Linda Santos Realtor® Ithaca Fingerlakes NY Real Estate

Lou Damiani, left, of Damiani Wine Cellars on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail.

Glass and Ear art, center, and right.

Damiani Winery kicked off the new year in fine style this January 2011. In an event that is sure to be re-created, hopefully annually, the wine-maker played host alongside The Piggery, Preliminaires Chocolat, Six Circles Farm, Full Plate Farm Collective, Fingerlakes Farmstead Cheese, and Autumn's Harvest Farm, to roughly 100 guests (open to the public) who arrived on a bitter cold but beautifully bright winter Sunday, to partake in one of the best and most enjoyable tastings I've ever encountered anywhere!

The setting of Damiani Winery is not to be beat - sweeping, unobstructed views of the lake gave us all plenty of ooh-ahh moments as the sun lit into the tasting room, dancing off all of the glassware and boucing energy around the room of merry-makers. My crew of 3, including me, stopped at each tasting station to sample small bites of yumminess from our local farm and treat scene, some of which were completely new to me - (I love this part - new GREAT STUFF to know about)! At each station, we were able to also sample tastes of the Damiani current offerings, paired to enhance the food samples, to great effect!

The man who rocked the show, left, with his tasty truffly concoctions!!! THANK YOU CHRISTIAN!!

Garlic Scape Pesto, center, and Matthew from Harvest Cafe/Six Circles Farm, at right.

You know what those things below are!!! TRUFFLES!!! Getouttadaway!!!

As a result of our adventurousness that day, I now have a NEW FAVORITE chocolatier, Prelimaires Chocolat, who swept me off my feet with their fine ginger truffle, and hot perivian truffle - I honestly would not want to have to choose one or the other here, they are both SCRUMPTIOUS!! We did a fair bit of damage with gift shopping for our more reluctant friends who did not make the drive out with us - our bags were full with raw Red Meck cheeses, Damiani wines, and one totally new find - Rosie's Garlic Scape Pesto, by Six Circles Farm (I was lucky to get their last jar)! There is a grandmother angle to the garlic scape pesto, as I recall, but I don't actually recall the entire story - the folks at the farm will be able to tell you when you show up at their door to purchase your own bottle next spring, can't say enough good things abou this little bomb jar of pesto!

Photo uploader seems to be on the fritz today, so check back for photos later - however, I can sneak in this tidbit for you - the NEXT FREEVENT at Damiani is ON THE CALENDAR, for Feb. 27th, 1-4 pm, and it shall be called "Wine, Bovine, & Dine"! Will we see you there? I hope so, and please help spread the word, bring in the business for these hard-working farmers and vintners of the Fingerlakes!!

Farmstead Cheeses included an outstanding Red Meck!!

The author and her sweetie!

For "The Short Report by Santos", this is Agent Santos reporting,

on a frigid 8 degree overcast day in mid-January, from the slopes of South Hill, Ithaca, NY!!

New York Contemplates Property Tax Cap - in Lieu Of? Here is a great Op-Ed for us today, from the NY Times pages, on what the heck are we doing with the property tax cap? There are some good points brought up here, about the excesses in the budget that make us think we need a tax cap in the first place. Is the tax cap the band aid that won't really solve the problem, or address it at it's root cause? It really sounds good right now, but what if we could eliminate the reason why we all feel we could use a tax cap in the first place? That's what I'M talking about!

Let me know how you feel, New York!

For the Short Report by Santos, this is Agent Santos reporting!

The First Ithaca Artist's Market was a grand success, based on my own observation and walk-about of the market last Saturday. It was packed to the gills with all sorts of visitors looking for a unique holiday gift, or something for their own enjoyment. There was a lot to choose from, and I had to force myself to be disciplined. But I did walk away with some nice finds, and some contacts for later follow-up, as most of the vendors sell directly to the public from home studios or via web or phone sales.

The first booth that caught my eye was that of Torie Tiffany, whose work is unique and fresh. She produces two collections: "Fleurotica", which is a blend of bodies and blossoms, and "Faunagraphs", a critter collection. You can see a hint of her work in the photo at left here, featuring mostly the florals, which have strategically intwined erotic or anatomical embellishments. Some are quite subtle, and I had to work at picking the images out, which makes them fun pieces, sort of a mystery game!

Nerys Gregory had florals at her booth also, but of a more traditional sort - Nerys is a watercolor artist who creates lovely floral images in all sizes, including large serial pieces, small greeting cards, and a newer long-on-the-vertical rectangular shaped work. I've admired her work for a while now and will be looking for her greeting cards again in the future, as they make lovely gifts that reflect the local environment. She is a member of the Art Trail, with a lovely stop at her home studio in Ellis Hollow.

One booth stood out because it was the ONLY food booth at the event - I was delighted to see that I KNEW this person, Anastasia, from my yoga class at Wells College in Aurora. What I didn't know was that together with her mom Annie, they run a very cool little business called "Man In The Moon Classic Cheesecake & Deserts, which supports local farmers and producers, and provides scrumptious cheesecake and cookies for all of Central New York!

Torie Tiffany with Fleurotica Nerys Gregory's Watercolor Booth Man In The Moon Cheesecake!

The First Ithaca Artists Market was well received, and was planned to coincide with a number of other fabulous holiday events, including another first, the First Ithaca Chowder Cook-Off, and the well-loved Ithaca Ice Wars, a very popular ice-carving competition where nothing is spared! The Ithaca Ballet's presentation of "The Nutcracker" was the performing arts draw, and a number of art boutiques were offering special hours or tours, or special pricing just for the holidays. Something for everyone, and I hope you were able to take advantage of it - if not, we'll hope to see you DOWNTOWN, NEXT YEAR!!

For "The Short Report by Santos", this is Agent Santos reporting!

It is a cold cold night in Ithaca NY, with snow flurries expected this evening, and a week of 20s!

Watch for the Full Lunar Eclipse tomorrow night!

Christmas Trees for (Almost) Free in Ithaca, NY - at Greensprings Natural Cemetery

Please don't get the wrong idea here folks, cemeterys are not the usual real estate blog post topic; or when they are, they are the butt of bad jokes.

But this is for real, you can find and cut for yourself, a lovely Norway Spruce tree, and have it loaded on a horse drawn cart to be taken to your car in the parking lot, this Saturday from 11 am - 2pm at Greensprings Natural Cemetery. Their website "naturalburial.org" can give you a bit more background on them and what they are about. To be honest, I had never heard of them before seeing the small blurb in the Ithaca Jornal about their tree cutting day, but of course, it makes sense - they promote the use of natural decomposing materials, when making burial arrangements for a loved one. Seems like a great idea to me, I was figuring on cremation myself, but if I were going into the ground, I'd want to be just as useful as I try to be in life! Help a new tree grow by adding your cells to the mix ;-)

Okay, on to the details: call 564-7577 for questions and more information, or drive over to 293 Irish Hill Rd. on Saturday between 11-2pm, pick your tree and go! Donations are welcome, but not required. You will be helping them control what has now turned into an mini-invasion of this species of tree on the burial grounds, so it's a definite win-win! Plus, hot cocoa, tea and cookies? I'm sold!

Reporting from Ithaca, NY on a bright but cold winter day!

The Short Report by Santos