Rachel Orlow/The Ithacan
Shannon Brock gives a wine tasting tour at the Silver Thread Vineyard on Saturday.
A van steers toward Lively Run Goat Farm. From within, the passengers catch the sight of two horses’ rumps, their tails bouncing gaily to and fro. A road leads up to the main barn, and on the porch a sign reads “Cheese Shop.” On the steps, Buster, the farm’s resident hound, barks ardently, his breath steamy in the air.
These are the first moments of Experience! The Finger Lakes’ Farm-to-Table Wine and Cooking Class Tour, an all-day venture that president and owner Laura Falk said she hopes will change the way people view farm-to-table dining in the Finger Lakes. Falk said the tour embraces her and her husband’s dining philosophy, which focuses on fresh, locally produced ingredients that go from the ground to the plate with little lingering in between.
“The idea was to tell the story of what farm-to-table is all about, why it is important to this community, and then actually have you live it,” Falk said.
The seven-hour tour, which gives patrons an opportunity to explore a farm and winery, and enjoy the spoils of local Finger Lakes markets, is a labor of love on Falk’s part. She said she hopes at the end of the experience, patrons will have a newfound appreciation for their cuisine.
“It’s all about learning where your food is coming from so you can appreciate the passion that goes into it,” Falk said.
Rachel Orlow/The IthacanThe guests are served a meal of chicken, lentil bean stew, a roll and a house salad Saturday.
The tour features three locales, all of which immerse visitors with a behind-the-scenes look at the processes of three local establishments: Lively Run Goat Farm, Silver Thread Vineyards and Red Newt Bistro.
The tour begins at Lively Run Goat Farm, a dairy farm that dishes out flavorful cheeses, owned and operated by Susanne Messmer.
Within Lively Run’s walls sit behemoth pasteurizers, which Messmer dates back to the 1920s. Along the walls, plump cheesecloth sacks hang one after another. They drip as moisture seeps from the soon-to-be cheese they envelop. This process hardens the cheese, with softer cheeses like feta dangling for less time than their harder cheeses, such as their famous Cayuga Blue.
Every locale featured in the Farm-to-Table tour allows the tour group to let their palates explore samples of Lively Run’s array of cheeses. These include a savory feta and an aromatic chèvre with a peppercorn twist.
Shannon and Paul Brock, the owners of the tour’s second stop, Silver Thread Vineyards, said they take pride in their local identity and their homegrown product.
“We’re a small winery,” Shannon said. “We grow our own grapes, we make our own wine here … we’re really all about making a product that is expressing the climate and the soil and the people that live here in the Finger Lakes.”
Shannon stands in the front yard of Silver Thread Vineyards, which is flanked by a view of Cayuga Lake. She leads guests into the winery’s barrel-rooms, educating listeners about the winemaking process while filling a few glasses. It’s this behind-the-scenes material, Falk said, that demonstrates the passion in the establishment.
“The wine experience is about tasting the wines but also learning about the how the wine is getting into the bottle,” Falk said. “You’re learning about the process. You’re feeling the passion behind the product.”
Tour guide Rachel VerValin said she believes giving patrons a peek behind closed doors also increases the intrigue of Experience!’s tour.
“It blends all the great things about hospitality — teaching people about what they’re eating and what they’re drinking and telling them interesting stories about it and just making a memorable experience,” VerValin said.