Video: New York 'Housewife' Signs Pinot Grigio Bottles at Cross River Wines

Ramona Singer, star of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City, visited Cross River Wine Merchant Tuesday afternoon for a meet and greet with her fans, and to sign bottles of her own branded white wine.

Store owner Mike Novak organized the event after he began carrying Ramona Singer-branded pinot grigio a few months ago. When he heard she was available for tastings, he reached out to the distributor, New Jersey-based Opici Wines, and set the date.

Singer arrived around just after 4:30 p.m. looking the part of a glamorous New York City housewife, wearing a tailored red shift dress, a gold pendant necklace and matching hoop earrings.

Her fans—the first ones to arrive had been waiting patiently for at least 30 minutes—greeted her warmly with cheers and applause.

The crowd, mostly women and girls teenaged through middle-aged, from towns throughout Westchester County, waited in turn for a chance to meet her and have her sign their bottle of Ramona Singer-branded Pinot Grigio. Jill Jones, a Waccabuc resident and cheesemaker who owns Crowley Cheese in Vermont, served raw cow's milk cheeses to complement the wine, which Novak described as crisp and dry. 

"I like a lot of white wines," Singer said. "But I love the lightness of Pinot Grigio, and what I've achieved here is 'light with no bite,'" she said.

Novak, who's been selling small, family-produced wines in town since 2004, added a philanthropic angle to the promotion, designating one dollar from every bottle of Ramona Singer wine sold to go toward . He also arranged for a private visit with the Cunniffe family of South Salem. John Cunniffe, a former John Jay lacrosse player and youth lacrosse coach, was diagnosed with ALS one year ago. "They're a wonderful family," Singer said of the visit.

Click on the video for highlights of the wine tasting and bottle signing.

For more information on Outreach ALS, click here.

Thanks for reading. Like Patch? You can "like" us on Facebook here and follow us on Twitter  here.