Among Some of the Most Beautiful Vineyards in the World, These Are the Best Wineries in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York for a Weekend Getaway From Manhattan or Boston
WRITTEN BY 5 REASONS TO VISIT® EDITORIAL STAFF
PUBLISHED JUNE 2023 • 5 min read
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Nestled in Central New York between the Catskill Mountains and Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes AVA takes its name from a collection of eleven spindly bodies of water that affect the area’s climate and terroir, turning it into a prime location for prestige winemaking. Fans of Riesling (a light and fragrant white wine originating in Germany’s Rhine Valley) already know that the Finger Lakes are a famous hotspot for New World Riesling growth and production.
The Finger Lakes wineries in Upstate New York are among the most beautiful and critically acclaimed wineries in the country. If you’re planning a visit to this area, you’ll certainly want to add these unforgettable wineries to your list of places to see and do.
Seneca Lake (Watkins Glen, NY)
With its reputation for world class, powerful Rieslings; crunchy, joyful red wines; and an experimental wine program that stretches from Sekts to Sherries—Red Newt Cellars embraces spontaneous fermentations, lees contact, cold soaking, and basket pressing—these wines are designed to open up in bottle for years to come.
Red Newt Cellars offers your traditional tasting as well as their seated experience, including wines by the flight and an elegant light fare menu to compliment your wine selections—perfect way to sip back and relax.
Located on Seneca Lake’s Southwest shore, Apollo’s Praise is a vineyard that basks in the morning sun. The winery is helmed by Kelby James Russell, internationally acclaimed winemaker—honored as a Wine Enthusiast “40 Under 40 Tastemaker.”
The winery will kick off with the upcoming 2023 vintage and will produce a set of estate wines from Lahoma Vineyards fruit. Rieslings, Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, Rosé, Cabernet Franc, and a few surprises are in the works; all in the textural and long-aging style that inspires, and has defined, Russell’s winemaking.
Keuka Lake (Hammondsport, NY)
A farmstead estate winery overlooking Keuka Lake, Keuka Lake Vineyards specializes in making dry wines, including Riesling, Vignoles, Cabernet Franc, and Leon Millot. (Several of these wines have earned 90+ points from Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast).
These winemakers believe in minimal intervention winemaking—meaning the majority of the work is done in and at the vineyards, located on both the east and west sides of Keuka Lake. This process allows the winemakers to select only the best grapes from these small lots. Keuka Lake Vineyards produces only a few thousand cases per vintage—Essentially, the wines you taste at Keuka Lake Vineyards are fairly exclusive and unique!
Overlooking Keuka Lake, Point of the Bluff Vineyards will leave you in awe while you taste through their wines in a restored 1800s schoolhouse. Winemaker Mike Countryman specializes in crafting European-style wines, including ice wines which have been named “Best in the World.”
He believes great wines are made in the vineyard, which is why he works as hard growing the grapes as he does turning them into something special.
Cayuga Lake (Ithaca, NY)
Sheldrake Point Winery is named for the prominent point of land on which it sits, located on the western shore of Cayuga Lake. Operated as an orchard and dairy farm from 1850 to the mid-1980s, the 155-acre lakeshore farm lay fallow until 1997 when a small group of wine enthusiasts organized the purchase of the land and founded the winery.
Today, Sheldrake Point Winery continues the agricultural tradition with 60 acres of vineyard planted to 10 vitis vinifera varieties, which are used to make 500 cases of estate grown, produced, and bottled table and ice wines.
Hosmer Estate Winery, is home to Patrician Verona Vineyard established in 1972, comprised of the nearly 70-acres of grapes that provide Hosmer Winery with the fruit to remain a fully functioning estate winery. The vineyard surrounds the tasting room and production facility creating a picturesque setting on the western shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
The grapes include Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Lemberger, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc, among several other natives and hybrids.
Note: Some images may not depict exact location. This information was accurate when this article was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
