Best wines in the Finger Lakes, New York, USA
We're planning a road trip through the Finger Lakes of New York, and one of the things we'd like to do is check out a few wineries. Any suggestions as to which are the best, give the best tastings? Give free tastings? Serve food worth eating along with the wine? I'm the wino in the family, my wfe is going along to keep me happy, so wine tasting isn't going to be the focus of our trip, which means that I'd like to make sure that the wineries we visit will give us a really good experience.
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Hey Bachman1953;
I sent this along to a similar thread elsewhere two months ago, but I read it over and everything is still completely up to date. In terms of wineries to visit that have appeal to non-wine drinkers, I can at least say that Fox Run Vineyards (full disclosure, see start of next paragraph) offers extremely popular tours on the hour from 10am-4pm each day that last 1/2 hour and show you the vines plus the winery. Just down the road at Anthony Road, they have a really cool garden with various plants that display potential characteristics of various grape varieties.
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Full disclosure, I'm the junior winemaker up in the Finger Lakes. On one hand this means I can be a bit biased, but on the other hand it means I have a pretty decent handle on the winery scene around the lake. My suggestions for you or anyone coming our way would be (just off the top of my head, apologies to anyone I am forgetting):
Cayuga Lake:
- Heart and Hands Winery: On the east side of Cayuga Lake, absolutely worth finding (they are open on the weekends). Just starting up, they only make pinot noir, riesling, and sparkling. All are brilliant.
- Sheldrake Point: West side of Cayuga Lake, great selection of whites, reds, and icewine that are all very well made.
West Coast of Seneca (North to South):
- Billsboro: Most boutique-style winery in the lakes, interesting grapes for the region (Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris) with a well known rosé.
- Fox Run Vineyards: Steely rieslings and great dry reds that are true to the variety rather than jam-bombs.
- Red Tail Ridge: First LEED certified winery in NY, also happens to be a facility that has invested more in their vine plantings than anyone else since they started in 2004. Nice sparkling wine here worth seeking out.
- Anthony Road Wine Company: German winemaker excels at rieslings and traditional berry-selection botrytis wines in years where possible.
- Heron Hill: Stunning location on Keuka Lake, but also an outpost on the west coast of Seneca Lake.
- Hermann Wiemer: The new owner/winemaker is doing great things with their full range of rieslings, but the sparkling are among the most serious in the Finger Lakes.
- Glenora Cellars: Rather large production, but the '09 Riesling is stunning.
East Coast of Seneca Lake (South to North):
- Atwater Vineyards: Same winemaker as at Billsboro at a slightly higher production level; fantastic rieslings and gewurztraminer the last time I was there. Very nice syrah also made only in the best of years.
- Red Newt: Great single vineyard wines from premier growers around Seneca Lake's "banana belt" (southeast slopes). Known for their touch with reds, but rieslings and gewurztraminers often deserve as much or more attention.
- Damiani Cellars: They have recently changed their tasting room from the garage that Mayan accurately referenced to a very nice house. Red wine specialist (to say the least).
- Zugibe: New estate winery that has had plantings in the ground for quite a few years, now the brothers in charge are making elegant vinifera white and red wines.
Keuka Lake:
- Ravines Wine Cellars: Beautiful view from the tasting room is eclipsed by the focus and quality of the wines here.
- Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars: Getting ever larger and larger, still making very satisfying wines.
- Heron Hill: Stunning location on Keuka Lake, but also an outpost on the west coast of Seneca Lake.
Miscellaneous:
- Finger Lakes Distillery: East Coast of Seneca, great small production distillery making a fantastic gin, clear corn whiskey, rye, and a couple of stunning liqueres.
- Red Dove: If you're looking for a great gastropub meal in a laid back setting, this place is hands down the best bet in the Finger Lakes. It's up in Geneva.
- Union Block Italian Bistro: Down in Hammondsport this new bistro can be a bit hit or miss, but is mostly hit and finally brings more authentic italian cooking to the Finger Lakes.
- Ithaca Farmers Market: This is the real deal; featuring the most eclectic and fantastic produce, meat producers, food vendors, and artisans you'll likely ever see collected in one place.
Hope this is helpful!
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I recently listed some of my favorite wineries in this thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/724814
Regarding food at wineries, I've had nice meals at Knapp and Sheldrake Point (Cayuga Lake); Glenora, Red Newt, and Stone Cat Cafe/Bloomer Creek Winery (all on Seneca). Other restaurants worth trying are Village Inn in Hammondsport (Keuka Lake) and Ports Cafe in Geneva (Seneca Lake). Lots of wineries have gift shops and some offer snacks like local cheese.
Relaxing places to sit with beautiful views at Atwater and Chateau Lafayette (Seneca), Goose Watch (Cayuga) and Heron Hill (Keuka). There's a nice little flower garden at Lucas (Cayuga).
Outside of wine drinking, the hike up Watkins Glen's gorge is well worth it, as is the easy walk to Taughannock Falls.
I'm headed there for my annual trip in a week and am pretty keyed up for it, as you can probably tell.
