2007 Wine and Chocolate Weekend

2007 Wine & Chocolate Weekend
02/10/2007 - 02/11/2007
Hosted by Chautauqua Lake Erie Wine Trail :

http://www.chautauquawinetrail.org/Ticket-Detail.aspx?id=64
Come out and enjoy a romantic weekend with your sweetheart. While enjoying your weekend, why not make it extra special and stay at one of our beautiful B&B's or hotels. Wine & Chocolate weekend is February 10 & 11, tickets are $21 per person. Each ticket holder will enjoy a mouth watering wine and chocolate creation at each of the 15 wineries and a wine glass, a special gift and a packet of recipe cards featuring all of the wonderful creations that you spent all weekend tasting. All tickets are pre-sold with a limit off 250 so order soon.

Sparkling Ponds Winery

I recently visited Sparkling Ponds Winery, on the NY PA border along state Route 5. This is a new winery in it's first year of retail operation. The setting inside is quaint and nice, I found the staff to be quite friendly and knowledgeable and their selection to be fantastic.

If you are a fan of Sparkling Wines, they have the best selection in the region. For those who like their wines light, with a good fruit taste, I highly recommend you check them out. Especially delightful is a selection entitled the "Woman Pleaser" which is a light blush. It truly lives up to its name, we served it at Holiday Parties this year, and the day I was there they had sold 6 cases of this selection already (it was late morning when we were there).

Check their website at http://www.sparklingponds.com/, if you live in the region it is well worth the trip down Route 5 to the PA border. If you don't live in the region, I suggest you check out this website, http://www.chautauquawinetrail.org/, and schedule a trip to the area.

Restaurant.Com Special Discount

Restaurant.com has the most extensive network of members on the web. If you are looking for a gift certificate for a local restaurant, or for a friend across the country, you can probably get one through this site. Check out the special 70% off running until Dec. 29th!!

Shop today and save an additional 70% on Dining Certificates! Use code CHEERS at checkout. Offer valid through 12/29/06.

All-Inclusive Vacation Special

Check out these All Inclusive Vacation specials, from Vacation Outlet. Guaranteed lowest rates on All Inclusive resort vacations all over the Caribbean.


Highly Recommended is the Los Cabos vacation, especially if you are a Tequila lover!! If you haven't tried this FANTASTIC libation from Sammy Haggar, click here and order a bottle to try:


SendTequila.com -
Earn 8% commission on all SendTequila.com sales.

Southern Comfort Drink Recipes for the Holiday

Pitchers & Punches & Hot Drinks From Southern Comfort

Open House Punch
750ml Southern Comfort (1 bottle)6 oz. lemon juice6 oz. can frozen lemonade6 oz. can frozen orange juice3 liters lemon-lime soda
Mix Southern Comfort, lemon juice, lemonade and orange juice. Add lemon-lime soda and stir. Pour into a pitcher or punch bowl with orange and lemon slices. Makes 16, 8-oz. servings.

Southern Hurricane® Pitcher
2 cups Southern Comfort 2 cups pineapple juice 2 cups sweet and sour mix 1/2 oz. grenadine 2 cups orange juice
Mix all ingredients in a pitcher. Pour over ice into hurricane glasses.Garnish with orange wedges and cherries. Makes 8, 8-oz. servings.

Southern Cider Pitcher
750ml Southern Comfort (1 bottle) 1 gallon apple cider 5 cups ginger ale 3 cups brewed tea 4 cinnamon sticks 4 whole oranges, studded with cloves
Mix all ingredients together in a large kettle. Heat until steaming, but do not boil. Pour into a heat-resistant pitcher or punch bowl. Serve warm. Makes 45, 5-oz. servings.
For additional pitcher and punch recipes, visit www.SouthernComfort.com

Southern Mocha Barn Burner
1 1/2 oz. Southern ComfortSmall cinnamon stickSlice of lemon peelHot cider
Add Southern Comfort, cinnamon stick and lemonpeel to a mug. Fill with hot cider and stir.

Comfort® Cappuccino
1 1/2 oz. Southern ComfortHot cappuccinoSugar to taste
Pour Southern Comfort into a mug of steamingcappuccino. Stir and sweeten to taste. Garnish withwhipped cream.

Southern Hot Chocolate
1 1/2 oz. Southern Comfort
Hot chocolatePour Southern Comfort into a mug of hot chocolateand stir. Garnish with whipped cream.

Comfort® Coffee
1 1/2 oz. Southern ComfortHot coffeeSugar to taste
Pour Southern Comfort into a mug of coffee. Stir and sweeten to taste. Garnish with whipped cream, if desired.

1 1/2 oz. Southern Comfort 1/2 oz. coffee-flavored liqueur Hot espresso Sugar to taste
Pour Southern Comfort and coffee liqueur into a mug of hot espresso. Stir and sweeten to taste. Garnish with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

How to Make That Drink

Do you like to try new drinks, or are you having a party and want to serve something special? Maybe you always wondered how they make that drink that sounded so good on TV or when you were at the bar. Try this link, http://www.webtender.com, where you will find thousands of drink recipes in an easily searchable site. Happy holidays and enjoy!!!

Featuring Western New York Wines

This is our first post, and to kick things off the feature will be Western New York and Western PA Wineries. There are a number of wineries along the Lake Erie corridor between Erie, Pa and Buffalo, NY. The wines they offer are magnificient, with fantastic qualities and very reasonably priced. NY has recently passed a new law allowing these wineries to FINALLY be competitive and offer sales on the internet, and ship out of State.

Below I am going to list links to the websites of these wineries, as well as the Chautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Trail Site, which offers tour information on the region. There are a number of hotels in the region, be sure to check the links to the right on this page to find a great place to stay.

http://www.chautauquawinetrail.org/
http://www.blueberryskyfarm.com/
http://www.lakeeriewine.com/
http://www.merrittestatewinery.com/
http://www.sparklingponds.com/
http://www.willowcreekwines.com/index.html
http://www.woodburyvineyards.com/
http://www.mazzawines.com/
http://www.roberianwinery.com/
http://www.vettervineyards.com/
http://www.newyorkwines.org/index.asp
http://web.a-znet.com/~antiquer/nywinetime/