Picnic at One Woman Winery

Stu has a habit of eating the same sandwich from the same deli, all the time! When we visit the North Fork, we often stop at the Meetinghouse Deli in Aquebogue for a home-made turkey sandwich with mustard and lettuce on an onion role. Yes, a very particular ration. Well, this time we were going to be different.

What, No Kielbasa?

Last time we were at the Meetinghouse, Marian noticed a Kielbasa sandwich special, and decided that this would be the breakout sandwich to get Stu out of his rut. Well, the best laid plans were foiled when we learned that the deli had shut its grill for the day. No Kielbasa sandwich. By the way, we visited the deli at about 1:30 pm on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, and they were doing a lively business. This is a popular place, and for good reason. OK, no Kielbasa, so we selected a sausage and peppers sandwich from the “specials” board and went with it. Sometimes you have to go with your gut, and this time Plan “B” worked.  The deli has a prime meat counter, and we picked up a beautiful porterhouse steak for dinner. Next post, we’ll report on that steak!

Now provisioned, we headed out for the One Woman Winery in Southold, where we would have a picnic lunch on their deck.

Lunch at the Winery

While the deli was busy, the roads were not, and we headed on a 25 minute drive to our destination. This time out we took our convertible, and the day was perfect. Warm, sunny, and dry, we enjoyed the “wind in your hair” feeling as the beautiful North Fork scenery flew by.  Hey, this is also prime cycling country. The sights fly by more slowly, and you will enjoy them even more personally.

When we arrived at the winery, we had a Gewürztraminer in mind, as One Woman does a great job with this varietal.  We thought it would go with the eclectic mix of flavors in our picnic pack. Besides the sausage and pepper sandwich, Stu had packed a Mediterranean pasta salad and a Dijon-style carrot salad with plenty of lemon and currants. This is a tough mix, and you might think the sausage and peppers in a tomato sauce would cry out for a red. No way! The Gewurz was the perfect choice. Emma, our One Woman hostess, suggested we also sample their 2011 Chardonnay and 2011 Gruner Veltliner. Both were enjoyable, but we went with our first choice. We asked for some tasting notes to include in this post, but we learned that visitors felt intimidated by tasting notes, so we will share some talking points with you.

This Gewurz has a particular nose that is unmistakable, with floral notes of lilac, lavender, honeysuckle, peach, and lychee. Hey, Gewurz tastes and smells like Gewurz. You will not mistake it for anything else, ever!

Marian pointed out that in our land, wine culture is still not popular culture, and recent “Unthinking Drinking” articles in the NY Times suggest that people avoid wines with difficult to pronounce names. So… don’t miss Gewürztraminer because of its funny name. It goes with so many different kinds of spicy foods (e.g. Chinese, Indian, Thai) that it would be a shame to miss out.

On to Greenport

Having driven so far east on the North Fork, we decided to head to Greenport for a walk-about, and then take the Shelter Island ferries back to our East Hampton area. We wanted a pick-me-up, and visited the D’Latte coffee shop for some excellent coffee. We sat outside and watched the street scene. Greenport is a delightful village. We will tell you more about our visit there in our next post. Until then, enjoy some wine and relax. Life is good!