Freedom Run Winery

Here's to the Harvest Trail Event!

A few weeks ago the Niagara Wine Trail hosted the September Harvest Festival Wine Trail Event. The turnout was amazing! With each winery featuring fresh local produce, crowds came out to the country to enjoy the season and drink some local wines.

Chip and Vicki sure did go all out decorating the winery as you can see in these photos. Patrons had there choice of several types of apples, fresh grapes, squash and pumpkins to take home before they left our winery. Our young winery has never looked so good. This past summer season has been good to us, both in the winery and in the

vineyards and the sight of fall's bounty is yet another reason to love life here on the Niagara Escarpment. Did we mention the turnout? As you can see they packed it in again in our tasting room. The word is definitely spreading. Every Niagara Wine Trail event seems bigger than the one before it. We are seeing familiar faces who bring newbies to the winery every week. Even with all the press these days about the winery, word of mouth is still a huge factor in keeping us busy. We can't thank everyone enough for spreading the good word.

We hope to see you this weekend for the annual Hallowine Trail Event. This year's theme is an ole fashioned western murder mystery case that you get to help solve. Our very own Kurt Guba, stage actor and pinophile (pinot noir buff) will be playing the role of town mayor and we all be wearing cowboy hats! It's guaranteed fun.

Wine pairing Dinner at Danny Sheehan's

We are really seeing crowds this season at our winery. It's amazing how far the wine trail Niagara Wine Trail has come in its few years of existence. With local wines reaching the dinner tables of many area residents, it's great to see the restaurants working with the wineries to give locals the option of drinking and eating local as well.

Danny Sheehan's Steakhouse has been very supportive of local wines in the past and we are proud to announce a wine pairing prix fixe dinner featuring our wines on October 29th, 2007 at 6 PM. The steakhouse has been open for over 40 years and is a local landmark in Lockport. We hope you can join us there for what is shaping up to be a fabulous dinner.

Here's a peek at the menu:

Appetizer: Baked Stuffed Clams with Riesling & Stuffed Hot Peppers
with Freedom Run Semi-Dry Riesling 2005

Second Course: Caesar Salad
with Freedom Run Chardonnay 2005

Main Course: New York Strip Steak, twice baked potato & garlic toast
with Freedom Run Cabernet Franc 2005

Dessert: Homemade Cheesecake
with Freedom Run Manning Manor Rose 2005

The cost is $45, call 716.433.4666 for reservations or questions.

Manhattan's Wine Pairing Dinner

Last week Manhattan's Restaurant in Lockport, NY put together an ambitious six course wine pairing dinner featuring our wines with each dish. The turnout was great and the restaurant presented a huge menu that left no chance of anyone leaving hungry. The food and wines were well received and we had a chance to really get feedback as to how the pairings went. Since we didn't taste the menu ahead of time, it was exciting to get a sample after each guest was served. We poured a splash of wine with each dish and evaluated our pairings.

It was a bit nerve racking at first, but after the first plate went out and we tasted the soup with our Manning Manor Blanc, we knew we had chosen correctly. The easiest wine decision was serving our Cabernet Sauvignon with the Veal Braciole pictured here. As the wine trail grows and the restaurants open up to stocking local wines, there are likely to be more and more events like this. A big thank you goes out to Manhattan's for choosing our wines to compliment their menu.