Finger Lakes Region

We plan a June visit, to tour and taste. Any info on wineries or specific wines to look for would be a great help in laying out the trip. Haven't had much NY wine, but understand some is high quality; hope to bring back a bit to enjoy.
Thanks to everyone on the Forum for your help.

Its been years since I was last there so hopefully you will get some responses from those whose knowledge is more current. If you have only one day I would build a trip around Wiemer on the west side of Seneca Lake.

[James Roscoe]

It definitely depends on the time you are giving over to wine. Hopefully Mr. Hart will weigh in on this subject.

[David M. Bueker]

Its been years since I was last there so hopefully you will get some responses from those whose knowledge is more current. If you have only one day I would build a trip around Wiemer on the west side of Seneca Lake.

I second that motion!

By June you should be able to get a good selection of 2010 whites. Last year was excellent for ripening grapes. In fact, some of the whites may even be a bit on the "soft" side, with lower than usual acid levels. For a pleasant surprise, I'd recommend Vignoles - either late harvest or ice wine. I believe it will end up being a stellar year for reds in the region (Cab Franc and Pinot Noir), but I doubt if many will be bottled as early as June and they will need some time to mature.

Howie, myself and others have posted various notes on FL wines and wineries, so you might want to do a search to review what has been written. What sort of wines do you like and where do you plan to stay? Also, as a general tip, I would avoid weekends if you are mostly interested in tasting wine and not fighting crowds.

Thanks for the responses, all. We will spend three nights in Corning and three near Seneca Lake (the name escapes me right now). We like both red and white wines, prefer drier whites, but understand that the region is known for riesling, so are open to that. Like cabs, merlots...not too picky, just don't care for the "fruit flavored" wines that really don't taste like wine, but more like pop.
We don't mind driving, and plan to spit a lot.
Thanks again.

There are a number of excellent wineries with a wide selection of white and red wines on the west shore of Seneca. They include Glenora (also a great place to eat), Weimer, Anthony Road, and Fox Run (also a place to eat). You can find top drawer Riesling including Dry Riesling at all locations, and Fox Run makes excellent Cab Franc and Lemberger.

Is Shalestone still worth a stop? I remember a few nice wines they made in the mid-late 1990s that even aged rather well.

i like sheldrake; and believe it or not, hazlett has very nice varietal wines in addition to the sweet plonk.

Is Shalestone still worth a stop? I remember a few nice wines they made in the mid-late 1990s that even aged rather well.

Yup, Shalestone and Rob Thomas are still going strong. Small, and shorter hours than the big boys, and still persuing their "reds only" philosophy. I picked up a couple 2007s (a good growing season for reds) on my last visit - most everything I tasted was pretty tannic but seemed to have the stuffing to age.

Marlyne -

I haven't been to the Finger Lakes for four years, but will definitely concur on Wiemer. Another Seneca Lake winery that I really enjoyed visiting back then, which nobody has mentioned yet, is Bloomer Creek.

If you end up around Keuka Lake, Dr. Konstantin Frank is a "must-visit" producer in my opinion.

I would like to add Catherine Valley Winery on the east side of Seneca Lake. They have a limited number of wines, which are very nice and Don and Jessica Kilcoyne, the owners are some great folks. Nice Cab Franc.

We were in the Finger Lakes region last July for a few days. While I was not bowled over by the wines it is certainly a region I will be following esp for its Rieslings. I would suggest looking at the Finger Lakes Wine Country web site as it’s a good resource. We came into NY from Niagara and our first stop was the New York Wine and Culinary Center where we had an excellent lunch and our first try of Finger Lakes wines. We also spent some time in their tasting room which was instructive even if the wines were less impressive that those we selected for lunch. Over the next few days we visited a number of wineries and I would recommend Wiemer, Dr. Konstantin Frank, and Ravines for whites; I was not impressed with the reds but we did not them seek out. Also worth a look are Heron Hill (at Keuka Lake), Hosmer and Thirsty Owl. We even visited Bully Hill where the wines are not that exciting but the tasting experience was fun. By the time we got to the July 4th family reunion we had about three dozen bottles most of which went very quickly during the festivities, the rest came back to San Diego. A must is The Corning Museum of Glass which one of our group (born in Albany) wanted to revisit. The day there was the highlight of our trip.

Mike

Glenora Wine Cellars on Lake Seneca also produces sparkling wines.

OK, here is my quick list of favorites, broken down by location, east to west:

Cayuga, east side:
Heart and Hands (out of the way, but if you like Pinot, do not miss)
Treleaven (mostly for the whites)

Cayuga, west side:
Sheldrake Point (just drank their '08 Riesling - delightful)
Thirsty Owl (corny looking labels, but some nice wines)
Hosmer (well priced, tasty wines. Beware of the synthetic stoppers for keeping)

Seneca, east side (probably the highest concentration of interesting places):
Atwater (great view, improving quality)
Damiani (some good reds here)
Bloomer Creek (trying some interesting things, small production)
Red Newt (solid lineup, silly pricing on some single vineyard wines. This isn't CA)
Standing Stone (good location for reds and always a decent gewurz)
Shalestone (reds only, small, hands on)
Silver Thread (weekends only, off the beaten path. Organic, artisanal)
Lamoreaux Landing (wide range, mostly good)

Seneca, west side:
Lakewood (homey place making some nice wines)
Shaw (hands on, good vineyards, some hits and misses)
Wiemer (very good rieslings, gewurz. Reds improving. A can't miss for wine lovers.)
Anthony Road (very nice rieslings and vignoles. Talented winemaker)
Red Tail Ridge (newish place with serious investment, gets better every year. New LEED certified winery)

Keuka, east side:
Ravines (very solid wines for the enthusiast)
Keuka Springs (if you are in the area for Ravines, this might be worth a stop)

Keuka, west side:
Dr. Frank (wide range, with maybe the best sparklers in the region)
Heron Hill (the Ingle Vineyard wines are usually very good and IIRC, organic)
Keuka Lake Vineyards (my favorite stop last year - idosyncratic wide range of vineyard designated vignoles and riesling).

I'm sure I left a few worthy places out, but this should get you going. For food, the region is quite rural so the choices can be limited. Your best bet is the south east shore of Seneca, where you can get a nice meal at Dano's, Red Newt or Stonecat Cafe.
Also in that stretch is a fine dining place called Suzanne's, which only serves dinner (reservations needed), with a focus on locavore ingredients; I've not had the chance to try it.

Great list, Joe. I've never made it to the east side of Cayuga, though I've bought Treleaven's Riesling in a few vintages. I'll have to try Hearts and Hands.