TRAVEL
West Coast Wine Weekends
fALL 2009
celebratedliving.com
56
TEXA
S
Texashasbeen thebreed-
ingground forgoodbordeaux
blends, Italianvarietals,Mediter-
ranean-stylewines, andTexas
viognier
, amongothers.Messina
HofWinery&Resort (979-778-
9463,messinahof.com) isa long-
standing, highly regarded
operationon theTexasBluebonnet
WineTrail.Visit thewineryand
you’ll get agood indicationas to
where theLoneStar scene is. Be
sure to tasteMessinaHof’s signa-
tureoffering:MessinaHof Paulo
Port. formore informationon the
area, checkout texaswinetrail.
com. foranother tasteof theTexas
foodandwine scene, headwest.
TheBuffaloGapWine&food
Summit (periniranch.com/summit),
heldat thePeriniRanch inApril,
will giveyoua celebrationofwine
and food, Texas style. If you can’t
make the summit, you canpaya
visit to the famousPeriniRanch
Steakhouseandeven stay in the
PeriniRanchGuestQuarters.Or
just order someof theirmesquite-
smoked peppered beef tenderloin
online and bring a littleTexas-
ranchcuisinebackhome (perini
ranch.com).
YADKI
NV
ALLE
YW
IN
ET
RAIL
Twenty-eightwineriesoperate
along this trail inNorthCarolina.
Thegrowingconditionsandcli-
mate therearesimilar towhat can
be found inBurgundy,france.
Several grapevarietiesdowell
throughoutYadkinValley.Char-
donnays, rieslings, cabernet
francs, sauvignonblancs, andmer-
lots rankamong the favoritewines
produced in thearea.Besure to
visitSheltonVineyards (336-366-
4724, sheltonvineyards.com), the
largest family-ownedestatewin-
ery inNorthCarolina.Toursand
tastingsareavailablesevendaysa
week. formore information, check
outyvwt.com.
FINGE
RL
AKES
More than 100
wineriesare scatteredaround the
picturesquefingerLakes inupstate
NewYork. The region’s tempera-
tureandelevationare similar to
those inGermany’sRheinpfalz
area, so it’snowonder that ries-
lingsdoparticularlywell in the
lakes.Among locals, a favorite
producer isDr.Konstantinfrank,
whoseDr. frank’sWinery (607-
868-4884, drfrankwines.com)
makes someof themost popular
wines in the area. Pay a visit to
the vineyard and sample his
SalmonRunChardonnay or
slightly fruityCohoRed. for
more information, check out
fingerlakeswinecountry.com.
T
hewesternUnitedStates
is justi ably famous for
the newines that originate
there. But that part of the
country doesn’t have a lock
on the production of highly
drinkable vintages. Here are
some other American hot
spotswhere you can drink
locally and really enjoy it.
From top left counterclockwise: Perini Ranch
mesquite-smoked peppered tenderloin,
MessinaHof’s restaurant; a selection of wines
fromSheltonVineyards; view of the vineyards
of Dr. Frank’sWinery
