Albion’s Second Annual Sip and Stroll Wine Walk

The Albion Merchant’s Association did it, again! Today – August 15, 2015 – was their second annual Sip and Stroll Through History Wine Walk and it was AWESOME!!! Last year, the inaugural event was on a slightly smaller scale to give it a try and it was pretty darned amazing – I had so much fun, I looked forward to this year’s event ever since – in fact, I bought the very first ticket sold! I bought my ticket from Lisa Stratton at the Hazy Jade Gift Shop even before word got out they were ready to go on sale!!!! This year, they amp’d it up with more local wineries, more merchants involved, and some extras to add to the experience and give people who may not want to do the wine tastings a reason to come downtown and join in on the fun! Some of the “extras” didn’t work out quite as planned, but that’s OK……the main event – the wine walk – was FANTASTIC and the rest has room for improvement and expansion next year!

All that said, I do need to get up on my soap box for a minute, here…….I get really sick of hearing people complain and whine about how there’s never anything fun to do in Albion – how it is a boring, dead town! Then, when the Albion Merchant’s Association or other organizations work their butts off to put together an awesome event like this one and many others, I don’t ever see any of the nay-sayers taking advantage of them! It is sort of like voting – if you don’t vote, you really don’t have a right to complain about the election results…….and, if you never take advantage of what is out there to enjoy about your town, you really don’t have a right to say there isn’t anything worth doing! OK – soap box neatly returned to my closet!

Don’t get the wrong idea about my rant — there was a nice size crowd at the event and everyone I saw was having a great time! It was a steady flow of groups – never over crowded at any point so you could really enjoy each stop without long lines and I didn’t go to any stop that didn’t have a nice group there and more coming as I was leaving. So — it was well attended, but I would have liked to have seen the streets REALLY packed……the organizers work hard to put these events on, so get the word out about how great this year was…..this event and others will only get better as they evolve, so let’s get out there and support the efforts of the organizers and show them how much we appreciate them!

Thank you not only to the Albion Merchant’s Association and those who worked to organize the event, but also to the following downtown shops who opened their doors as the tasting locations. And a very special thank you to the wineries who came offering their finest products for us to taste – I’ve included links to the various winery web sites – click on their names below to visit them. Each winery brought several wines to chose from for tasting – and you could purchase bottles at a discount at most tastings, if you found one you really liked (I was a good girl, I only bought two bottles, this year…..but, I made a mental note of the wines I enjoyed from wineries I haven’t visited, yet). Each representative from the wineries was very knowledgeable and explained their wines, talked about their wineries, and helped the tasters really have a good time! Also, each business had food available to munch on and pair with the wines. It was more like a sip and eat and stroll event!!! 🙂

• Hoag Library – Zambistro‘s, Medina, NY, catered the VIP reception at this location
• Pullman Memorial Universalist Church – Leonard Oakes Estate Winery – Ridge Rd, Medina, NY
• The Hazy Jade Gift Shop – Schulze Vineyard – Burt, NY
• Dance Reflections – Vizcarra Vineyard at Becker Farms – Gasport, NY
• Shay’s Shamrock – Lake Effect Ice Cream – Lockport, NY (offered wine infused Popsicles)
• Bindings Bookstore – Victorianbourg Wine Estates – Wilson, NY
• Arnold’s Auto Parts – Schwenk Wine Cellars – Kent, NY
• Xpress Fitness & Tanning – Five Sons Winery – Brockport, NY
• Uptown Browsery – A Gust of Sun East Winery – Spencerport, NY
• Knight’s Pride and MMIM – 810 Meadworks – Medina, NY
• Morrison Realty – The Winery at Marjim Manor – Appleton, NY
• Krantz Furniture – Chateau Niagara Winery – Newfane, NY
• Downtown Browsery – Lake Ontario Winery – Hilton / Webster, NY
• Empire Trading – Salamanca Estate Winery – Albion, NY

So — of course, I took a ton of photos…..here are just a few:

Registration and VIP reception at the Hoag Library

Zambistro’s did a great job decorating and with the food! The Library and the Historical Society put out books with entire years of old local newspapers (think they said they were Albion Advertisers, but might have been Medina Journal Registers) and type plates – nice touch to the theme “Sip and Stroll Through History”!

The Pullman Church always goes all out for these events – here are Pastor Lee Richards and church member, Jim Knight, dressed as Bacchus, “God of Wine”

Before others started to arrive

Aren’t these wine necklaces cool? I should have bought one – would have been fun to wear to other wine tasting events!

The Leonard Oakes Estate Winery representative with Bacchus

Look for the purple and green balloons – that’s where the wine is!!!

Inside the Hazy Jade Gift Shop! Why, there’s Skip Stratton – friendly UPS man and husband of shop owner, Lisa Stratton!

Schulze Vineyard offering delicious tastes in the Hazy Jade!

Vizcarra Vineyards in Dance Reflections

Inside Shay’s Shamrock – they offered wine infused Popcicles from Lake Effect Ice Cream – YUM!

Bindings Bookstore

I peeked over a book rack to get a shot of the Victorianbourg Wine Estate rep pouring some wine for a happy taster!

Schwenk Wine Cellars was at Arnold’s Auto Parts

Nice selection from Schwenk Wine Cellars

I’ve been wanting to try some of Schwenk’s wines – they didn’t disappoint!

Oh, goodie – more purple and green balloons!!!

Not sure how I missed getting a photo inside Xpress Fitness – I loved the wines that Five Sons Winery had to offer, so I was definitely in there!

Uptown Browsery with A Gust of Sun East Winery

Knight’s Pride hosted 810 Meadworks – they are Western NY’s first Meadery – a fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey with a beer-like taste. I’ve wanted to try their beverages – I didn’t particularly care for the one they brought (sorry, that’s just me, I’m sure), today, but it was interesting enough that I definitely want to try more!

Looks like I also missed getting a photo inside Morrison Realty, too! They hosted the Winery at Marjim Manor and I tried this year’s Katapalooza – they made it with a different fruit base than in the past, but it was just as incredible as other vintages….love Katapalooza!

Chateau Niagara pouring inside Krantz Furniture – that’s my friend and store owner, Linda Krantz Smith at the end of the table in the center with the red shirt

Krantz Furniture looking mighty festive!

Lake Ontario Winery with several offerings in the Downtown Browsery

Music by the Sophisticates – very, very nice – jazzy!!!

The only tasting location I missed – and I’m not sure how I missed it – was the Empire Trading Company! And, I really wanted to try the wines offered by Salamanca Estate Winery! I’ve seen their building just off the Ridge on Hindsburg Road in Albion and have been curious about them! DANG! Well, I guess I just have to stop in at their winery and try them there!

This is the old Citizens National Bank building – the historic site that is etched on this year’s commemorative wine glasses

This year’s commemorative wine glass

The two wines I bought, today – both from Schulze Vineyard – they are very grapey and so delicious! There were others that I made mental notes about getting in the future, but my wine rack is well stocked right now, so promised myself I wouldn’t go overboard…..but it wasn’t an easy promise to keep!

Bad Ash BBQ was there, but they sold out by 4:30…..I didn’t even get a chance to get down to where they were and get a photo before they were packed up and gone! Good for them! Also, some farmers were set up on Bank Street with a market, too, and there was also a book signing going on at Bindings Bookstore and a “anything on wheels” car show at Arnold’s Auto Parts! It was a great day!

I am already counting the days until next year’s Wine Walk……again, thank you to the Albion Merchant’s Association for caring enough to put on this and other amazing events for our Village!