Wine Travel Guide: The Finger Lakes, NY

We’re going domestic this week. While we sit at home in quarantine dreaming of wine travels in lands far, far away, it felt nice to bring things a little closer to home. So let’s take a trip over to the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York. Outside of California, New York is arguably one of the better known and more reputable wine growing regions in the U.S. and that’s in large part thanks to the Finger Lakes. 

The region is home to 11 different crazyyyyy deep glacial lakes that kind of remind me of Wolverine’s claws when you look at an aerial. Deep bodies of water like this retain heat in the cooler winter months and warm the air around them, which naturally extends the length of the growing season later into the fall. The scenery is beautiful with loads of lakeside wineries, waterfalls, and nature trails to explore. There are more than 150 wineries in the area, so you’re in good hands.

The wine

Wineries in the Finger Lakes are best known for Riesling. This is a grape that likes climates like the Finger Lakes where you can harvest late in the year and where the grapes can hang out in dry, sunny conditions in the cooler months. Riesling is most widely known to be a sweet, aromatic white wine, but in our humble opinion, many of the best expressions are dry (not sweet) or off dry variations. The good news is that there are a boatload of these styles produced in this area. Beyond Riesling, they also produce a lot of other varieties in the region including Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, and Chardonnay.

Where to stay

When I visited a few years back, we stayed near Seneca Lake. It was a surprise trip for my birthday. Taylor, my boyfriend (now fiancé) got MAJOR brownie points and surprised me with the whole thing. We stayed at the sweetest little bed and breakfast on a farm near Seneca Lake, right outside Geneva, called The North Farm. It’s a 19th century farmhouse and perfectly located to explore the wine trail. If there are just two of you, I can’t recommend this spot enough. Quick 5 minute drive to Geneva  and great access to a lot of wineries on the lake. If you’ve got a bigger group, I’d recommend focusing your efforts on finding a place around Geneva so you can hop back and forth between wineries and the city.

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What to do

• Eat at F.L.X. Table. Okay, guys. This is an EXPERIENCE for a lifetime. F.L.X. table is a 14-top, one table restaurant located in a house right in Geneva. There are two seatings each night and unless you’re a group of 14, you’re getting sat with some perfect strangers. They curate and cook an incredible meal right in front of you – the kitchen is just like a kitchen at home, so it’s incredibly intimate and you can talk to the chef throughout the meal. Go for the premium wine pairing. We got to try some vino from 1973, which is the same year my mom graduated high school. 
• Check out Watkins Glen. Candidly this was mostly closed when we were there since it was the offseason, but this is a beautiful state park with a massive gorge and 19 waterfalls. Seemed like it would be a bumping spot in the summertime. 
• Bar Crawl Geneva. Geneva is such a quaint little city, but has some great nightlife. We loved The Linden Social Club (amazing cocktails!) and the Microclimate Wine Bar. Wandered into the latter on a cool evening and they had the door propped open with a jazz band playing in the corner. Great wine selection.

6 Wineries to Visit in the Finger Lakes

Note that because of how the lakes cut through the landscape, it can be a bit of a hike to go from one lake to the next. We opted to focus in on the Seneca Wine Trail and hired a driver one of the days so that we could turn it up a bit.

• Lamoreaux Landing: I loved the range of wines here – great Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and of course Rieslings. It has a nice wood paneled tasting room with beautiful views of Seneca Lake. If you like to get nerdy over agriculture, they have fun 3D maps of the lakes that show you how many different soil types there are in the region – this plays a big part in what kinds of wines do well here! Also, there was a puppy there, so that’s all ya need. I found the staff to be really kind and knowledgable.
• Hermann J. Wiemer: In addition to hitting small producers, I always like to go to one or two more well known producers that I can more easily find at home. Hermann J. Wiemer fits that bill – they pump out some beautiful aromatic Rieslings. The tasting room is in a stunning old barn and felt super intimate. Would reco an appointment.
• Forge Cellars: Lovely terroir-driven, handcrafted wines. They don’t fine or filter their red wines. The Rieslings are all dry. These guys care a lot about their craft and the product shows it. Again, super intimate scene here – they only allow 10 people – so definitely make a booking.
• Fox Run Vineyards: A no frills spot with a cute little cafe. Recommend grabbing a bottle of wine, a sandwich, and popping out onto their deck for a quick lunchtime stop. 
• Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery: The granddaddy of wineries in the Finger Lakes. Admittedly didn’t hit this one in person, but it feels like part of the bucket list for a Finger Lakes trip. Also a great one to hunt down at home to give yourself a taste of the region.
• Three Brothers Winery: If you’re looking for a bigger party scene – check their events calendar and pop on over for a glass or two. Fun retro decor.

Have you been to the Finger Lakes? Where else would you recommend?