As someone who once lived in Yonkers, along the Hudson River, which Henry James called “the great romantic stream,” I have never forgotten the peacefulness that a long view of it instilled upon my senses as it flowed silently down to the sea.

    In southern New York the Hudson is broad and majestic, growing to its widest point thirty miles upstream in Haverstock before narrowing farther north.  The scenery throughout the Hudson Valley is extraordinary in that so much of it still looks primeval, from the Palisades to Albany. Metro-North Railroad’s Hudson line allows a consistent view of the river, but the New York Thruway runs largely west through the Adirondacks, up to Saratoga Springs. It is a town enriched by a history of wealth, health, gambling and racing, and now, thanks to the renovation of its principal historic building, The Adelphi Hotel, Saratoga Springs has never looked more charming.

    Before there was a town there were mineral springs, unseen by any white man until 1771, when a British general attributed the cure of his leg wound to the miraculous waters of High Rock Spring. After the American Revolution the area became a healthy refuge for luminaries that ranged from George Washington to Alexander Hamilton, and the first hotel opened in 1802.  The shipment of Saratoga’s restorative waters to New York City as of the 1830s made the town’s name famous, and, when swift steamboats began plying the Hudson, a gambling casino drew a new crowd to the town and the racetrack made its fortunes well into the 20th century.

    In the 19th century there were three great hotels in Saratoga Springs: the Grand Union, with 824 rooms; the United States, stretching a quarter-mile along Broadway; and The Adelphi, filigreed in Victorian gingerbread. Today, only the last survives, bought several years ago in a seriously dilapidated condition for a mere $4.5 million, then gutted and restored over five years at a cost of $40 million.  Today, its façade’s colonnade is one of the town’s most identifiable reference points.

    The result of the restoration is a carefully maintained balance of the old and the new, with hardwood and antiques used throughout, marble tables, 19th century photographs and a well-appointed library with tufted leather and velvet chairs, all putting you in mind of a place where tycoons like Diamond Jim Brady used to get away from the bustle of New York.

    But all the rooms, while evoking the ambiance of the hotel’s early incarnation, are completely modern, with complimentary refreshments and Nespresso machine, WiFi, and bathrooms as large as any at a California spa, with double-topped sink, separate tub and shower, an electronic bidet and toilet, heated floors and excellent lighting. There is also complimentary car service within a five-mile radius.

    The downstairs bar is named after a bare-knuckles fighter and congressman named John Morrissey, who was also one of the developers of the town’s first casino. Next door to the hotel is a steakhouse called Salt & Char, but the main dining room, within the hotel, is the Blue Hen, set under a spectacular skylight like a gazebo of white wood and glass.

    Chef Chris Bonnivier, who’s worked on the menus with Chef David Burke, sources provender as much as possible from the Hudson Valley and New York State, which translates into colorfully presented dishes like crispy glazed pork belly with smoked bleu cheese, blood orange, parsnips and pickled chilies ($15); a wintry kabochka squash bisque with cranberry gelée, sage and roasted pumpkin seeds ($12); classically executed lamb crêpinette (below) with cabbage puree, spiced carrots, curried eggplant mostarda and butter-poached turnip ($44); veal tenderloin with cornmeal puree, sunchokes and caramelized parsnips ($42); roasted Brussels sprouts ($8); and a lavish and lovely Paris “tea pot de crème” with almond, chocolate and hibiscus meringue crisps ($12). 

    This is a kind of finely crafted cuisine you won’t find anywhere else in Saratoga Springs, whose Broadway is lined with bistros, pizzerias, a deli, bakeries, cafés, sandwich shops, crêperies and ice cream shops.

    My last visit was this winter, so not all of the area’s attractions were open (there’s skiing an hour away), but the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame (left) on Union Avenue is a stunning presentation of the history of equestrianism in America, with whole rooms full of jockey silks, cases of ornate silver trophies, a reproduced starting gate and superb archival footage and photos throughout.

    There is also the Saratoga Automobile Museum; the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame; and, in nearby Glenn Falls, the Hyde Collection, Art Museum and Historic House with works by Rembrandt, Picasso, Eakins and Homer. Nearby Smith College may be of interest to some, but its lay-out and architecture are curiously drab.

    A great deal of the pleasure of Saratoga Springs, on or off season, is simply to stroll up Broadway, lined with a mile or so of some of America’s most beautiful 19th century asymmetrical mansions, all in excellent shape, brightly colored, some turreted, others with widow’s walks, shingled or brick-wrapped, with bay windows of stained glass and with Gothic Revival, Queen Anne and Italianate decorative elements, not unlike a Hollywood street set for “Meet Me in St. Louis,” only very truly real.

    You may be forgiven if you confuse the vintners Marco Felluga and Livio Felluga, both of whose families came originally from Istria, made wine since the 1850s and re-settled in the northern Italian region of Friuli after World War I.

    Not until 1956 did the two families split, quite amiably, and in the mid-1970s began exporting first-rate Pinot Grigio to the U.S. at a time when the only Italian white wines Americans knew were Frascati, Verdicchio and Soave. 

    I recall vividly being amazed by the richness, complexity, and aromatics of those Felluga Pinot Grigios (pinot gris in France), but their success resulted in U.S. importers bringing in oceans of mediocre Pinot Grigios, like the way-over-priced Santa Margherita. Today there are more than 600 producers of the varietal, but the Felluga wines outpace them all for quality.

    I had occasion last month to dine in New York with Roberto Felluga, scion of Marco Felluga, whose vineyards, located in Gradisco d'Isonzo, cover 120 hectares/300 acres (either family owned or operated) in the Collio region, which has a DOC appellation. The family also owns 100 hectares/250 acres of Russiz Superiore in Capriva dei Friuli that produces Felluga’s most highly regarded wines.  The family’s operations are only 15 kilometers/9 miles from Livio Felluga’s.

    Roberto’s father, Marco, has been considered one of the most innovative vintners in Italy, a tradition carried on by Roberto, a tall, slender, bearded fellow who looks quite a bit like The Dude in The Big Lebowski and as much German as he does Italian, given that Friuli is close to the Austrian-German border.  (His daughter Ilaria is in training to join the family business.)

    “We do have a different, German tradition and approach to wines. We look for freshness and a balance of fruit and acid. Some of our wines are 100% fermented in stainless steel, but others in oak. We also produce a riserva, which is unusual for a white wine.”

    We tasted an array of Felluga’s wines, which went with a variety of dishes at Michael’s restaurant that included a bowl of farro and quinoa with pear, cranberries and fromage blanc, mushroom ravioli, grilled Dover sole and delicata squash risotto.

    A Collio Pinot Grigio Mongris 2016 Riserva ($36) is 100% Pinot Grigio, with 30% of the must fermented in oak barrels, the remainder in steel, aging for more than two years in bottle, all of which adds to the complexity and richness of this faintly copper-colored wine, so different in refinement from most Pinot Grigio sold in this country.

    The Russiz Superiore Collio Pinot Grigio 2017 ($29) is a younger wine, also 100% Pinot Grigio, from a cool microclimate and soil rich in clay and limestone. The grapes are all hand-picked in September, with 15% fermented in oak, the rest in stainless steel, then aged on the lees for eight months and a minimum of one month in bottle. The wine has an abundance of aromas, especially pear and apple, and at 13.5% alcohol a pleasing heft in the body.

    The Russiz Superiore Collio Bianco Col Disore 2013 ($40), with four years of age, is a blend of 40% Pinot Bianco, 35% Tocai Friulano, 15% Sauvignon and 10% Ribolla Gialla. In this case the wine was fermented entirely in oak barrels, aged on the lees for a year and a year in bottle. It’s a white wine that hints at the longevity of German whites, with minerality and vegetable flavors in tandem with the fruit. This was a very good wine to go with the woodsy flavors of the risotto.

Russiz Superiore Collio Pinot Bianco Riserva 2015 ($36) is made from Pinot Bianco, which often produces a fairly bland white wine.
    But Felluga picks some of the grapes in late September and lets the rest hang until October to become overripe, increasing the sugar level that turns into alcohol. It spends three years on the lees and what emerges is a golden, faintly sweet wine that is soft on the palate and rich on the finish, so that it is a perfect wine for cheeses or shellfish.

    Felluga pointed out that for a long period in the family history, more red wine was made than white, and they still make a considerable amount.  That evening we tasted the Collio Cabernet Franc 2016 ($29), macerated in stainless steel, then aged a year in barriques and six months in bottle. It is richer than many northern Cabernet Francs, which tend to be rather light and one-dimensional. 
    Today 40% of Felluga’s wines are exported, and there have even been forays into the Chinese market. Fortunately, with limited acreage, quality hangs on attention to detail, which Felluga has made a hallmark now for six generations.

NEXT MONTH'S THEME:
THE HANDMAID'S TALE

The Milleridge Inn in Jericho. NY,  will “transform into scenes from the Netflix blockbuster Bird Box as hundreds of local residents blindfold themselves and eat a meal to reenact the iconic scenes of the movie.” Diners will, as in the movie, not utter a word throughout the entire dinner, during which music, bird sounds, and rushing water sounds from the film will play. Eventually, they’ll be allowed to enter “the birdhouse,”  where they can take off their blindfolds “without fearing the monsters.”