It’s the dream of many wine lovers who are in proximity to a wine region—visiting all of the wineries in their backyard. How do you define your backyard when it comes to how far you’ll venture out? That’s something you get to decide on your own. One New York couple claims the entire state as their backyard.
Anita and Bob Wagner of Solvay, a suburb on the west side of Syracuse, are spending their retirement traversing the Empire State, following wine trails, visiting tasting rooms, and buying the wines they enjoy.
They fell in love with the Finger Lakes region when Bob’s son attended Cornell in the mid-80s and visited a few wineries. It wasn’t until they moved from Philadelphia to Central New York in 1998 that visiting New York wineries became a hobby. In the early 2010s, the Wagners grabbed a directory from a winery tasting room to help guide them.
“There were 405 wineries in New York at that time,” says Bob. “And we wondered how many we had visited. We added them up, and we had visited 189. We said, ‘What the hell, let’s do them all.’”
That’s when their quest began in earnest, although they’re contending with an ever-moving target since new wineries open while others close each year. “We thought we had visited all of the wineries in the Hudson River Valley but then we picked up a brochure and found there are six more to visit,” he says. Discoveries like that don’t deter them.
Sharing the Wines With Friends
In addition to visiting every New York winery, Bob and Anita are living out another dream many wine enthusiasts have—hosting regular dinner parties for 14 to 16 people and sharing their treasured wines with friends.
After the Wagners retired, they traveled and visited wineries in many states including Arizona, Texas, Virginia, and Ohio. They thought it would be a great idea to share these wines, as well as those from New York, with their friends.
“We started the dinners almost 10 years ago when we moved into our current property,” says Bob. Anita creates menus to go with the wine, and they host a dinner about every six weeks, now focusing on just New York wines. In between those dinners, they go out, visit more wineries, marvel at how the industry keeps growing, and bring home wines.
“It’s exciting to feel that you’re a part of and supporting somebody’s dream,” says Bob. “People do this because they’re committed to a dream for what their wine can be.”
Bob believes he and his wife are “wine evangelists.”
Creating the Menus
“One thing that’s fun about visiting wineries is trying their charcuterie trays and getting their recipes if they have them,” says Anita. “For example, for a number of years, we were club members at Fox Run, and we picked up pairing ideas and recipes at their wonderful member events.”
Anita paid attention to the food and wine pairings they experienced at various wineries. She focused on the chemistry of pairing while talking to winery employees to gain even more insight. She also took note of the guidelines for aging wine. (The couple now keeps a spreadsheet of the wines in their cellar to ensure nothing goes past its prime.)
Now, when they host a dinner, Anita creates the menu and also writes up tasting notes for the dinners, officially known as Wine at the Wagners.
“I send them out to people ahead of time,” she says. The notes can cover the uniqueness of a grape or information about the winery. The dinners, which are held on a Sunday, start with a welcome wine, perhaps a Pet Nat or an ice wine, before diving into the theme of the evening.
For example, last summer they held a dinner with the theme Dry Red Blends. On the table were wines from Barry Family Cellars, Fulkerson Winery, Anthony Manor, Weed Orchards and Winery, Shalestone Vineyards, and Buttonwood Grove Winery. The pairings included dishes such as an appetizer of all types of cheddar, an egg, mushroom, onion, and cheese casserole, BBQ meatballs, and desserts made with dark chocolate.
“As folks taste, we talk about the wine, the winery, and the winemaking, and folks share their reactions to the wine,” says Anita.
Making Wine and Wine Pairings Approachable for Everyone
Although the conversation at what the Wagners call a “very informal” meal is centered around the wine, it’s never centered around what people should think about wine.
“We love to entertain and we love to have friends over,” says Anita. They absolutely don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable. When newer guests come and say they don’t know much about wine, Bob and Anita tell them there are really just two things anyone needs to know: Whether you like a wine or not.
With that mindset, Bob and Anita create an evening of food and wine pairing that is approachable for everyone and where everyone’s palate is respected, all while supporting the dreams of New York’s winemakers.
Their next dinner will be their 75th “Wine at the Wagners” and will be held on Sunday, February 23rd, weather permitting of course. During this milestone dinner, they will be focusing on New York State Meritage and pouring wines from Usonia Wine, Airy Acres Vineyard, Fox Run Vineyards, Shalestone Vineyards, Treleaven Wines, and Long Point Winery.
