Winery Animals

One of the things I love about visiting wineries is meeting the winery animals. So many of these places have pets that enjoy meeting the visitors...or at least tolerate them. There are winery dogs, winery cats, some wineries have dogs and cats, Swedish Hill even has a donkey! After a few years of meeting them, I decided to start taking their pictures. Hmmm. That would make a great book. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that someone beat me to the punch. Sure enough there's a book-Winery Dogs of New York. They don't cover all of the wineries, or even all of the dogs...and there needs to be a Winery Cats of New York. Heck, Marjim Manor has 7 all on its own! At any rate, on the Keuka trail yesterday I met 4 winery dogs, Xena from Barrington Cellars, Max from McGregor Vineyard, Poncho from Yates Cellars, and Hedy at Hunt Country Vineyards. Max and Hedy vanished before I could get photos-but I was able to grab a shot of Poncho and Xena. Max is the only one of the bunch that is in the book. Hunt Country does have a spread, but Hedy isn't pictured. Sadly, Gus, one of the dogs mentioned crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Like Gus, Heddy is a Bernese Mountain Dog and is the official greeter. Aside from the fact that I enjoy their wines, I also love the fact that they support many animal causes. Hedy was adopted from a local rescue, there is an annual walk among the grapes to benefit the Yates County Humane Society, and they also donate a portion of proceeds of their wine Sweet Gus to the Shelter of Hope of the Humane Society of Yates County. So, when you go for that wine tasting, don't forget to keep an eye out for your furry hosts!