Recent FLX Trip Review

Quick trip March 2017

What a great trip, though I wish the weather were a little better. Didn’t dampen my experience though.

Here’s a review in order of most enjoyable and downward…

  1. Hermann J. Weimer - easily the best wines I’ve had up here from any lake. A level above everyone. Best tasting room (tied?), TR manager, shop, and second best property, etc. My contact couldn’t make his appointment but that’s ok, his daughter was sick and I can totally accept that. He was very cordial via email. This is what all vineyards want to be, even if they don’t think so. World Class. Bought a bunch of single vineyard rieslings including a mag of the '14. Evidently 2014 was a great vintage up there.

  2. Climbing Bines - I never thought about “grower breweries” before. But it is very clear how superior beers are that are made with hops grown on their own property. Very nice young family owns it. Dog-friendly tasting room, great views of Seneca Lake, and so on. The beers were fantastic.

  3. FLX Wienery - could be in the number two position if the hot dog bun was better. It’s a must visit for everything else. Still not as good as Crif Dogs but…what is? For a day of wine tasting, I can’t think of a better lunch. Super friendly guy running the place sat down with me for 10 minutes just to hang out and chat. Awesome in every regard. The poutine was fab. The collection of consumed bottles was something to behold. And to be able to buy a 2004 Chateau Musar (one of my favorite producers, Lebanese or otherwise) via Coravin, was a no-brainer.

  4. Shalestone Vineyard - This is either the first or second prettiest/most inviting tasting room, tied perhaps with HJW. This is the family you wish you were friends with, super nice father-daughter team at the tasting room. Lovely people, very nice Cab Franc and Meritage, perfectly landscaped property with arguably the most picturesque tasting room view. Pretty stellar. This is what I would have as my business, if I had my choice. Bought two bottles of two different reds.

  5. Kindred Fare - what a great restaurant! I’d go back here again in a heartbeat if I couldn’t get FLX Table reservations (again). Cocktails were perfect, service was tops and the food was excellent and since I stayed at the hotel behind it, it was perfect. I didn’t realize it was close to the hotel, let alone next door. Let’s not talk about the hotel (it was convenient and cheap and that’s all I needed this time).

  6. Lucky Hare Brewing Co. - This is awesome because the beers are great, the location is unbelievable (it’s just a darn old living room of a house!), the hospitality was warm and the house cat, Darryl Hall, was just super pleasant. I’d return for just a beer trip and this would be my first and possibly last stop. Tried half samples of every beer on tap (x8).

  7. Shaw Vineyards - Really good wines, specifically his cab franc, which is probably the best of the ones I’ve had up here. Tasting room was classic, homey, well put together. No fuss, to the point, clean, organized, views of Seneca Lake. Tasting Room manager could know a little more than he did, but perhaps he will in time. He was great though. Bought a bottle of each of his top two reds. This is good stuff.

  8. Barnstormer Winery - negociants who do great things with the grapes they buy. I drove by it and thought to myself, I bet that place is great. But I had a schedule to keep. But the folks at Fulkerson (and others) said to hit it up so I went back. Very good, glad I did. Kyle was great. The house cat was also rather personable. Picked up a bottle of their Proprietor’s Blend and Gewurztraminer.

  9. Lamoreaux Landing - Very professional, organized, beautiful property and great materials including soil maps and such. I bought a handful of bottles from here because they all showed great, whites and reds. Are they the most interesting - perhaps not, but everything else (even though the architecture of the building wasn’t perfect, it was grand) added up to a very nice experience. Pleasantly surprised. Bought four bottles in total, two very nice single vineyard rieslings and two reds.

  10. Red Newt Wine Cellars - Possibly better (wines) than Barnstormer and Lamoreaux Landing however the location, property and tasting room left much to be desired. Still, a very professional operation. The tasting room woman was very knowledgeable of not only Red Newt but the entire region. I think I favor Barnstormer because I think they will be as good if not better than Red Newt down the line, though being a grower and winemaker versus being a wine buyer/maker does say something. I think I favor Lamoreaux because it hit more high notes.

  11. Two Goats Brewing Co. - Love this place. This could easily be above Lamoreaux and Red Newt, but I only tried one beer so it’s fair to put it here. But the location, views, super fun room, that Roast Beef sandwich! Not to mention the guy with the dreads who works there grew up in the town next door and his father/stepmom live in my town (surprise info discovered during a simple 3 minute conversation). I got here just in the right moment. As soon as I ordered my beer and sandwich, a group of 15 people came in.

  12. Damiani Vineyards - Highly recommended by two people I met along the way, so I added it last minute to the itinerary. The wines were quite good, tasting room woman was super pleasant as well. The location was ok and the tasting room was just ok, a little too wannabe Italianesque for my tastes. But the wines were pretty good. I bought two bottles of their higher end reds which were great. I’d consider going back because the wines were good…or skip it and just buy the wine online or elsewhere.

  13. Anthony Road Vineyards - a bigger, more modern but a lame tasting room (under construction?). For a place that I think does the most marketing and has the best wine labels in the FLX, I expected much more style and a much more homey place. Someone, either drunk or having a heart attack, drove into the vineyard in front of the winery just as I was getting there. Pretty wild. Wines are pretty good, especially their gray line, which is almost like a GG riesling, super dry - but I liked it. I wish they had people in the tasting rooms that knew more. A little disappointing in that regard. My tasting room appointment was a no show.

  14. Fulkerson Winery - a few interesting wines, some of them good enough to purchase. I only bought one. Very nice people and a big-but-still-nice tasting room. I’d go back with a group but not if I were solo again. The TR person I was supposed to meet was a no show.

  15. Fox Run Vineyards
    Very nice place, the color of the barn/house was memorable and the people were nice. The tasting room mgr I was supposed to meet was a no show but the girl I did taste with was more knowledgeable than many of the other TR staff anywhere else. Too bad the wine wasn’t that great. No purchases.

  16. Standing Stone - Very pleasant people. Sort of a cute place though something, maybe the yellow and green buildings, didn’t get me amped. Too old timey but from a not-so-romantic decade. Nice views out of the secondary/lower level tasting room, but that’s not where we were. Instead we had views of their dirt parking lot while tasting. The wine tasting guy was really but didn’t get me super excited about the wine. My contact, Jamie, was a no show. And the wine wasn’t all that exciting either. I liked that they had a Saperavi, but I’d had better (Keuka Lake). I liked their Cab Franc, but I’d had better (Shaw). I liked their Gewurztraminer, but I’d had better (Barnstormer). And so on. Plus, I thought the wines were overpriced. The only place I felt that way.

  17. Seneca Lake Brewing Company - Bradley is a very nice, talkative Brit who was in the middle of cleaning his hose lines so it took forever to sample. Plus he had the health/liquor inspector in there. So just the three of us. For like 45 mins. Painful but whatever. Beers were clearly hand crafted but just ok. Boring/ugly bar. Skip next time.

  18. Glenora Wine Cellars - evidently a classic that’s still going because of its history and inn and events and such. The tasting room commands great views of the Seneca Lake that are blocked by ugly lodges. Ugh. The guy I tasted with was cross-eyed, a touch smelly and knew very little about the wine despite having worked there for years. Some of the wines were ok but no purchases. I’d go back with a group and hope we got the other kid who sounded like he knew a lot. The TR manager I was going to meet was a no show. Overall a poor visit.

All in all, I like the wine and beer offerings around Seneca Lake better than Keuka Lake, but Keuka lake is more approachable, more attractive. Though I thought there were some interesting similarities/comparisons…

Each has a clear top tier (Wiemer and Dr. Frank) and some pretty close seconds (Shalestone or Shaw and Keuka Lake or McGregor) and some very pleasant surprises (Barnstormer and Domaine LeSeurre) as well as some suprising disappointments (Ravines and Fox Run) and not-so-unexpected disappointment (Heron Hills and Glenora).

And lastly, I stopped over at Cayuga Lake on the way home and bought just about one bottle of everything (sans rosés) from Bellwether Farms. I absolutely love their wines.

Great trip, already planning my third/next trip up there.

Cheers!

Thanks for the great write-up, Michael. We will be headed up there right before July 4th holiday and will certainly be hitting Dr. Frank and Hermann Wiemer - others are still tbd.

Awesome review Michael.