Amazing Grace Wine Tasting at Vine and Barley

Amazing Grace Vineyard and Winery is the featured winery at Vine and Barley's second tasting of the season. The event is on Friday, July 8 and includes an a buffet to compliment the wines.

Amazing Grace Vineyard and Winery is a family owned small farm winery established in 2008 in Chazy,  The winery had a humble begging: selling Cold Hardy Northern varietal wines and fruit wines out of their 12 x 14 foot tasting room.  Since then they have expanded to a 1400 foot winery and tasting room and quadrupled production to include a fruit dessert line and four award winning blends recognized internationally.  

From the winemakers:

Our mission is simple:  Make great tasting wines and sell them at an affordable price, treat all customers as friends and family, and try your best to help and support your community.  It is this mission that has made us an extremely successful small farm winery.  Whether you want a beautiful, quiet setting to sip a glass in, or a venue for a life celebration, consider making Amazing Grace Vineyard and Winery your home.

The Answer As To Why You May Love Your Paradox Brews

We’ve always admired the fruit forward notes that are in most of the golden nectars that flow from Schroon’s Paradox Brewery.  What we didn’t know was how it gets there. Until now: it’s referred to by brewers as “Brett” short for:  BRETTANOMYCES…now doesn’t that roll nicely off the tongue.

Paradox head brewer Devon Hamilton gives the short answer of what your new friend “Brett”  is all about (and the odors he gives off) in the above video.

Serious Food has the low down on Brettanomyces:

Known for inspiring such tasting notes as "barnyard," and "horse blanket," Brettanomyces is a funky beast that tends to freak people out a little bit. Its impact on beer varies dramatically based on fermentation temperature, the other fermentation organisms present in the beer, and at what point it's added, but Brett (as it is commonly known), is most easily identifiable by that barnyard funk associated with 4-ethyl phenol, a flavor compound it produces. Brett is also known for tearing through sugars that normal yeast cannot, leaving beers very, very dry. Producing very little acid, Brett is usually not responsible for creating sourness in beers, instead, you're looking for horsey, earthy funk.

On the Menu: Alfresco Drinking and Dining

The new rock garden at Sticks and Stones. Photo courtesy Sticks and Stones.

There’s a trend that’s taken off in Schroon in a big way: eating and drinking in the great outdoors. And some of these good times take place next to a fire! But it’s not only happening at your camps or tent sites, but at some of Schroon’s better known dining and drinking establishments.

Since opening, Sticks and Stones were the trailblazers with their large outdoor stone dining deck, with numerous tabletops covered by umbrellas. Soon after came a rustic fire pit, on their grass lawn right out front.

When Paradox Brewery opened, Paul and Joan Mrocka soon realized their small tasting room  -- aka “The Jersey Room” -- wasn’t going to accommodate the summer crowds. That led to the construction of a grown up playground of sorts, with a large outside bar, picnic tables, a tent, several corn toss games, volleyball and plenty of space for the kids and dogs to run around.

And then last year, Drakes redesigned the front of their restaurant to bring the outdoors in, replacing a stuffy and tired looking 1970s décor (most of which still remains), with a space where diners could enjoy the fresh air and cool breezes of the Adirondacks.

And we can’t forget Steve Kass and his girlfriend Gail’s original outdoor restaurant: their hot dog, snow cone and hamburger van at the Town Beach. The view from the handful of chairs and tables offers one of the best in the Adirondacks.

Next up, Patti Mehm’s Vine and Barley  -- which opened last summer -- featured two screened in outdoor decks above her Towne Store. While the space is classy, inviting and intimate, it allowed diners to experience the buzz of Main Street. Fans take note: Patti will be opening in mid-June!

But all that was so 2015.

This weekend, Sticks and Stones and Paradox unveil two new outdoor experiences. And not to be left out, Witherbee’s is joining the great outdoor party, with a new patio with six tables with red umbrellas right outside their front door.

At Sticks and Stones, Ken Fish, of Fish Construction, laid the final stones late this week in a very cool looking outdoor area, showcasing the restaurant’s fire pit.

Drawing on influences from (a mini version of) Stonehenge,? it's an inviting space to sip a cold one, while enjoying the fire on those still chilly spring evenings.

And at Paradox Brewery, the Mrocka’s have set up what we are calling the Rolls Royce of tents. This new “Big Top” is HUGE, and has plenty of seating for dozens of craft brew beer fans. It also offers protection from the North Country summer weather:  scorching sun and cold rains. Right now it’s all open, but if we get one of those crazy and annoying wet days or weeks, the tent’s sides come down – revealing windows – to allow you to have a dry drinking experience and a view!

“We wanted a bigger space where our guests could escape the elements,” Paul told Schroon Laker.

“The way we have set this up with our picnic tables is that it allows for everyone to socialize, folks getting to know their neighbors, which we encourage.”

With the new tent, the outdoor bar got longer. Paul and Joan are expecting bigger crowds than last year, as word spreads about Paradox.

“We are now being carried by five distributors. We can barely keep up production. Folks told us last year they loved the atmosphere here and that's why we expanded. Under their New York Farm Brewers license, Paradox can sell beer by the pints, offer tastings, as well as fill customer's growlers.

“With the new tent in place, our next project is to build a platform-stage for bands and musicians.”

And for fans of Paradox’s own beer made pretzels, they are back again!

The Litte Farm In Schroon With Big Tastes

Anthony Ruiz has always dreamed of being a farmer.

The idea of being able to grow his own food, and raise cattle to feed his family year around, became more important, the more he learned about our food supply.

Despite an unsuccessful attempt to find land in Schroon, Anthony never gave up. And that’s when he realized farming micro greens was the answer.

After an initial investment, a build out of an indoor space and a lot of research, Gather It Up Farms was born.

“There’s a verse in the bible that talks about God providing food and those he provides food for,  gather it up. So we are Gather It Up Farms and we are  satisfyingly good,” Anthony told Schroon Laker.

Anthony grows a variety of microgreens: beets, sunflower, pea, radish, kale, amaranth, Genovese basil,  broccoli, radish, arugula and Bok Choy.

Anthony says micro greens pack a powerful nutrient punch – with more thanfour to 40 percent than regular greens.So what do they taste like? Simply delicious, as I discovered when Anthony walked me through a tasting menu. Each sample was literally just a few sprigs of a green.

We started off with Sunflower, which, for my palate, had a nutty taste, with a crunchy and juicy mouth feel. Next up: Beets. Wow – an explosive taste of beets seconds after it hit my taste buds. The microgreens version of Red Russian Kale was mild and sweet. The Arugula was my favorite: an intense pepper bomb. Next came the radish –  as spicy as any radish I’ve bitten into, except this version was just a few strands.

I could imagine any one these on top of home made pizza, on a soup, a burger or in a taco. The micrograms are available for purchase directly from Anthony at his Giant Mountain Studio in Schroon. Prices start at 2$2.50 for a small container.  He will be at the Chestertown Farmer's Market starting in June. 

Anthony, in conjunction with the Northwoods Bakery and Witherbee's, recently collaborate on a soup with basil microgreens. Anthony's hope is that as word spreads, more local restaurants will become interested.

Anthony grows his microgreens year around indoors in a controlled environment. “We grow our greens in a vertical farm on shelves with a system of lights.

“Our microgreens are grown in a medium and just after the sprouting stage, seven  to 14 days, some are older, is when we harvest them There are difficulties, I wouldn’t say I have a green thumb yet”.

Becoming a farmer has had unexpected benefits. It’s been fun for me and for my kids. One of the most surprising things is the amaranth. Two days after planting the quinoa like seed the bed turned from tan to a deep purple.”

Anthony says he potentially sees a big demand for the greens, from both consumers and restaurants. “

I’ve been down to Glens Falls and have seen a needfor micro greens when I saw chefs shopping for their restaurants. They were travelling 45 minutes. It stinks that they have to travel so far, so I started wondering why couldn’t we grow it in Schroon Lake.

Anthony says over the last few years he and his family have become more conscious about where their food comes from., how it gets to our supermarket shelves and all of those resources usedalong the way.

“There are things  we don’t know, like what is Monsanto doing to our food with GMOs and what insecticides they are spraying on it. Here I grow certified organic seeds. I feel a little safer putting my food in the mouths of my family..

As the business grows, Anthony intends on expanding . “After I take on clients, we will determine how much we scale. Anthony still hasn’t given up on his dream of owning land in Schroon. “We eventually would like to have land where we plant in soil  or Green Houses.”

 Gather It Up Farm. 518-480-7235