Freedom Run Winery

From our first Wine Pairing Dinner

Last Sunday we did something here at Freedom Run that we've never done before -- we hosted a five course wine pairing dinner for some 40 guests. Oh, we've hosted parties and gatherings here several times with guests bringing their own catered food, and we also threw a huge grand opening celebration last summer where guests could hang out at the winery and eat fresh BBQ. But this? This was something different altogether: we hosted a sit-down, five-course pairing menu which featured three of our new red wines to complement each dish, all carefully prepared by Alex Sigeti, and up-and-coming young chef who got to flex his culinary muscle with a menu written just for our wines.

Pulling off a first time event with forty guests and wine pairings was indeed an ambitious task, but we were relieved that it all went well, with both the food and wine receiving many compliments. A definite highlight was getting to introduce our new wines in such a relaxed atmosphere and most importantly, paired with dishes that would only make them better.

One of the more interesting pairings we came up with was our new 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon served with Alex's amuse bouche, a heavenly little bite of phyllo pastry, tomato chutney and seared yellowfin tuna served atop lightly dressed mesclun. The acidity and fruit of the cab seemed to work well with the dish. It was a no brainer to pair the peppercorn-crusted beef tenderloin (served atop parmesan risotto and strewn with sauteed mushrooms and drizzled with a rich sauce). This Meritage was made using the best barrels of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and shows big bold fruit flavor as well as elegant oak influenced aromas of anise and chocolate. It has firm young tannins, standing up well to the rich beef tenderloin.

Hungry yet? If you missed the dinner, never fear. We are about to begin planning another pairing dinner, where we are looking at sourcing all local ingredients for the menu. Perhaps a summer or fall "harvest" dinner if you will. In the meantime we are preparing to release these new red wines in our tasting room so everyone can taste our second vintage wines for themselves -- milk chocolate panna cotta or not!

Spring is here and we are busy again!

Things have started to get busy here again at the winery. Last weekend's May Blossoms wine trail event was a hit. Everyone that stopped in got a potted cinnamon basil plant with their tasting. We've been bottling our 2006 whites and thoroughly sampling our 2006 reds which are still in the barrel. It would sound pretentious to boast that the 2006 vintage is a step up from last year's, but in our opinion that's the case.

Speaking of our first vintage, they continue to collect awards from respected competitions including the latest one, the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. These wines won the following medals:

Cabernet Sauvignon 2005: Silver medal
Cabernet Franc 2005: Bronze medal
Manning Manor Rose 2005: Bronze medal

Our pinot noir vines of which we have several clones planted in our two vineyard blocks are opening up nicely and really benefited from an early warm up here on the Niagara Escarpment. These vines produced an amazing first crop last fall and everyone that's come in for a barrel sample has considered buying allocations via our barrel club. We can't believe how good that wine has been drinking since we racked it into barrels some four months ago. We're keeping our fingers crossed that 08 is even half as good as last summer was for our reds.

Last weekend we hosted a local meeting of the American Wine Society in our production facility at the winery. We took each guest through a flight of six whites and six reds. The whites included our 05 and 06 Semi Dry Rieslings as well as our 06 Manning Manor Blanc which we released last week as well. The reds included our 07 pinot noir barrel sample and a Bordeaux style blend of our 06 reds from the barrel. We skimmed through their tasting notes afterwards, and the reviews of our new wines we quite high, even when compared to the ringers we through in, which included a 94 point St. Emilion Chateau Quinault Grand Cru from 2005. We promise our blend won't cost even half of what this one did, even with its huge tannins and power!

Barrel Recognition

The above photo shows a couple of our first private Barrel Club members. Each member has been here either helping with the harvest of these grapes or pitching in with the winemaking tasks. The 2006 Merlot is close to completing its time in oak, while the 2007 Pinot Noir is just getting started with its oak aging.

Each barrel club member is encouraged to participate in as many aspects of winemaking as they can. The next step for each of these members is sampling the wine and determining when they want to bottle, if they want to blend, and how they want to label their bottles. While the barrels here are for individuals, the program is also ideal for families, organizations, or even coworkers who share the same interest in making wine.

Be Ours With Wine

Once again thanks to all of those who braved the frigid conditions and came out to taste wine and sample chocolate this past weekend. The "Be Mine with Wine" Niagara Wine Trail event was another success and we hope that everyone got their sweet tooth satisfied. Denise did a heck of a job making a wide range of treats -- and they kept our busy tasting room happy. We got to see several hilarious reactions by those who didn't read the cayenne pepper chocolate label before trying them as well as those seductive jalapeno truffles.

In what was a surprise to those of us working there on Saturday, our winemaker Bob Green was up with his wife doing some cellar work on our soon to be bottled 2006 and barrel aging 2007 vintages. Laura from North Tonawanda and Dave from Newfane, just happened to walk in just before closing and we didn't pass up the opportunity to make them our guinea pigs. We tasted some chardonnay, variations on our Manning Manor Blanc, and barrel samples from our 2007 pinot noir. It was a learning experience for everyone as Bob had us smell and taste in a very controlled manner. Based on our feedback, he can now make decisions in the cellar. Even Bob seemed excited about the pinot which is sure to be one of our flagship wines in the future.

Chocolate and Wine... need we say any more?

This coming weekend the Niagara Wine Trail is celebrating Valentine's Day with the "Be Mine with Wine" trail event. We are making some homemade chocolate treats to give out to our guests. With winter still having such a firm grasp on Niagara County, we hope that a little chocolate and wine will warm up everyone who comes out for this event. It's a perfect opportunity for you to try our Manning Manor Rose with some chocolate. It's a match made in heaven, so see you there!

Fall Foliage from Our Tasting Room

Taken from our tasting room, this photo shows the Niagara Escarpment in near peak fall foliage. You can see some of our vines in the middle of the photo.

Limo Train Fundraiser for the Salvation Army

Last month we hosted the 90 person Limo Train fundraiser for the Salvation Army. On a quiet Tuesday night in October, a huge caravan of limos and RV's pulled in to our winery parking lot for some wine tastings. Each person involved helped out the fundraiser by buying a ticket which included stops at a Attitudes, Danny Sheehan's, Spring Lake Winery, and our winery. We have hosted large groups in the past during wine trail events, but rarely will they all arrive at the same time as with this group of 90.

With our staff working as fast and furious, we managed to provide everyone that wanted a thorough tasting of our wine list, and we also gave a casual tour of our wine production room. A portion of all the wine bought that night was donated to the salvation army. It seemed like everyone had a good time and we are proud to help out by hosting events like this. As it turns out, the organizers are planning in doing the limo train event twice a year after the success of this fall's event.

Hallowine Event Murder Mystery

Halloween has come and gone, and we hope everyone who made it out to the Niagara Wine Trail's Hallowine Wine Trail Event had as much fun as we did last weekend. Once again the turnout was amazing, with costumed guests of all ages piling out of cars, trucks, limos and buses, with wine glasses in hand. Our very own Kurt Guba was playing the role of Mayor Brady in the murder mystery theme of the event. His interaction with guests was a sight to see all day Saturday and Sunday.

Since Kurt is normally pouring wine during these events, we needed some more tasting room help while he entertained the crowds with clues. Luckily Larry and Sandra's son Matt came up from Pennsylvania to help out with a few friends from school. They worked their tails off for us and we owe them a big thank you for being thrown in to work during such a busy weekend.

We were happy to play host to another private party in our barrel room after that busy Saturday in the tasting room. In the past few months we have hosted several private tastings for groups. With more and more people finding the wine trail and encouraging friends and family to come along, a private tasting in our winery is a relaxing and casual way to get familiar with our wines and winemaking facility. If you are interested in hosting an event at Freedom Run Winery, give us a call and we'll get you started with some information on rates and availability.

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.