A Grape Trail Through the Hudson Valley

Fall foliage sends thousands of New Yorkers north in search of
brilliant natural beauty. But how long can you stare at trees, no
matter how colorful?

You need something to provide a little structure to the trip, and the Dutchess Wine Trail is as good a framework as any. (Grape vines have leaves, too.)

Dutchess County sits two counties up from Westchester, about 90
minutes north of New York City, and I have called it home for a year
now. Sadly, I know more about Dutchess than I do about wine. After
visiting the three wineries comprising the DWT, however, my knowledge
of both subjects is a bit deeper -- and the research certainly was a
pleasure.

Trail of Cheers

Start with a morning drive along the serpentine, wooded Taconic Parkway to the first stop along the trail, the Millbrook Vineyards & Winery.

Located in the center of the county, Millbrook is posh horse
country, a haven of multimillion-dollar estates surrounding a
delightful little upscale downtown. Food-wise, I'm partial to the
venerable greasy-spoon Millbrook Diner (224 Franklin Ave.) for brunch.
For dinner, it's the wonderful Middle Eastern-Mediterranean restaurant
outside of town, Serevan.

The 130-acre winery, five minutes north of town, fits right in.
A converted Dutch hip-roofed dairy barn provides stirring views of the
vineyards and the Catskill Mountains beyond.

John Dyson, the former deputy mayor of New York City under
Rudy Giuliani and the creator of the famed "I Love NY" ad campaign,
owns the former estate, as well as highly regarded vineyards in the
Russian River Valley, the central coast of California, and Tuscany.
Millbrook makes wines from the 30 acres of chardonnay, tocai friulano,
pinot noir, cabernet franc and gamay noir onsite; it also produces
wines that employ other New York and California grapes.