SCENE AROUND: Tracing Terroir on the Hudson-Berkshire Beverage Trail

John Vittori’s glass is only half-full. As owner of Hilltop Orchards and Furnace Brook Winery in Richmond, Mass., Vittori is on a constant crusade to spread the word: the hundred-year-old farm does, in fact, produce wine—about fifteen varieties. And he’s not alone; six other wineries, distilleries, and breweries located along the Massachusetts/New York corridor have teamed up with Furnace Brook to create the Hudson Berkshire Beverage Trail. Armed with a $15 passport, curious imbibers can take a self-guided tour of these rural venues on select weekends to enjoy tasting flights, food, and lively discussion at each. (At the pasta-themed kickoff this spring, for instance, Furnace Brook offered linguine tossed in a Johnny Mash hard-cider cream sauce and fra diavolo made lush with its Long Island-grape cabernet.)

“People who live in Berkshire County and Columbia County have no idea that all of these wineries are around—it’s sort of a newsflash,” Vittori says.

But the Hudson Berkshire Beverage Trail transcends wine in the traditional sense. Brookview Station Winery at Goold Orchards in Schodack, N.Y., turns its estate-grown fruits, such as apples, pears, strawberries, and cherries, into smooth adult sippers; while Tousey Winery in Germantown, N.Y., proffers homemade cassis sweetened with honey from the property’s hives. Harvest Spirits, in Valatie, N.Y., crafts Core Vodka, a small-batch, estate spirit, from apples and the Chatham [N.Y.] Brewing Company pours handcrafted, microbrew ales. Rounding out the list with good ol’ grape varieties is the Hudson-Chatham Winery in Ghent, N.Y., and a repeat gold-medal winner at the International Eastern Wine Competition, Les Trois Emme Vineyard & Winery in New Marlborough, Mass.

“This region produces leaner, more peppery, minerally wines, which tend to be extremely friendly,” says Vittori, who’s 2008 Muscato just received a Best of State accolade at the Big E Northeast Wine Competition.

Cheers to that. [AUGUST 2010]

THE GOODS

Hudson Berkshire Beverage Trail
Seven venues in N.Y. and Mass.
$15; $5 for designated drivers