I’m probably a bit late in posting this, but I’ll be headed to the Finger Lakes next week and I’ll be allotting one full day for visiting tasting rooms. I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions as far as specific producers and/or part(s) of the region might be most interesting to visit. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Silver Springs!
It’s a pretty big area, if you have only one day telling us where exactly you’re going to be would be helpful in making suggestions close to you and in the immediate vicinity.
Doug,
The challenge in one day is the geography. Damn, still no lake bridges! The best wines come from three different lakes - Ravines, based on Keuka Lake; Wiemer, based on Seneca; and Heart & Hands, based on Cayuga. Can’t do them all in one day. I would recommend something like the following:
Start at Ravines. An appointment with Morten or Lisa Hallgren (owners, and Morten is the Danish-born and Provence-raised winemaker) is best, but not sure what their schedule would be like. Morten makes the best reds, year-to-year. His '07 Cab Franc and Meritage are impressive, and his '07 Pinot is a lithe little spicebox. He makes the driest high-quality Riesling in the region, going to the razor’s edge at .3 RS. The Dry Riesling is good, but his single-vineyard (Argetsinger, named for the Iroquois speaking grower from the region’s best site) is aromatically explosive.
Make sure you get to Wiemer. It’s only about 14 minutes or so from Ravines. Wonderful building, an old barn converted by world-class architects into the winery and tasting facility. Again, I’d try to make an appointment with owner and winemaker Fred Merwarth, but Fred is a busy guy. Who knows. The region’s best Riesling comes from here. Fred uses almost no commercial yeast, and he doesn’t temp-control the fermentation. That means he’ll arrest some Riesling fermentations in, say, March or April. Others will finish in June or, as was the case this year, the first week of July. It’s remarkable, and it allows the wine to sort of evolve into itself with such minimal interference. From Dry Riesling, to Semi-Dry, to single-vineyard offerings (which are so different side-by-side it’s fascinating), to the late-harvest (not dessert! Think rich Spat or Aus), to the TBA-style, it’s a wonderful lineup. And even better, they’re pouring the '08, which will go down as one of the great Finger Lakes Riesling vintages. He also makes a Cab Franc Lover’s Cab Franc (I say that because it’s all cigar box, grilled herbs, fresh raspberry and clove) along with an impressive Pinot.
Then you can head north and visit Anthony Road Wine Company. Their German winemaker, Johannes Reinhardt, is a special talent. I worked on the sorting line for his TBA-style '08 (it was myself and 25 Mexicans rocking out to mariachi music. Really.) Take his line of Rieslings for a spin, and I’d absolutely try every one of his BA and TBA style offerings (including the vignoles; it’s worth it). I loved his '05 MRS Cab Franc, though his '07 less so. The Cab Franc/Lemberger blend is too oaky for my taste, but YMMV.
Beyond that, just north is Red Tail Ridge, which is a squeaky clean producer of a range of wines in a gorgeous and prime piece of property. They’re Californians (she was a research director at Gallo) who couldn’t afford to launch their own show out west, but loved the acreage prices in the Finger Lakes. Good stuff. Billsboro, farther north, is a sleeper of a stop, too.
The alternative would be to make an appointment at Heart & Hands on Cayuga and also visit Sheldrake Point on Cayuga.
Can I make a dinner rec? You don’t want to throw darts. There is stunning quality and total dreck.
Cheers.
I’d sure like to know your dinner recommendations.
There are two at the top, and they are both at the southeast side of Seneca Lake.
The first is Suzanne Fine Regional Cuisine. Just wonderful service, very creative menu options. Very comfortable and quaint.
The second is Red Newt Bistro, which is connected to Red Newt Wine Cellars. This menu changes more often, and the vast majority of food is not only locally sourced, but artfully created. Chef Deb always has a seasonal ravioli; the blueberry was good this year, but the rhubarb chevre was jaw-dropping. A recent visit produced wonderful memories of sour-cherry-stuffed tenderloin. Every visit provides something new.
Red Newt’s wine list is entirely Finger Lakes, and wide-ranging. We ordered a 1999 Red Newt Semi-Dry Riesling on a recent visit, and were highly impressed. Flights are inventive and classy.
One notch down - but only just - is the Hazelnut Kitchen in Trumansburg over on Cayuga Lake. Very cozy, with a curious little wine list that has included Zweigelt and some very cool Gruners.
There are good meals to be found elsewhere, but those are the most memorable spots.
Evan, of course, hits the nail on the head on this. Ravines is very good, Weimer is tops, and a must visit.
Anthony Road and Red Tail Ridge are great follow ups. Unfortunately, with ony one day you probably can’t make it to Heart & Hands, but they have come out of the gates strong with excellent Pinot Noir. Close to them, Sheldrake is excellent and I really like Knapp’s riesling as well.
My go-to dinner spot is Dano’s on the east side of Seneca Lake. Austrian food in a bistro setting.
On the east side of Seneca I like Shalestone for reds and Silver Thread.
Sucks you will only be there for so short, it is a little to wide a region to see the best in one day.
My wife and I just visited The Finger Lakes last month for the first time, along with 5 other couples. I won’t repeat what others have said, but I will add the following:
Dinner: Ports Cafe…IMO a MUST if you want fresh and delicious food…The regular menu is fabulous, and they had 12 specials the ngiht we went.
Beer: Two Goats Brewing on the east side of Seneca Lake. Nothing fancy, but nice people and the view off the deck is awesome, and they have some great beers…a nice break from the wine…
Thanks for the suggestions! I haven’t been around a computer for a couple of days or I would have gotten back here sooner. Brent, I will be staying up in Victor Monday night, but I haven’t made a reservation yet for Sunday night, so I can stay wherever will be near my first visits. Plus, I don’t care how late I get back to Victor on Monday, so it’s okay if I’m not close when my day ends. Evan, I might see if I can make the Ravines, Wiemer, Anthony Road, Red Tail Ridge, Billsboro route happen. I know it’s a big region, but I’m hoping to see as many wineries as I reasonably can in one day. Of course, I’d rather see a few really interesting ones than a lot of not so interesting ones.
So, I’m mapping out a route and trying to figure out what I’ll do for dinner. It looks like I’ll be doing quite a bit of driving, which is fine, but I’m thinking I might not set up any appointments so I can be as quick as is reasonably possible. Is that a big mistake? It’s really short notice at this point anyway, so I’m not sure if appointments would even be possible. Also, not a lot of the mentioned restaurants are open on Mondays. It looks like Hazelnut Kitchen and Dano’s are. Right now I’m planning a route that leaves me fairly close to Hazelnut for dinner.
Also, Evan, you said Wiemer is only about 14 minutes from Ravines, but Google maps shows it being more like 35. Am I missing something?
That’s the route I’m looking at.
Wiemer’s 2008s are terrific!
It’s absolutely not 35 minutes. If you’re slow, maybe 20. Should be no problem.
They key is tasting the wines, and you’re trying to taste as many as possible. In that regard, no appointments is a fine way to go. But obviously tasting room staff is hit-and-miss everywhere in the wine world. I think you’ll be fine, though.
Can you drive there?
I just got back from the Finger Lakes:
I will say that I enjoyed the wines more than I thought I would. They are improving. So far, the quality of the winemaking still seems ot lag one step behind Ontario and the Niagara-on-the-Lake region, which is also improving in quality.
Lamoreaux Landing had some good wines, and they had a reisling that was easily 88 points.
Wagner’s wines were pedestrian, but the beers were good, especially the Heffweisen and the Oatmeal Stout.
Standing Stone had some decent wines.
Damiani has some decent wines: a sauvignon blanc, and a just bottled syrah that shows some potnetial, but still suffering from bottling shock.
Bloomer Creek made some good chards: one inthe mid to high 80’s which I brought home as well.
I had a decent lunch at the Spotted Cat, and had an ecellent dinner at a place called Suzanne’s Fine Reigonal Cuisine. The duck is awesome, and they have Elysian Fields lamb, which is the best lamb in the US. Corkage is $20. I stayed at the Seneca Lakeside B&B which was very nice and recommended.
I just got back from the Finger Lakes:
I will say that I enjoyed the wines more than I thought I would. They are improving. So far, the quality of the winemaking still seems ot lag one step behind Ontario and the Niagara-on-the-Lake region, which is also improving in quality.
Lamoreaux Landing had some good wines, and they had a reisling that was easily 88 points.
Wagner’s wines were pedestrian, but the beers were good, especially the Heffweisen and the Oatmeal Stout.
Standing Stone had some decent wines.
Damiani has some decent wines: a sauvignon blanc, and a just bottled syrah that shows some potnetial, but still suffering from bottling shock.
Bloomer Creek made some good chards: one inthe mid to high 80’s which I brought home as well.
I had a decent lunch at the Spotted Cat, and had an excellent dinner at a place called Suzanne’s Fine Reigonal Cuisine. The duck is awesome, and they have Elysian Fields lamb, which is the best lamb in the US. Corkage is $20. I stayed at the Seneca Lakeside B&B which was very nice and recommended.
To those who chimed in, thanks again for the advice. I did not make appointments as my goal was to taste as much as possible. Ravines was probably the highlight for me as I thought almost everything I tried there was good to very good. The '08 pinot noir was the best of that variety that I’ve had from the Finger Lakes so far. The sparkling wines and a couple of the Rieslings at Hermann J Weimer were also very good. It was interesting to see how different the single vineyard rieslings were side by side. The sweet wines at Anthony Road were extremely good. Some are pricey, but I think they were the only wines I tasted that I put in the “outstanding” category. And at $20, the '08 Bellaria Late Harvest Pinot Gris is quite a value. I’d love to see how that '08 Riesling Trockenbeeren tastes in 20 or more years. Red Tail Ridge and Hazlitt were worth visiting. They both had some good wines, but nothing that really excited me. The people in the tasting room at Standing Stone were extremely nice and knowledgeable, and I quite enjoyed a few of their wines. I thought their Smokehouse Red was a great qpr wine. The food at Hazelnut Kitchen was excellent. I didn’t go to the winery, but I also tasted the Lamoreaux Landing 76 West (forget which vintage) and was impressed. Overall I think there’s quite a bit of good wine being made out there. I know they’ve been getting a bit more media attention in the past few years (maybe just the past couple of years?) than they used to. Hopefully as more money comes into the area the consistency can catch up to the obvious potential quality (I thought most of the producers I mentioned were consistent, but I know there’s still a lot of mediocre to flat out bad wine being produced). Now I just need to get out there when I can spend more than 1 day at tasting rooms.
I will also mention that I went out there mainly to attend a faults workshop at the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua. I have no affiliation with them except that I’ve taken a couple of wine courses there in the past, but I want to point out that it’s a beautiful facility with a lot of great wine and cooking classes, a nice restaurant, and a tasting room where one can get flights of NY wines and buy NY wines, beers, and spirits. If I lived closer I would go there much more often.