Pinot Noir Shootout is a three month long competitive wine tasting. A judging panel of about 40 Pinot Noir loving wine professionals taste somewhere around 300 different Pinot Noirs submitted by wineries from around the world. In the three years that we have been making this wine we have won 3 Silvers and one Bronze, making it our most awarded wine (see details here).  It’s also our best selling red wine and probably the one we are most proud of!

I am sure everyone has seen the movie Sideways right?   Well if you haven’t, here is my summary in one sentance.   One man, one friend, in search of outstanding Pinot Noir wine.   As the movie describes, Pinot Noir is difficult to grow, difficult to make and difficult to perfect.    If you can accomplish growing a great Pinot Noir grape, overcome the challenges in winemaking and get some to a bottle you have a great shot at a very special wine.     We think we have come pretty close to that with ours!

Our style Pinot Noir is light on tannins, has a light oak (we use a medium French toasted oak), moderate alchohol at around 12.5%, and lots of raspberry and black currant flavors.   We ferment the grape must in stainless steel for about 2 weeks and then transfer it to storage before eventually bottling it.   We try very hard to only rack when necessary and to be as gentle as possible with this wine.   We also work really hard to keep air contact to a minimum, which can be a bit of a challenge with the equipment we have available.  ( I will discus our equipment  in another post)

When it’s all said and done and the wine is sitting at home in a nice Champagne Green bottle and it’s just dying to be opened… what should you do, open it and drink it? Pair it with a meal?   Maybe cut up some cheese ?   Well this is the great thing about our Pinot Noir – you can do all of these, as its a very versatile wine!   I am personally not a huge wine and food pairing guy,  I just like to drink it in a glass… plain and simple.   So my perosnal recomondation is to just pour a glass, give it some time to breath and enjoy.    However if you really do like to pair wine and food I would suggest some of the more simple choices like chicken and cream sauce, or for a red selection Filet Mignon.   If your feeling really adventurous try it with Ham – it does surprisingly well.

Well I hope that the next time your in to do a wine tasting you will give our Pinot Noir a try, even if your not a red wine drinker you be surprised at just how good it is.  

Thanks again for reading my blog and assuming we aren’t snowed in for a week – I will see everyone at the Winter Carnival!

–Mike.

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Mike’s Back Blogging

Hey everyone!  It’s been an awful long time since I posted to this blog and my wife has told me that our blog is pretty popular so I thought maybe it was time to revisit the blog and start posting regularly again.    My goal is to post once a week, and if time allows, maybe I can sneak another one in here and there.   Remember I am not a writter,  and I am usually trying to do these post in a very quick fashion (busy, busy, busy!), so please forgive me for any mistakes I may make.

Ok on to something more interesting, as many of you know we have grown very rapidly over the last 3 years and we decided last winter (2010) to relocate our winery to another much larger building, and to expand our tasting room in Lake George.    I am pleased to report that the new wine making facility has been operation for a while now, and we are running at full capacity for the equipment we have!    This year we hope to produce enough wine, that for the first time in 3 years, we won’t sell out!    (sorry not a guarantee!)

For anyone who has visited our winery in the past I am sure you might have noticed how cramped our winery space was, well now it’s almost 4 times larger, wide open and oh did I say bigger?!    It’s amazing how much easier it is to work with some extra space!      In case you were wondering, we also were able to outfit it with many new tools including three new 1,000 litter stainless steel tanks, a new bottle filler and automatic corker, a larger capacity wine filter, several new pumps, a heater/chiller unit and 8 flex tanks.     In a future post I will get some pictures up of some of the equipment and talk about them a little bit.

In the short term, we are working hard to get some of our most popular wines ready for the summer season.   In the long term, we are looking at making some new wines, continually improving our current wines and continuing to invest in our winery so we can create the best wines possible.

Stay tuned for my next post in a year or two!  – Just kidding!

– Mike

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You’re Invited: Valentine’s Day Wine Tasting for Wine Lovers and Learners at Adirondack Winery in Lake George, NY!

Trying to figure out what to do with that special someone in your life for this upcoming Valentine’s Day?  Lake George, NY is an excellent choice to visit this Valentine’s Weekend! Not only is Adirondack Winery holding a FREE Wine Tasting event all weekend for couples, but there’s all sorts of great stuff going on at the Lake George Winter Carnival as well! Keep reading for details….

VALENTINE’S DAY WINE TASTING FOR WINE LOVERS & LEARNERS

Bring your special valentine to Adirondack Winery in Lake George on Valentine’s Day weekend! Couples are treated to champagne and tastings of Adirondack Winery wines while they sample gourmet Grafton Village cheddar cheese, scrumptious hand-made chocolates and Stonewall Kitchen fine foods. 

COST: FREE (well, a smooch with your Valentine may be required!)   

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 13^th 11a – 6p   ………..AND…….. Sunday, Feb. 14^th 11a – 4p (Valentine’s Day) 

WHERE: Adirondack Winery & Tasting Room, 285 Canada Street, Lake George , NY 12845  

MORE INFO: Visit www.AdirondackWinery.com or call (518) 668-WINE or Click here to See this event on Facebook

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NEED ANOTHER REASON TO COME TO LAKE GEORGE FOR VALENTINE’S WEEKEND?

The Lake George Winter Carnival is going on all month, including Valentine’s Weekend. Here’s a glimpse at the Winter Carnival events scheduled:

Saturday and Sunday each weekend:

• Sunkiss Ballooning Hot Air Balloon Tether Rides (fee)….8:30-9:30 AM on lake
• Hot Air Balloon Walk About @ King Neptunes Parking lot
• Children’s Activities @ King Neptunes Restaurant… 11:00-2:00
• Snowmobile Water Skip… 2:30
• Games $1 fee (PRIZES)… 12:00-2:00
• Polar Plunge… 3:00
• Snowmobile Rides (fee)… 12:00-2:00
• Wood Carving Demo… 12:00-2:00 (on the beach)
• Dog Sled Rides (fee)… all day on the lake
• Children’s Petting Zoo… Saturdays 12:00-2:00

AMA Sanctioned Motorcycle & ATV Ice Races

• Hosted by Duffy’s Tavern
• Registration @ Duffy’s Tavern 9 am 518-668-5323
• Races begin 11 am
• For info call 518-330-3648 or 518-542-2144
• www.electriccityriders.com

Chowder Cook-off

• Sat. 12-2 p.m. @ Shepard Park Beach

Bon Fire on the Beach

• Sat. 5:00pm
• At Shepards Beach
• Toast Marshmallows and watch the fireworks

Fireworks By Alonzo

• Saturday Night, 6:30 pm over the ice

Mardi Gras Parade (Sun 5:00 pm)

• Right Down Canada St.
• Hosted by Prospect Mt. Diner 668-9721

Encampment of the 1700’s (Sat & Sun)

• Hm. 53D Regiment on Foot, of America
• All day at Shepard Park Beach

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU IN LAKE GEORGE FOR VALENTINE’S WEEKEND!

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Review of Adirondack Winery’s Mulled Wine Tasting Event

This past weekend we held the first wine tasting event we ever held in January and it went very well. We invited people to catch a break from the bitter cold of the Winter by enjoying a FREE wine tasting event at Adirondack Winery! We were delighted at the turnout we had, especially on Saturday! Thanks to all who came!

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For this event, we prepared four of our wines (two reds and two whites) with mulling spices in crock pots, which filled the winery with irresistable warm spice aromas. We also hand-made chocolate chip, sugar and gingersnap cookies to go along with the mulled wines and people seemed to really enjoy it. 

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Below is our mulled wines that we did w/ pairing suggestions…I’ve also posted the mulled wine recipes we borrowed because I thought people would enjoy having them. 

Prepare for your friends one evening, or enjoy mulled wine by the fire after you’ve been skiing or sledding, etc….

Mulled Merlot Paired with Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mulled Pinot Grigio Paired with Sugar Spice Cookies

Mulled Zinfandel Paired with Almonds and Raisins

Mulled Viognier Paired with Gingersnaps

BROWN SUGAR MULLED RED WINE RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
2 bottles dry Red Wine (Cab Sav, Zinfandel, Shiraz) Peel of 1 orange 1 cinnamon stick, broken into halves 8 whole cloves 1 whole nutmeg 1/4 cup packed brown sugar orange slices
DIRECTIONS: Pour wine in slow cooker. Wrap orange peel, cinnamon stick halves, cloves, and nutmeg in cheesecloth & add to slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 2 to 2.5 hours. Discard spice bag; ladle into glasses. Garnish with orange slices.
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MERLOT MULLED WINE RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
1 bottle Merlot 1/8 teaspoon orange zest 2  thin slices of orange 2-1/2 tablespoons sugar	4 peppercorns 3 whole cloves 1 cinnamon stick 1/4 whole vanilla bean 1/2 cup water
DIRECTIONS: Zest the orange, avoiding the white pith. In a pot, combine the orange zest, sugar, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, vanilla bean, and water. Bring to a slow boil for 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add the wine and orange slices to the pot. Return pot to heat and warm on low for 30 minutes. Do not allow the wine to boil. Pour wine mixture through fine wire mesh strainer, discarding solids. Serve and enjoy!
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MULLED WHITE WINE RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
Two 750 ml bottles dry white wine (Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Viognier) 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 2 cinnamon sticks	6 whole cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1 orange, sliced into thin wedges
DIRECTIONS: In a large saucepan, warm the wine, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves and allspice over medium heat until hot. Lower the heat, partially cover and let steep, without simmering, for 20 to 30 minutes. Ladle the mulled wine into 8 heatproof glass mugs. Serve with the orange wedges.
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Adirondack Winery’s “Spice Up Your Winter” FREE Wine Tasting Event

YOU’RE INVITED!! Adirondack Winery’s “Spice up Your Winter” FREE Wine Tasting Event

When: Sat., Jan. 16 11:30am – 5:30pm AND Sun., Jan. 17 11:30am – 3:30pm   Where: Adirondack Winery & Tasting Room, 285 Canada Street, Lake George, NY   Catch a break from the bitter cold of the New Year by enjoying this FREE wine tasting event at Adirondack Winery!   For this event, we’re going to prepare some of our wines with mulling spices. These delightful concoctions will give you that “warm & fuzzy” feeling we all crave during winter!   Let the aromas and flavors of our wines mixed with spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar, and more warm you up inside.   To top it off, we’ll also have a number of home-baked treats that make excellent pairings for the mulled wines. (See Details Below)

 

Mulled Merlot Paired with Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mulled Pinot Grigio Paired with Sugar Spice Cookies

Mulled Zinfandel Paired with Almonds and Raisins

Mulled Viognier Paired with Gingersnaps

 

Become a Fan and See this Event on Facebook:

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Check Out our Blog:

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Adirondack Winery & Tasting Room / 285 Canada Street, Lake George, NY 12845  (518) 668-WINE / www.AdirondackWinery.com / http://store.adirondackwinery.com

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Holiday Shopping & New Wines at Adirondack Winery!

Hi All! It’s Sasha!
First, I want to thank all of you who have thought of us for your holiday gift shopping and taken advantage of our $5 Shipping at our online store!

Not only have you bought wine for yourselves and those on your list, but you’ve also bought some great gift items…from our cute rhinestone T Shirts  to our cork cages, wine candles, and much more! If you need some suggestions for the people to buy for on your list, especially those whom you can’t decide what to get, click here to check out our GIFT GUIDE.

Also…I want to say thanks for those of you interacting with us on Facebook. Its been fun keeping up with our customers this way. I can’t believe that more than 50% of our Inner Circle members are our friends on Facebook!

This weekend we not only have a 2-Day storewide sale going on, but we also are asking you to come to the winery to enjoy our FREE Wine Tasting Event, where we hope you will test out our new wines for us! We’ve made 5 new wines that we need you to evaluate so that you can help us decide whether they stay on our list or not! Here’s more about the wines:

Afterglow Red (Mulled Wine)

Afterglow Red (Mulled Wine)…

I tried it the other night and All I have to say is mmmmmm…..  

Tasting Notes: Enjoy the inviting aromas and comforting taste of this rich, sweet red wine, which offers delightful notes of cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and orange peel on your palate.

Best warmed on a stove or in a crockpot over medium-low heat until steaming, this wine should be served hot alongside dried fruits, nuts, spiced breads or cookies. Take it up a notch by dropping in a few raisins and almonds, top it with whip cream and use a cinammon stick as a garnish to stir it with!

Berry Blush (Raspberry White Zinfandel)

Berry Blush (Raspberry White Zinfandel) – Fruity Wine Lovers…You’re going to love this wine!

TASTING NOTES: This easy drinking blush wine offers the succlent, mouth-watering flavors of sweet, ripe raspberries blended gracefully with fresh floral notes on the nose, ending with a soft finish.

Pairs well with sweet barbeque, Asian or lndian dishes, cheesecake w/ berries & more…

 

Cabernet Sauvignon II

Cabernet Sauvignon II – This is a different Cab Sav that we’re really wanting your opinion on because we’re considering replacing our current Cab Sav with it. Let us know what you think!

Here’s the Tasting Notes: This full bodied wine bears the tell-tale nose of spice, black currants and dark fruit. Rich in taste, it is packed with dark cherries, pepper spice and violets on the palate.

Pairs well with filet mignon, grilled steak, lamb chops, pasta with red sauce, and strong cheeses. This wine also makes a great match for dark chocolate.

 

Holiday Red (Raspberry Merlot)

 

Holiday Red (Raspberry Merlot) – You can see we’re trying to fit a Raspberry fruity wine in….we’ll have to see which you like best!

Reward your passion for intense, exotic flavors with this berry-colored red wine. The succulent flavors of ripe raspberries round out this rich, soft and supple wine. Serve slightly chilled.

Pairs well with sharp cheeses, tomato-based pizza and pasta, dark chocolate, and cheesecake with raspberry accents.

 

Serene White (Kiwi Melon Pinot Grigio)

 Serene White (Kiwi Melon Pinot Grigio) – The wine label featuring Lake George’s serene waters in July is perfect for this wine, because it takes you right back to summer and just begs you to relax as if you were in the sun!

TASTING NOTES: This light bodied white wine captures the mouth watering flavors of freshly cut honeydew melon and juicy watermelon. Perfectly balanced with tones of tart kiwi fruit, this wine has a deliciously fresh fruity finish.

Pair it with poultry, fish and shellfish, creamy desserts, fruit salad, or ice cream. Cheese pairings include Mild Cheddar, Provolone, and Light Swiss.

 

I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS / HANUKKAH!

Sincerely,

Sasha

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What’s Your Vote? Which Label Design Do You Prefer for Adirondack Winery’s New Mulled Wine?

Adirondack Winery is bringing you a new wine option this winter — a traditional mulled wine.

What’s your vote for the label design you prefer? VOTE BELOW NOW!

Sparkling Warm Lights Label Option

Red White Winter Scene Label Option

Here’s the tasting notes: mmmm…

“Enjoy the inviting aromas and comforting taste of our warm, spiced mulled wine on a cold day. This rich, sweet wine has delightful notes of cinnamon, cloves, allspice and orange peel. Best warmed on a stove over medium-low heat until steaming, this wine should be served hot alongside dried fruits, nuts, spiced breads or cookies. Take it up a notch by dropping in a few raisins and almonds, or give it more pizzaz with a splash of your favorite Port, Amaretto, Schnapps, or liquer.”

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What a Winter Carnival!

Hey everyone!

What a great winter carnival we had this year. The weather was great, there was ice and snow and plenty of people came out this year to have a great time! Again we are very happy with the number of familiar faces who visited us for the first time since the fall.

Even in a town where the majority of the people who walk through our doors have never been into our store before, we have started to develop a family of customers who not only purchase our products but provide us with a little bit of the “Cheers” feeling. You know, “Cheers, where everybody knows your name!” I can hear the tune now…. (For anyone who knows me, they know I can’t remember a name to save my life but I can usually remember what they bought, where you stood and sometimes what you were wearing the last time you were in, even if it was months ago. So please don’t hold me to the everyone knows your name quote!)

Here’s some updates on our winery happenings.

- We finally have all 31 of our wine varietals in stock and in most cases have a substantial inventory of each wine.

- We have hired a part-time sales rep to start selling our wine to local restraunts. We hope to have a pretty good list of locations by Summer, so check out our website for details.

- We will be having a free wine tasting on March 14th, with free samples of Grafton Village Cheddar cheese and Chocolate Gecko chocolate and Stonewall Kitchen goodies as well.

- Keep an eye out for our anniversary promotion in the late part of March and April. It’s been a great year for us and we intend to celebrate a bit more than usual! We hope to continue our success into the next year, bucking the economic trend. We know that our succsess is based on two very important things: Great wine and Great customers that like to drink it!

Last but not least, I started to notice that spring is around the corner! I heard birds today that I believe to be Robins, but I didn’t see them. Also some of the trees have buds on them! Yes it’s a bit early for buds on the trees but at least it’s a good sign!

– Mike

Thanks for reading and please drink responsibly

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