Meet Brian McKenzie of Finger Lakes Distillery on a special program in anticipation of the 2013 Manhattan Cocktail Classic. The Finger Lakes Distilling story begins in 2007, when Brian McKenzie of Elmira, N.Y., met Thomas Earl McKenzie of Monroeville, Ala., at a craft distiller's conference. The two men aren't related, but they did discover they shared a passion for high-quality, distilled spirits. Brian, a former bank vice-president, had experience in finance and was interested in starting his own business. Thomas Earl's background included wine-making, brewing, farming and consulting for distilleries. It was a fateful meeting - and a great match of talents to start a new distillery. Today, they are well on their way to realizing a dream of working with good friends and family to create products they can offer with pride. This program was sponsored by Rt 11 Potato Chips

"The idea was to create a distillery in a growing wine region, so we're seeing a ton of tourists come through the area to taste the wines and several of those people are also spirits drinkers so we're trying to cater to that market." [01:00]

--Brian McKenzie of Finger Lakes Distillery on HeritageRadioNetwork.org

This week on At the Root of It Erin took a look at the myriad of wineries situated in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Justin Christoph stopped by to drop Finger Lakes science, giving listeners the scoop on everything from the varietals currently in style upstate to the best B&Bs to stay at while touring the vineyards. This episode was sponsored by Tekserve: your one-stop Mac superstore and support center.

On this week's Hot Grease, Nicole Taylor is talking dessert and Finger Lakes riesling. But first, Nicole Taylor discusses the NYC soda ban with HRN's own Jack Inslee. Will the ban really slow the obesity epidemic in the city's youth? David Muniz and David Lesniak of London's Outsider Tart are on the program talking about their new book Piece of Cake: Home Baking Made Simple. Learn some British pastry language, and hear why the Davids have been so successful bringing American desserts across the pond. Hear how their American regional influences helped define their sweet tooth, and hear what Southern desserts are featured in the book. Later, Nicole chats with Brandon Seager of Red Newt Cellars about the wine terroir of New York's Finger Lakes region. Learn more about the New York Finger Lakes Riesling Launch, and why it's not only important to eat local, but drink local! This episode has been brought to you by The Heritage Meat Shop.

"Dessert should not be a polite activity. There should be a lot of crumbs and grunting." -- David Lesniak on Hot Grease

"We've always had local beer... but there has been a resistance to local wine. One of the beautiful things about New York City is that you have the whole wine world at your fingertips. People don't think that if they're eating local food that they need to drink local wine." -- Brandon Seager on Hot Grease