Finger Lake Wines?

I will be up in the Finger Lakes area periodically over the next four years. Unfortunately, very few NY state wines are available to me locally, so my knowledge of these wines is quite limited.

Any guidance on wines, wineries, places to stay and places to visit would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

G

A good place to start and set up your adventures is the Glenora Winery and Inn (http://www.glenora.com). There are many other great places in the neighborhood including Weimer and Anthony Road.

Greg,
The Finger Lakes are loaded with good to great wineries. If you have 4 years worth of trips to explore the region, I'd hit all of Keuka and Seneca Lakes several times. South East Seneca Lake has some great wineries including:Red Newt, Chateau Lafayette Reneau, Atwater, Wagner, Standing Stone, Lameoreaux Landing, Hazlitt, Silver Springs, Silver Thread (Organic) all within a short drive of eachother. Chateau Lafayette Reneau has a nice B&B and is centrally located.
Ed

Dr. Frank no longer comes up on the short list?

Dr Frank should be on any short list (GREAT wines as well as history) but the concentration of wineries on Seneca is a better (in my opinion) starting point.

Here is a link to Peter May's tour of the Finger Lakes from 2003. It is a great report.
http://www.wineloverspage.com/reports/ny2003.phtml

[James Roscoe]

The best option is to offer to meet Ed Draves for dinner and see if he can hook you up. The tour he took the Niagara Cool people on last June was very special. I will always remember it as a great day!

Thanks all. This is VERY helpful and will get me started. The folks on this forum are a valuable and appreciated source of information.

G

Thanks all. This is VERY helpful and will get me started. The folks on this forum are a valuable and appreciated source of information.

G

Greg,

Take Ed's advice. He knows the wines well.

Pick one lake at a time. In fact, on Seneca and Keuka, pick one side of the lake at a time. It's incredible how much driving time it can take to travel to the wineries in this region, which, at about 5,000 square miles, makes it the largest region in the state--and there are no causeways or bridges to get you from lake to lake; you must go north and south to travel east and west!!!

I live at Keuka, so email when that lake is on your schedule.

Incidentally, Hamilton is more than to 2 hours from Keuka Lake.

The west side of Cayuga Lake can be combined with the south east side of Seneca into an interesting tour. Hosmer's on Cayuga is one not to be missed. Their '07 Dry Riesling is exceptional and truly dry at .07 RS. Sheldrake also makes some very good wines. Try their Pinot Noir.

I like Dan's idea of hitting the west side of Cayuga and the east side of Seneca, especially if you are coming from Hamilton. If you want to eat while doing tastings, Dano's, Stone Cate Cafe and Red Newt are good choices on the east side of Seneca. Personally, I would avoid the inn at Glenora because there are a lot of nice old B&Bs in some of the towns, Trumansburg has several nice ones and is a very pleasant little place (Butternut Cafe on the main drag is supposed to be very good and the bar a few doors north from the Rongovian Embassy has a some nice craft beers if you tire of wine. Also a branch of Gimme! Coffee).

Enjoy,
Joe

The west side of Cayuga Lake can be combined with the south east side of Seneca into an interesting tour. Hosmer's on Cayuga is one not to be missed. Their '07 Dry Riesling is exceptional and truly dry at .07 RS. Sheldrake also makes some very good wines. Try their Pinot Noir.

And Sheldrake Vineyards includes a nice little bistro at the winery called Simply Red Bistro. I recently worked with the chef on her book, which comes out the end of this month. Her Monday night menu combines her South African roots with her days living in the US South. Quite fun and quite a pairing with Sheldrake wines.

Thanks for the additional suggestions. My first trip up there will probably be at the end of August. I should book some rooms soon.

G

Greg..I noticed several references to Hamilton so I assume you will be coming from the East..You might also want to take a look at a Finger Lake closer to you..The first winery on Skaneateles Lake opened recently and is open for tastings as well..Have not been there as yet but there was a nice article about them in the Syracuse newspaper..Anyela's Vineyard is located on the west side of the lake on Rt 41A,overlooking the lake
phone # 315 685 3797..Skaneateles is a charming little town and an easy day trip from Hamilton

no connection to Anyela's financial or otherwise and have not tasted their wines as yet.....
FYI...
Ed Draves is a very savvy retailer in western NY,Thomas Pellechia is located in the Finger Lakes,has been a winemaker,retailer and educator over the years..Joe Moryl was my Finger Lakes Guru when I first started touring the Finger Lakes..They are all very reliable sources of info re wines in general and Finger Lakes wines in particular..just my two cents!


If you go to Dr Frank, get there early as it tends to get crowded..the crossover from eastern Seneca to western Cayuga is pretty easy to do..Glenora is a pretty place to have lunch,nice restaurant with great view..Not sure if I remember correctly but I think Sheldrake's restaurant closes pretty early so if you want lunch there,don't dawdle..

Stone Kat is eclectic and fun place to eat..Restaurant at Wagner fine ,even if the wines aren't

friendliest tasting rooms on Keuka probably Dr Frank(but get there early),Macgregor,Hunt Country..I didn't care for the attitude at Ravines

Ithaca has some terrific places to eat and Northside has one of the best selections of Finger Lakes wines if you go shopping..their selection from rest of the world ain't bad either!!

Dano's has excellent reputation tho I haven't eaten there yet..
coupla places off the radar on Seneca that you might like are Silver Springs and Damiani, not far from each other at south east end of lake...be sure to spend some time with John Z, the winemaker/owner of Silver Springs..Big.bold reds tho these grapes are sourced from Long Island, not Finger Lakes..his icewine is wonderful..

You haven't said anything about what type wines you like and don't like

keep an open mind and taste broadly and most of all, ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to thank all of you for your suggestions, especially Ed Draves. We had a very nice experience in the Finger Lakes thanks to your suggestions.

I managed to stop in at two wineries, both on Keuka Lake, Dr. Franks and Ravines. I did some tasting there and brought back some bottles.

Last night, I opened a bottle of the Ravines 2007 pinot gris (small boutique winery, 45 cases of the pinot gris made in 2007) and drank it with linguine and an heirloom tomato, garlic, olive oil, basil and a mix of three fresh hot peppers sauce. This wine was a full flavored pinot gris whose slight off dry character married well with the heat from the peppers and its citrus flavors complemented the ripe tomatoes. It has a long finish for a pinot gris and is a pleasant bottle with food. More notes to follow on the other wines as I open them.

Thanks again!

By the way, we stayed at a place called the Esperanza and it has a beautiful view of the lake from the bluff.