The Adirondack Wine and Food Festival is quickly becoming one of my favorite annual events. You can’t beat the setting or the spectacular weather we’ve been lucky enough to have each year. The event is held at the Charles R. Wood Park right next to Lake George, and this year they featured over 80 artisan food vendors, wineries and breweries.
The festival partners with the SUNY Adirondack culinary program and a portion of all ticket sales goes towards a scholarship fund. They were nice enough to ask me to be a part of a promotional video a few weeks back, and I met with Chef Matt who is one of the instructors. He prepared one of the dishes that was featured at the event where students from SUNY Adirondack do cooking demos on both Saturday and Sunday. It was a lot of fun and the best part was getting to try the beef carpaccio topped with pickled shallots and horseradish mayo. Pair that with The Adirondack Winery’s Syrah, and you’ve got a perfect match!
What’s great about the festival is that you are able to sample lots of products giving you the opportunity to try before you buy. Seeing as though the Adirondack Winery puts the event on, I thought we’d start at their tent for some samples. It was a warm sunny day and their Sauvignon Blanc really hit the spot. So much so, we ended up grabbing three bottles (and plan on going to their new sampling room in Bolton Landing this weekend to pick up more:). Another favorite was the Saratoga Sparkling Rosé from Galway Rock which was light, dry and crisp with the perfect amount of sparkle. The 1911 Grapefruit Cider was a delicious new discovery and provided a tart refreshing splash of refreshment. The distilleries offered a lot of great options as well, and Saratoga Courage Distillery’s Pick 6 vodka is one of our favorites to use in Moscow mules or just over ice. The Peach Tea Cider from Nine Pin will cool you off on a warm summer day too so I recommend grabbing it while you can.
After lots of sipping, it was time to check out the food vendors. The Empanada Sonata food truck was calling our name and we got the Hawaiian BBQ chicken empanada which was fried to perfection. The crispiness on the outside paired well with the flavorful pulled chicken smothered in Hawaiian BBQ sauce on the inside. Delicioso!
Nettle Meadow Farm had a nice display of cheeses to try which were all wonderful and I ended up grabbing the Sappy Ewe to go with the Saratoga Crackers I had purchased. It was a match made in heaven! The cheese is described as a bloomy rind cheese consisting of sheep and cow curds coated with an Adirondack maple reduction and aged to perfection. I couldn’t agree more! After a few other nibbles at the Cheese Filled Company and Lake George Olive Oil Company, it was time for dessert. When I saw that Martha’s Dandee Creme was there with ice cream sandwiches, I knew what had to happen. The only problem was picking a flavor. Since we couldn’t decide on one, we got two (hellooooo salted caramel)!! It was a sweet way to end the day.
Like wine and cheese, The Adirondack Wine and Food Festival just gets better with age. If you weren’t able to make it this year, mark your calendar for June 23rd and 24th 2018. You don’t want to miss out! Cheers!
