Sawmill Creek Vineyards

Our next stop was at Sawmill Creek Vineyards where we met with Tina and Eric Hazlitt. We met them at the Eastern Winery Exposition dinner where we sat at the same table and discovered that we had something in common. We lived in the Finger Lakes in the early 80's. Tina gave us her card and said that if we were in the Finger Lakes region, we should look them up. When we arrived at Sawmill Creek Vineyards, we noticed a sign on their door that said, "Not a Winery". Tina said that they had to put up that sign when they had so many people stopping for a wine tasting! Tina and Eric are grape growers and we stopped to look at the types of grapes they were growing. While we know the white varieties we will be growing, we are still undecided about the red variety that we would like to grow, so visiting the Hazlitts is part of our education. Tina gave us a tour of the vineyard, pointing out the various grape varieties that they grow. Both Eric and Tina remarked that although they do grow Pinot Noir, it is definitely, in Eric's words, "a heartbreak grape."

After the vineyard tour, Tina mentioned that we should go up the street to the Red Newt Bistro. The Red Newt Bistro features some wines made using Sawmill Creek Vineyard fruit. My husband and I split some appetizers and he had the Sawmill Creek Vineyard Red flight and I had the Pinot Noir flight. The Sawmill Creek Vineyard Red flight was a 2007 Cabernet Franc, 2007 Syrah and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. My husband was partial to the 2007 Syrah. Something interesting that both the Hazlitts and Cameron Hosmer mentioned was that they have seen that when they leave twice as much fruit and more canopy, their Cabernet Franc tastes better. Interesting!