Last Saturday was the grand opening of a new winery in New York's Niagara Region. Freedom Run Winery in Cambria, NY offered up an Asado Argentine-style barbecue consisting of roast duck, lamb, and steamship rounds of beef to more than 1,000 guests. Eleven varieties of wine were available for tasting.

One unique service that Freedom Run offers is the Private Barrel Club, a personalized wine-buying program. The program allows its participants to choose their own type and style of wine, place it in a French oak barrel, and be involved in many of the winemaking decisions. Barrel owners will also participate in the bottling process, and can even select their own signature bottle and label. If this sounds interesting to you, but you're not sure you need an entire barrel (which is equivalent to about 300 bottles), you might consider going in on a barrel with friends or family members.

Freedom Run seems to be off to a good start. At the 2007 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, their 2005 Semi-dry Riesling and 2005 Catawba both took Silver medals and their 2005 Chardonnay took a Bronze medal.

For more information about the winery and its wines, the Private Barrel Club, visit www.freedomrunwinery.com.