Benmarl Winery - A local wine destination

One of the things I realized recently was that despite my love for wine, and the bounty and variety of wine we have around the region, I really did not know enough about the local wines. Sure I had a few favorites, here and there but not the way, I have my favorites with Chilean or Argentinian wine. Well, other than trying out wine, the Hudson Valley Wine trail,


makes for very pretty driving and communing with nature. Most of this regions have local farms along the way to pick up and sample local produce and jams. So one of our thoughts this year was to start covering the wine trails and local vineyards.


We started with Benmarl winery that was located on Slate Hill, and also houses the Slate Hill vineyards on 37 acres of land. The location is just stunning and spectacular. The day we went they were preparing for a wedding, but we landed well before everyone except the violinist who was practicing his music. This created a one of a kind magical atmosphere. The vistas of the valley are breathtakingly lovely.

It was a little cloudy and the camera especially my point and shoot can only do so much. There were very pretty dark and white grapes all over the vineyard and it would make for a lovely place for a picnic.
Now down to the wine, they have tasting of 6 wines for 5 bucks and a dollar more for each additional wine you would like to try.
I tried 3 white wines, (I will warn you, I am partial to reds) - the pinot grigio, that was fruity but a little too sharp for my palate, the Chardonnay was ok, but I really loved their slate hill white. I thought this was a nice wine to enjoy particularly with spicier foods.
I tried 4 of their red wines, they have a nice red called Baco Noir. I thought this was really amazing. It would be for of nice dinner kind of wine, not too heavy and again therefore good with a lot of foods, their Pinot Noir was pretty good as well. The two heavier reds that I tried, their Zinfandel and the Syrah were ok but not exceptional! However, once again just the loveliness of this destination makes this a worthwhile trip.
Next summer, I shall pack a picnic lunch and try to plan a better day (haha!) given the ridiculous weather we had this year.