This past weekend we decided to enjoy a local wine event called Pasta, Primo, Vino. We did this last year with friends and had a blast. We were supposed to go with said friends again this year, but they had to cancel, so we went alone. You may have noticed that this event was featured on my homepage under my Hudson Valley Wine Events listing, which is updated frequently with new wine events in my area.
Pasta, Primo, Vino is an event where all of the wineries located on the Shawangunk Wine Trail offer a tasting of their wines as well as a pasta dish prepared using one of their wines as an ingredient. Tickets are $20 per person in advance or $25 at the door. The event is both Saturday and Sunday, so if you are a ‘die hard’ you can visit all of the wineries in the 2 day span. I know, I know… about now you are thinking Shaboynk what? Huh? What does that mean? Shawangunk is an Indian name, much like Poughkeepsie (where I live), Mohonk, Wawarsing and many other town names in my area. The Shawangunk Mountains are located between New Jersey and Rosendale, NY and are situated along the Hudson River. Geological changes that occurred over 500 million years ago along with erosion and glacier activity have created the Shawangunk Conglomerate ridge with striations, caves, cliffs, crevices, waterfalls and 5 lakes. The “Gunks” as they nicknamed, have become a beautiful and challenging destination hikers and rock climbers.
The Shawangunk Wine Trail consists of 11 family owned wineries located in Ulster and Orange Counties along the Hudson River. All of the wineries are influenced by the fine wine making of the French Huguenot settlers who brought their wine making skills to this area 300 years ago.
The spring is beautiful time to visit, with apple blossoms and lush greenery, while fall brings spectacular colorful foliage and apple picking. We visited 6 of the 11 wineries this time. Some we had been to before, a few were new to us and one that was just opened this year. Please join me for my own personal tour of the 6 wineries. This will be the first in a series of 7 posts in which I will highlight each winery individually, in the same order we visited, so that you can feel like you have come along for the ride. Bummer….you won’t be able to taste the wine or pasta though. For that, you should definitely make a visit for yourself.