Running Brook Vineyards - a pleasant surprise!

When you arrive at Running Brook Vineyard and Winery, you think you're in the wrong place. The entrance to the tasting room, which is also the wine-making area, is on the side of a large old barn. We were greeted warmly by the winemaker and owner, Manny Morais. He proceeded to delight us with his colorful descriptions of his wines, wine and food pairings, and his views on the terroir of Massachusetts.

Our favorite of the whites was the 2007 Chardonnay. It boasts a nice complexity and would be great with food.

Running Brook's reds have a lighter color than many other reds. Manny explains that he ferments the wine with the skins on for only 5 days -- vs. the typical two weeks. Thus they are not as deep in color.

Though I generally enjoy Cabernet Franc, I preferred the 2004 Cabernet Franc Merlot blend (40% Merlot) over the 2005 Cabernet Franc. The Merlot grape seems to balance the strong tannins of the cab franc grapes. This is a nice table wine.

I didn't particularly like the 2005 Cab Franc Rose because it was unfiltered, and therefore somewhat effervescent. If it was filtered, however, I think it would be dry, but not too dry, on the palate.

Running Brook makes "champagne" (sparkling wine), too. It's called Celebration 2001. The winemaker said it received quite favorable reviews over French champagnes at a recent wine tasting. I think it was quafable, but I can't be certain, as it was too warm and therefore mostly flat.

Make sure you taste their dessert wines, all of which are very good:

* Auslesen 2007 -- the "noble rot" is done with chardonnay grapes instead of reisling grapes. It's sweet, but not sickly sweet like some Ausleses. Smooth, too. Manny recommends this with some fruit mid-afternoon.

* Late Harvest Vidal -- this is the "raisin" wine -- the taste of raisins lingers on the palate. This would be a great after-dinner drink, Manny says.

* Frost Wine (Eiswein) -- this is the sweetest of the three, and delightful.

If you want to visit the New England wineries, and don't have a lot of time, skip the overly commercial and unremarkable Sakonnet Vineyards and visit Running Brook instead. It produces full-flavored whites, reds, roses and sparking wines that please the palate and will make you believe in the concept of "regional wines" (those not grown in such known wine regions as Napa).

Sakonnet Vineyards - Unremarkable

Mention New England vineyards and locals think of Sakonnet in Little Compton, RI. It is well-known because they have done some great marketing. Their tasting room is quite nice, with interesting merchandise for sale. The people behind the counter are jovial, knowledgeable and charming. Great atmosphere. Great people. Great service.

So what's wrong with this picture?

It's the wine. It's -- shall I say? -- unremarkable. Even disappointing. Here are my quick tasting notes:

• Vidal Blanc 2007 - too sweet.
• Gewurztraminer 2007 - good summer sipping wine. Delightfully light. Not too sweet. Best of the Sakonnet whites. Won a Silver Medal at the Monterey Wine Festival.
  
• Petite White (new release) - a mix of Vidal and Gewurztraminer. Ok. Less sweet than Vidal alone.
• Cock of the Walk (white)- green apples (Granny Smiths) and cantelope. Would be good with food.
• Chardonnay 2005 - odd taste... buttery and metallic
• Rose - Cabernet franc grape. A little too sweet. Nice finish. More body than most roses.
• Petite Red (new release) - 5 grapes (Cab, Cab Franc, Pinot, Lemberger and Chancellor). High in tannins. Better than pinot. Some complexity.
• Cock of the Walk (red) - 3 grapes (Cab, Lemberger, Merlot). Said to have a "smooth clean finish". But I found it highly acidic, highly astringent. Terrible.
• Rhode Island Red NV - 2 grape blend (Cab, Chancellor). Earthy. Best of the Sakonnet reds.
• Cabernet Franc 2005 - didn't like
• Pinot Noir 2007 - astringent. Yuck. Don't care for it.
• Port 2006 - Chancellor grape, fortified with brandy. Earthy. But sour aftertaste/finish.

I give the winery credit for trying -- an A for effort, sincerity and enthusiasm. Oh, and the O.T.C. (Original Wine Crackers) are quite delicious -- on their own. I prefer plain ol' oyster crackers to cleanse the palate between wines vs. these. The O.T.C. are a bit too sweet in my opinion to do the trick.

I recommend going to Running Brook Vineyards (about 30 min. away in North Dartmouth, MA). You won't find a beautiful tasting room or gift shop there, but you will taste some decent wine. Try them both and let me know what you think!

One-horse open sleigh ride

Lanterns in the woods. A fur blanket in our laps. A bottle of champage. A 2,300-lb. Belgian draft horse named Barney. European fallow deer eating from my hand. Under a clear sky filled with stars.

Mt. Hedgehog and Mt. Willard in snowshoes

This is the view from Mt. Hedgehog (in NH's White Mountains). There are clearly many more mountains that are higher -- easily done in the summer, but you won't catch me climbing them in the winter!

I was terrified coming down from Mt. Hedgehog on snowshoes. Going up in snowshoes (about 1,500 foot elevation gain) was hard work, yes, but no problem. Coming down? Yikes! The trail seemed so steep on the descent! Too steep for my comfort. I was definitely way outside of my comfort zone, but I made it down safely -- only one fall. And I was more tired that night after 5 hrs of snowshoeing than I've been after hiking in a very long time!

That was Saturday Jan. 31st. On Sunday Feb. 1, we did a more modest mountain in the Whites -- Mt. Willard. It takes just under an hour to get to the top. At the summit we spotted what I thought was a weasel. But after looking it up, we learned that it was a pine marten! Even better than sighting a deer or a moose. How many people can say they've seen a pine marten? In the wild, not in a zoo??

Snowshoeing & hiking in below-zero wind chill

Saturday we attempted to snowshoe up Hedgehog Mountain and Sunday we used StabilICERS on the trail to the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain, which has fine views over Squam Lake (completely frozen this time of year).

We weren't breaking trail up Hedgehog, but it was definitely more work than bare-booting it. We decided to turn back after two hours of climbing up due to fear of frostbite on my toes, which had gone numb from the bitter cold. It was frankly difficult to keep my hands warm given the extreme cold. Thank goodness for hand warmers!

We got too late of a start on Sunday to finish the Rattlesnake Mountain loop, where we would have been breaking trail after the first summit. Views over Squam Lake (in photo) were beautiful!

In memory of Mark Podsedly (1962 - 2008)

The day before Thanksgiving last year, Mark lost his courageous battle with cancer. He was a dear, dear friend and he will be sorely missed.

I’ve known Mark for 15 years. I first met him in 1993 when we were working together in product marketing at Sun Microsystems. From the first time I met him, he struck me as an incredibly smart, highly motivated guy:

• he had surprising influence among the engineers at Sun, an engineering-driven company
• he was instrumental in developing the SPARCstation X-terminal – a product that was very advanced for its time… now, 15 years later, the latest technology buzz is about “cloud computing” and virtual desktops. His product, the X-terminal, would be a perfect thin client. In other words – it was a product ahead of its time.
• he was way out front with technology. I understand that he was one of the first people to get a PC -- even among his engineering friends. He was doing things with the Internet in 1993 that no one had even heard of. He taught me about URL links, for example.

Mark also had a good sense of humor. I remember the Sun Product Marketing holiday party in 1994. There was another Mark in the group -- I'll call him Mark F. -- who was especially arrogant, unprofessional, lazy and even mean. This Mark was the exact opposite of Mark Podsedly. My husband at the time knew how upsetting this other Mark (Mark F.) was to me, and wanted to put Mark F. in his place. So at the holiday party, after a few drinks, my husband started changing "Dead Meat. Dead Meat. Dead Meat." He meant it for Mark F., but confused the two Marks and accidentally directed his tirade at Mark Podsedly. So he was chanting "dead meat, dead meat" to the wrong Mark!

Mark took it all in stride, laughing about it at the time -- though I'm sure he was puzzled -- and then REALLY appreciating the humor of it when he learned my husband's intentions -- he held the same opinion of Mark F! That was a good night -- a night of comradery for all of us working in that group at Sun.

It was at that Sun holiday party, that I met Melisa Stern. They got married the next year, 1995, and Mark was as happy as I'd ever known him.

Mark was one of my best platonic guy friends. He was so fiercely protective of me -- supporting me through difficult times and always asking if there was anything he could do for me. That was Mark -- selfless and full of grace and dignity to the end.

Mark was a determined man. Determined to fight his tumor ... Determined to be a loving husband to Melisa ... Determined to be a dedicated father to his daughter Natalie. And determined to be an incredible friend to me and many others ...

Friends are the family we choose. Mark and I, as friends, became family. In finding him as a friend, I found a treasure.

To paraphrase Adlai Stevenson (1962) -- I have lost more than a friend. I have lost an inspiration. He would rather light candles than curse the darkness -- And his glow has warmed the world.

May the glow of Mark's memory live on in all of our hearts.

Mt. Potash - my first winter hike of the season!

At long last, the White Mountains again! It was only about 12 degrees, but without the wind we were warm enough. We broke trail for most of the hike, snowshoeing the entire way, and seeing not a soul the whole time. One of the three brook crossings was a bit difficult, but doable.

With few yellow blazes along the way, the Mt. Potash trail is a bit difficult to follow. Thus it took us about 3 hours to get to the top. After lunch on the summit, we snowshoed back down. Because we had a clear trail by following our tracks, we made it down in just two hours. This is a great winter hike.

I am now fairly comfortable on snowshoes. I can now handle the steep inclines and declines that last year caused me to either hesitate (and proceed slowly and carefully) or to retreat. I just bagged my first "mountain" on snowshoes!

4.4 miles, 1,500' elevation gain
Summit: Mt. Potash = 2,680 feet high
Route: Downes Brook and Mt. Potash trails, starting from the Kancamangus Hwy.