Signs help designate Dutchess Wine Trail

By Jennifer McGraw Karchmer
Poughkeepsie Journal

About 30 signs were installed on state roads in July to include Alison Wines & Vineyards in Red Hook, which opened last year. In 1999, about 20 signs were put in place throughout the county leading tourists to Cascade Mountain Winery & Restaurant on Flint Road in Amenia, Clinton Vineyards on Schultzville Road in Clinton and Millbrook Vineyards & Winery on Wing Road near Millbrook.

''You don't have to go 3,000 miles to Napa Valley. We have it all here in the Hudson Valley,'' said Phyllis Feder of Clinton Vineyards, who is president of the Dutchess Wine Trail.

The trail takes wine enthusiasts along Route 9 north to Red Hook, Route 199 east to Millerton, Route 22 south to Amenia and Route 44 west to Millbrook.

''We get a lot of people coming in from Connecticut who pick up the wine trail here,'' said Bill Wetmore, owner of Cascade Winery in Amenia. "They pick up a wine trail brochure and then head onto the next winery.''

The Dutchess Wine Trail was a challenge to map out because the wineries are far apart, unlike other wine trails in New York state, said New York Wine & Grape Foundation President James Trezise.

On Long Island, for example, several wineries are next to each other on Route 25 beginning in Riverhead. Also, in the Finger Lakes region, wineries are dotted around Seneca Lake, making it easy for tourists to follow.

The wine trail signs throughout the state are funded through a joint effort of local wineries, wine trails and the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, which represents the state's 167 wineries, Trezise said.