Long Island Wine Tour

Hello Friends! Yesterday we went with a big group of people on a limo-bus wine tour of two Long Island wineries as well as a Long Island vodka distillery. Needless to say, it was a great time! :) And, we got to cross Long Island off of our NYC Bucket List.

The first winery we went to was Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard. This vineyard was really neat because besides making good wine, they also save horses that are intended for slaughter. They name a lot of their wines after the horses they save. And, some of the horses they save are at the winery for pony rides :)

The winery atmosphere was very enjoyable as well. The tasting house looked like a cute little country house with a nice big patio, picnic tables, and a lot of yard space that led out to the horse corrals. Also, there was a really good live music act (Ricky Roche) who could play/sing almost any song requested, and perform it very well. We heard everything from Neil Young to Beyonce.

The group's favorite wine at this winery was White Satin. Which according to the winery description is "a delicious and smooth premium blend of Baitng Hollow Farm Vineyard's finest white wines. This exotic recipe tantalizes the senses with exuberant aromas of peach and jasmine while treating your palate with delicious tastes ranging from apple and pear to citrus, all with a captivating, cool, crisp and dry finish". It was yummy :)

This winery had the coolest wine bottle holders. I thought they were so cute :) By the way, these are available to buy on their website, if you're interested.

Enjoying our wine on the patio.

After the first winery, we walked over to a vodka distillery that was literally on the next property over. The vodka distillery was Long Island Spirits, home of LiV Vodka. I had originally decided not to taste any vodka because I wasn't too keen on mixing wine and spirits (plus we indulged in some light beer in the limo-bus on the way to Long Island). But, in the end the flavored vodka tempted me. Noelle, Laurel and I split a 3-flight tasting and sampled the Lime, Strawberry and Island Raspberry vodkas. Now, I will say all three flavors were very smooth and extremely tasty. I would even say you could drink the flavored vodkas straight, over ice. So, I would definitely recommend LiV Vodka to any of you vodka drinkers out there.

Our final and last stop was Palmer Vineyards. This winery had a very laid-back atmosphere. There was one big barn-like tasting house, and a back patio with a large open space, picnic tables and a live bluegrass band. It was a very nice way to end the tour. My favorite wine here was the Lighthouse White, which according to the winery is "a simple, easy drinking, everyday wine. The current release of Lighthouse White is a blend and offers clean bright fruit in an off-dry style. It makes an excellent aperitif and fares well with picnic lunches".

Noelle and Laurel engrossed in what must be stimulating conversation.

A really cool 'artsy' shot that Noelle took.

On the bus back to Manhattan.

On another interesting note, I'm sure most of you know that the 65th General Assembly of the United Nations was held here in NYC this week. Apparently, it is a long standing tradition that the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations speak at our church at the end of the week. So, today we got to hear H.E. Mr. Joseph Deiss of Switzerland speak and it was very enjoyable. Matt made sure to shake his hand on the way out of church so he could say he shook the hand of the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations :)