As you all know when I’m not traveling to different states or countries, I like to keep it local. All of my wine tasting experiences have been on Seneca Lake which is the biggest of the Finger Lakes in Western New York. There are so many wineries and breweries around that lake that you literally can only do 1/4-1/3 of the lake at a time if you are tasting at each stop.
Keuka Lake is kind of shaped like a crooked Y and is only about a hour south of Rochester. You can accomplish tasting almost the entire lake in a day. This also depends on how busy the wineries and breweries are. Winter isn’t the busiest tasting time so at times we were very spoiled and had a lot of one on one treatment. Below I’m going to share some photos of each winery, link their site and tell you some of my favorites.
Keuka Springs Vineyards*
*Favorite Wine-Celebrate R.S. 2.5%
Rooster Hill Winery
*Favorite Wine-Keuka Sunrise
Barrington Cellars
*I loved everything I had here- Frosty Niagara, Buzzard’s Peach, Vidal Blanc, Pink Cat and Isa Berry
MacGregor’s Vineyards*
Favorite- Chardonnay 2013, (this top came with samples of crackers, chocolate, cheese and, pesto)
Bully Hill Vineyards
Favorite-Ravat 51 (runners up: Sweet Walter Rose and Sweet Walter Red)
Dr. Konstantin Frank Vineyards
Favorite-Semi Dry Riesling 2015
Heron Hill Winery*
Favorite-Semi Dry Riesling
Stever Hill Vineyards
Favorite-Stever’s Red (did the wine and chocolate pairing)
Hunt Country Vineyards*
Favorite-Moscato
Vineyard View*
Favorite-Folts Family Red
This truly is an amazing trail. There were a few wineries that were not open for the season yet and two that we couldn’t get to. The two we couldn’t get to on the passport were Point of the Bluff and Ravines. Our passports are still good for the year though so we will definitely be heading back to this trail. There are a few wineries that we went to that were not on the “official” trail and that is fine. The trail is a membership so not everyone chooses to be a part of it.
Wine tasting is definitely something that can be done in almost all seasons. The Finger Lakes are beautiful year round. Make sure when you are wine tasting you have a designated driver and are drinking water in between. Wine headaches are the absolute worst and are totally preventable.
Check out the links below and please let me know if you have any questions! Have a great day everyone!
Periscope/Twitter and Instagram @haleewithaflair
This company does a map that is available at most of the wineries. They include breweries, local restaurants, cheese stops and more: http://www.wineandbeerjunky.com/?s=finger+lakes+map
*Keuka Lake Wine Trail Passport http://www.keukawinetrail.com/?method=pages.showPage&PageID=4900D4D1-FDF9-1B8A-A76B-CA7C9D24FE98&originalMarketingURL=Passport
