Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/08/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have been reluctant to send any recent pictures to the LUG because they do not meet the usual standards of Luggers. In fact most of mine would be indistinguishable from typical drugstore shots. It' requires so little though to take pictures nowadays that it is almost a reflex action. While Nathan was exploring the rundown towns in the Hudson Valley I was in Connecticut watching my daughter run a triathlon. It was the first athletic event she had competed in in 20 years and she did herself proud, finishing second for all competitors. I just shows what a long, long, long rest will do. Interestingly I was the only one using a real camera amongst the spectators (except for the media photographers). All the rest were using iPhones, iPods, and similar gadgets. Not a single Leica to be seen. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Karen+finishes+triathelon.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Karen_+Ben_+Maggie.jpg.html Now about the surprisingly good wines that Nathan encountered in New York and Canada. Travel writers are fond of comparing the Hudson River to Germany?s Rhine. Like its European counterpart the Hudson has vineyards on either shore. The oldest commercial vineyards in the US were established in the Hudson Valley during Colonial times. Old Norse records show that Viking explorers roamed as far south as what is now New York and the lower reaches of the Hudson. There is local myth that the area might have been the Vinland of the Viking sagas. Wild grapes grow plentifully on the river banks. Croton Point, about a 15 minute bike ride from my house, was the site of the Underhill Winery, the first commercial winery in the country. The ruins of the stone wine cellars are visible on the south side of the point. New York's wine region is on the same latitude as Europe's most cherished vineyards. Climate and weather conditions vary greatly across the state ranging from a marine climate in Long Island similar to that of Provence, a Hudson Valley climate resembling that of the Rhine, and the glacial lake climate of the Finger Lakes. This varied terroir combined with an assortment of ideal grape growing microclimates has produced a surprising number of prize-winning vintages. A century before wines were planted in the Napa Valley, French settlers were planting vines along the Hudson. Hudson Valley wines have ?outlasted revolutions, wars, blights, bad weather and Prohibition.? Native Anerican grapes are still being grown today for grape juice and Kosher ceremonial wines. Thanks to the efforts of Cornell University?s viniculture program and independent researchers such as the late Dr. Konstantin Frank, vintners were successful in making European grapes and hybrid French-American varieties grow in the harsh lake effect snow winters of the Finger Lake region and the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The New York wine industry now makes more varieties of wine than any other wine region in the world. The red wines are good to excellent but New York vintners excel in making white wines. Many New York wines have achieved world-class status winning Gold and Double Gold medals in international competition. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/NY+wine.jpg.html So put that in your glass and drink it. Larry Z