Cayuga, Seneca Wine Trail Host Winter Party

Events where people can hop from one winery on the Cayuga Wine Trail to the next for a day or weekend aren’t out of the ordinary. But an event that doesn’t require a ticket and includes wineries on the Cayuga Trail, the Seneca Wine Trail and vineyards not affiliated with either trail only happens once a year. The seventh annual Between the Lakes Winter Wine Party will be held from 11 am until 5 pm on January 10.

The party is partly the brainchild of Kip Kalfs, manager of the tasting room at Sheldrake Point Vineyard, and isn’t an official Cayuga Wine Trail event.

“It started about seven years ago when me and the former manager at Knapp Winery were talking and saying that there’s nothing [in the winter] to let the people know that we’re still open and the wineries still exist,” he said.

The party now features 31 wineries along Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. Kalfs said every winery between Ventosa Vineyards and Atwater Estate Vineyards on the Seneca Trail and between Montezuma Winery and Americana Vineyards on Cayuga is participating this year.

Romulus Bans Puppy Mills

The Town of Romulus passed a moratorium banning the building or expansion of large-scale commercial breeding facilities, which are notorious for breeding sick and poorly socialized dogs. Since then, the town has received congratulations from several humane associations for its efforts and has formed a sub-committee to lay out the final ruling on breeding facilities.

David Kaiser, Town of Romulus supervisor, said the town has gotten “pats on the back” from the New York State Humane Association Legislation Committee and from Animal Rights Mobilization.

“These dog breeding facilities have been known to lead to all sorts of problems with their puppies,” he said. “[The organizations] were just commending the town for their sensitivity to large scale breeding.”