accommodations | Traveling Wine Chick

Queen Standard Room

During my recent visit to the Finger Lakes, I had the opportunity to stay in a locally-owned and operated property just outside of Hammondsport, New York, thanks to the great team at the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association.

Bathroom Vanity Area

Vinehurst Inn & Suites was built in 1960 and has become a landmark of sorts for the area. It’s located one and a half miles from Keuka Lake, so it is a great place to start your Finger Lakes adventure, whether it be the great outdoors or the Keuka Lake Wine Trail.

Organic Bathroom Amenities

A year ago, spring 2012, Veteran JP Oliver and his wife, Kitty, took over ownership of the property. After some renovations and new landscaping, the inn is now open year-round. As Kitty says on their website, We had minor renovations and landscaping done while upgrading features and amenities to make it a wine country getaway destination for travelers coming to the Finger Lakes to try our wines, hike our trails and enjoy our lakes. The inn is an affiliate member of these organizations: Veteran Owned Business, Finger Lakes Trail, Keuka Lake Wine Trail, Hammondsport Chamber of Commerce, Finger Lakes Cheese Trail, and the Finger Lakes Beer Trail.

The Gorgeous Sink

The inn resembles a small hotel in structure, but it is more like a bed and breakfast with regard to its warmth and charm. Each room is uniquely decorated, so no two rooms look alike. Room types include standard rooms with queen or king beds, whirlpool suites, and family suites. Amenities include complimentary parking, wireless Internet and continental breakfast, including homemade muffins made by Kitty Oliver. The accommodations are made to feel like home, right down to the beautiful and unique décor, luxury bedding, meticulously clean rooms, gorgeous sink (yes, I have a thing for cool sinks!), organic bathroom amenities, Egyptian cotton towels, corkscrew, and stemless wine glasses.

Corkscrew and Stemless Wine Glasses

When I return to the Finger Lakes, the first place I will check for accommodations will be Vinehurst Inn & Suites. I suggest you try them as well, for your home away from home in the Finger Lakes.

Wines of Chaumette

This week I had the opportunity to visit Chaumette Winery and Vineyards in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, my first Missouri winery, as part of a company retreat. Chaumette offers award-winning wines, lovely villa accommodations, a full-service restaurant, spa treatments, and destination events such as weddings.

The Villages at Chaumette consist of 26 charming villas with bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, fireplaces, a kitchen, and living rooms. The villa in which I stayed was as large or larger than my current apartment.

My villa bed at Chaumette

At the conclusion of the retreat meetings, our group met with owner Hank Johnson in the tasting room to learn a bit about the history of the winery and to taste some of the current offerings. Behind the tasting bar is a mural depicting the legend of the Chaumette name and how it was anglicized into the surname Shumate. Hank’s mother’s maiden name was Shumate, thus he and his wife decided to name the winery Chaumette to honor his French heritage as well as that of Ste. Genevieve, the first French settlement west of the Mississippi River.

Chaumette Rosé of Chambourcin

Our group first tasted an unoaked and oaked Chardonel. Chardonel is a cross between Chardonnay and the French-American, disease- and weather-resistant hybrid, Seyval. The group was divided about 50% as to which we preferred. We also tried the Traminette, a semi-dry white wine, which is the cross between the French-American hybrid Joannes Seyve 23.416 and Gewürztraminer. It had a similar flavor profile to Gewürz, but by crossing it with the Joannes Seyve 23.416, it is also more resistant to disease and extreme temperature change. After the white wines, we tasted a Rosé of Chambourcin, which was my personal favorite of the tasting, as it paired perfectly with the 100+ degree temperature and high humidity. Chambourcin is also another French-American hybrid grape that can survive in tough conditions. Dry red wines followed the Rosé: Assemblage (a red blend), Chambourcin, and Missouri’s official state grape, Norton (although it was first grown in Richmond, Virginia). We completed our tasting with their sweet red called Huguenot Red.

The complete Chaumette experience, including accommodations and wines, is not to be missed. Chaumette is about and hour and 15 minutes by car from St. Louis, the perfect escape from the routine of daily life.

If you’re interested in a wine-related getaway, don’t hesitate to contact me via my website and I’d be happy to create for you a customized and personalized wine-cation.