Posts Written ByJulia Burke

By Julia Burke, Niagara Escarpment Correspondent Full disclosure: I hate fruit wines. When I think of the wines of the Niagara Escarpment, visions of riesling, chardonnay, cab franc and ice wine dance in my head; fruit wines, on the other hand, get me about as excited as soy bacon strips: I’m vaguely aware of their existence but don’t feel the need to take the relationship to the next level. But in a wine region that shows remarkable diversity despite its small size, there’s no excuse for closed-mindedness, and after one of our fruit-wine-producing estates represented Niagara USA at a recent…

By Julia Burke, Niagara Escarpment Correspondent Photo courtesy of Victorianbourg Estate Dan Hogue is just a tad stressed out when I call asking when I can sample his wines. “Can we do it next week?” he asks breathlessly, his cordial, down-to-earth voice as friendly as ever as he reminds me that “this week is a little… crazy.” I can’t say I blame him. He has a brand-new winery to open, and he’s planning on participating in the Niagara Wine Trail Holiday event – which is tomorrow. Last week, when I stopped by his property in Wilson, NY, which overlooks Lake…

By Julia Burke, Niagara Escarpment Correspondent It’s exciting to find a great selection of New York wines in a shop. But a wine store devoted entirely to New York State? Carl Schmitter, owner of Chateau Buffalo in Buffalo, NY, is proving that it can work. Now in its fourth year, Chateau Buffalo, located in the city’s hip, offbeat Hertel Avenue neighborhood, focuses exclusively on wines from Long Island, the Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes, the Niagara Escarpment, and Chautauqua. Without favoring a particularly region, Chateau Buffalo’s selection simply offers what Schmitter considers to be the best of New York. “The…