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Finger Lakes Wineries - 5/17/2023 7:55:43 AM

MB1991

Posts: 63
Joined: 3/27/2023
Status: offline

I know I see at least 1 very active user here from the finger lakes area. My parents live in Ithaca and I go back maybe once a year, sometimes more. Would love to recommend some wineries for them to visit around Cayuga Lake if possible, or Seneca closer to the Ithaca area.

My dad is mostly a red wine drinker (and quite well versed in red wines), grew up in Germany for most of his life so old world style's are his go to. Not a big white wine drinker.

Thoughts?

Post #: 1

RE: Finger Lakes Wineries - 5/17/2023 8:55:47 AM

KPB

Posts: 4663
Joined: 11/25/2012
From: Ithaca, New York
Status: offline

My suggestion would be to focus on just a few, probably Forge (which has a nice place to sit and eat << very overpriced >> sliced ham and cheese while enjoying their wines and also the wines from St. Cosme << at extreme markups... >>), Ryan William Winery, Boundary Breaks, Ravines. Every one of these is on 414 -- drive from Ithaca to Seneca lake via Mecklensburg/Burdett on Route 79, then north on 414. You hit Ryan William right away, great place and has a nice lunch counter. Forge is just a little further, and then the others. For fantastic deals, have them watch for Lamoreau Landings famous "roast pig event" and then buy their Riesling by the case. You'll spend something like $9/bottle if you hit the right timing and the senior discount is still being offered this year, plus the food can't be beat. But that is just one day.

I have not yet tried Hillock and Hobbs, but intend to do that soon. Said to be excellent. I would avoid Standing Stone. After it was sold to Weimer the style shifted and became way too sweet.

For a real restaurant meal: Hazelnut in Trumansburg, Dano's on Seneca and (new!) the vineyard restaurant at Knapp on Cayuga Lake. This last is really very nice. You can also get food at the counter and eat outdoors on picnic tables at Americana Winery, which is quite a good deal. Their "sunset" wines are excellent -- Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, sometimes other white blends. But none are remotely at the level of Forge or the others I listed.

Further to the west, try Herman Weimer and Atwater. But keep in mind that tasting one Riesling after another will bore your folks after a few. So you need to be picky and only take them to at most three places -- this is why route 414 is so convenient. Super nice, many options, and a few restaurants with great views.

Notice that none of these are red wine places. In fact there are some good red producers: Leidenfrost and Shalestone would be examples on route 414, or Heart and Hands over on the top of Cayuga Lake but the eastern side, not the west. One nice thing about going there is that if your Mom likes the style of stuff made at Mackenzie-Childs, she'll go nuts when she sees their factory outlet. Insane. The little town it's in is nice too (Aurora).

Conversely, if your mom is more modern, the museum of Women's Sufferage is interesting in Auburn. And no matter what their interests, everyone enjoys the Corning Glass Museum. Downtown Corning is sort of nice too, good place to get a hamburger or ice cream.

< Message edited by KPB -- 5/17/2023 8:56:30 AM >

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to MB1991)

Post #: 2

RE: Finger Lakes Wineries - 5/17/2023 9:54:51 AM

Chip Merlot

Posts: 529
Joined: 10/13/2013
From: NJ
Status: offline

If they are at all into organic/natural stuff, and/or if they came of age in the '60s/'70s, and/or if they are into art, they should absolutely hit Bloomer Creek, also on the east side of Cayuga on 414. Great wines (with the occasional miss due to the reduced manipulation they do) and their tasting room is really charming and for serious tasters (no fighting for elbow room with drunk bachelorettes).

You might also look up the recent FLX event that Eric Asimov did in Saratoga. I imagine his lineup of wines would make for a good checklist.

(in reply to KPB)

Post #: 3

RE: Finger Lakes Wineries - 5/17/2023 11:12:55 AM

KPB

Posts: 4663
Joined: 11/25/2012
From: Ithaca, New York
Status: offline

Honestly, though, I don't think of this as much of a red-wine area. It will be someday, with the general warming trend (and the grape will be pinot noir, or perhaps PN along with a second line of strong cabernet franc reds). But right now, very hit and miss.

My feeling is that we currently get a lot of rather stemmy, green pinot noir. Heart and Hand does far better, but their pinot noir can seem a bit sweet and candied, like strawberry soda without the fizz. In fact I often think of the best pinot noir in this area as being more like a rose than a red -- they often have light color, rose-like, and often are sweet without a lot of depth, also rose-like. The producers in that style would be Heart and Hands, Ryan William (who sometimes just declares the stuff to be rose), Hermann Weimer. Forge is trying to make a serious pinot noir, darker and more complex -- but it very often shows stemmy pyrazine aromas and flavors. So it isn't there yet.

As for cabernet franc, the hands-down best wine ever in that style was an accidental bottling from Leidenfrost. It was the 2008 "vintner's reserve" and had a story behind it: someone had a contract for a parcel of cabernet franc but abruptly went out of business or had a health crisis. Anyhow, reneged. So they had a whole parcel and as fall dragged on, no buyer for it. Eventually, the winemaker and his daughter (who is now taking over more or more of the winemaking) bring in the fruit and make the wine themselves -- a late harvested cabernet franc. As it happens, that fall was dry and quite hot, and the wine gained a lot of substance and richness. Too much, in fact: when they vinified it the stuff was kind of a "monster red". But Leidenfrost was doing well and had good quality neutral oak barrels and could afford to just leave the wine in the corner. So it stayed in their cellar for a few years. And that wine was sensational -- a world-class wine that could have been from one of the best producers in Chile or Argentina, or from the hilly areas of the Perigord, or maybe a hilly site in the Loire. Profound, chewy, fascinating nose and palate.

So I asked the daughter why she didn't drop everything and only make that wine. But her answer speaks to the real issue here: weather. She says they were lucky in a dozen ways. No hurricanes got up this far that summer. It was a glorious, sunny, dry fall. No mold at all, perfect fruit. So, try that ten times and she would be very fortunate to pull it off twice.

Still, with global warming, the day is coming when everyone can make that wine. It isn't quite here yet, but it will get here. Today, on the other hand, we are all worrying about the state of the 2023 vintage: tonight the temperature will dip to 26 for a few hours... frost risk is very high.

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to Chip Merlot)

Post #: 4