We just returned from a "Road Scholar" (formerly known as Elderhostel) program in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Incuded in the program were visits to 3 Finger Lakes wineries. In addition, we visited 2 wineries after the Road Scholar program. Of the 5 wineries, we enjoyed 3 but cannot recommend the other 2. The 2 wineries that did not meet expectations were staffed by servers who had no knowledge of basic winemaking.
The Finger Lakes region has over 100 wineries, making it one of the largest wine regions in the eastern United States. The region is centered around Keuka, Seneca and Cayuga Lakes which create microclimates without extreme cold in the winter but with warm breezy summer days. The area specializes in white wines such as Reisling and Gewurtztraminer as well as sparkling wines made with Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. The most successful red wines are made from Cabernet Franc.
The three wineries that we recommend include one from each lake mentioned above.
Dr. Frank Konstantin and Sons
In the early 60's, Dr Frank pioneered the growing of Vinifera grapes in this cold weather region. The winery sits above Keuka Lake with a beautiful view of the lake from the tasting room. The staff did a great job with our group of 36 people. The presentation was informative and the sample sizes were the most generous of the wineries we visited.
Lakewood Vineyards
This winery sits at the southern end of Seneca Lake, just outside Watkins Glen, NY. The winery opened in 1989 and the wines were excellent. Here is a link to a video about the winery http://senecalakewine.com/communities/wineries/lakewood-vineyards.html
Sheldrake Point Winery
We visited this winery after the conclusion of our Road Scholar program and it was clearly the best experience of our wine tour. The winery sits overlooking Cayuga Lake in Ovid, NY. The tasting room is surrounded by lovely flower gardens and the interior featured beautiful flower arrangements in both tasting areas. Our server was knowledgeable and the wines were the best that we tasted. Many of the wines were rated 90 points and above by respected wine magazines. This is a small production winery so you will not likely find the wines in your local wine shop outside of the Finger Lakes region. We agreed that all the wines were excellent but we especially liked the Gewurtztraminer. This was an intensely floral wine with surprisingly low residual sugar.
The Finger Lakes region has over 100 wineries, making it one of the largest wine regions in the eastern United States. The region is centered around Keuka, Seneca and Cayuga Lakes which create microclimates without extreme cold in the winter but with warm breezy summer days. The area specializes in white wines such as Reisling and Gewurtztraminer as well as sparkling wines made with Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. The most successful red wines are made from Cabernet Franc.
The three wineries that we recommend include one from each lake mentioned above.
Dr. Frank Konstantin and Sons
In the early 60's, Dr Frank pioneered the growing of Vinifera grapes in this cold weather region. The winery sits above Keuka Lake with a beautiful view of the lake from the tasting room. The staff did a great job with our group of 36 people. The presentation was informative and the sample sizes were the most generous of the wineries we visited.
Lakewood Vineyards
This winery sits at the southern end of Seneca Lake, just outside Watkins Glen, NY. The winery opened in 1989 and the wines were excellent. Here is a link to a video about the winery http://senecalakewine.com/communities/wineries/lakewood-vineyards.html
Sheldrake Point Winery
We visited this winery after the conclusion of our Road Scholar program and it was clearly the best experience of our wine tour. The winery sits overlooking Cayuga Lake in Ovid, NY. The tasting room is surrounded by lovely flower gardens and the interior featured beautiful flower arrangements in both tasting areas. Our server was knowledgeable and the wines were the best that we tasted. Many of the wines were rated 90 points and above by respected wine magazines. This is a small production winery so you will not likely find the wines in your local wine shop outside of the Finger Lakes region. We agreed that all the wines were excellent but we especially liked the Gewurtztraminer. This was an intensely floral wine with surprisingly low residual sugar.
Dead Soldiers
Sheldrake Gewurtztraminer
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