Several of the wineries in New York’s Hudson River Valley and Catskills Wine Regions use the word “bucolic” to describe their setting. To many the word conjures images that are pastoral and serene. I have trouble with the word though. For me it is a bit too close to the word “bubonic” which calls to mind deadly images and population reduction.

We visited two wineries on a rainy day, and our second day a fog hung to the surface until late morning. The bucolic setting was diminished by the weather as well as the season. In early spring most of the plant world was still asleep. The grapevines haven’t begun to weep and just a few trees are beginning to show a faint color of buds swelling. Still the view of the distant rolling hills from Demarist Winery, were pastoral. The fog just began to lift revealing the white cliffs as seen from the deck of the tasting room at Whitecliff Vineyards. One can catch a glimpse of the Hudson River from Benmarl Winery.

Small towns dot the area that seems rather forested. Although the black dirt farms in Warwick provided a contrast to the browns even on a dreary day. Interstate road interchanges see much of the same urban sprawl as seen elsewhere in the country near interstates. My image of the word “bucolic” is probably clouded by the image conjured by Washington Irving’s description of Sleeping Hollow. I didn’t get a sense of this image as we traveled the interstates and country roads searching for the wineries. Perhaps another season and clearer weather can provide a bucolic setting. Do you know of wineries in a bucolic setting?