A few of us NY wooters have been talking about a Finger Lakes wine tour informally each time we meet. I figured I'd start a thread to see what kind of interest there is, and what wineries people would be looking to visit. I think some point in late August or early September would be great.

Accomodations:
1.) Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Fairport NY - $164/night - submitted bids on Priceline of $100 and $110 a night, both rejected.
2.) Skaneatles Suites Skaneatles NY $150 or 175 night.
3.) Best Western, Victor NY About $100/night. Free breakfast. $85/night if booking 14 day out rate for single King Bed room.

Restaurants:
1.) Glenora Restaurant (Tasting room open until 7pm).
2.) Red Newt Bistro
3.) New York Wine and Culinary Center

Possible Wineries (in process):


Keuka:
Woot! Seller: Hunt Country Vineyards (Keuka Lake, North West)
4.) Dr. Konstantin Frank (Keuka Lake, Western Shore)
17.) Heron Hill (Big tasting room on South Western Keuka Lake)
6.) Ravines Wine Cellars (Keuka Lake, Eastern Shore)
9.) Keuka Lake Vineyards (Keuka Lake, South Eastern Shore)

Seneca:
2.) Shaw Vineyards (Seneca Lake, Western Shore).
3.) Hermann J. Wiemer (Seneca Lake, Western Shore).10 am
5.) Glenora Wine Cellars(Seneca Lake, Western Shore)
19.) Redtail Ridge Winery (Western Shore of Seneca Lake) Opens at 10am
7.) Red Newt Cellars (Seneca Lake, Eastern Shore) Dinner @ their Bistro?
8.) Anthony Road Winery (Seneca Lake, Eastern Shore)Opens at 10am
10.) Bloomer Creek (Seneca Lake, East Shore)
11.) Fox Run Vineyards (Seneca Lake, East Shore)
12.) Catharine Valley Winery (Seneca Lake, East Shore)
13.) Prejean Winery (Penn Yan, East Seneca Lake)
14.) Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars (Lodi, East Seneca Lake)
15.) Standing Stone Vineyards (Hector, East Seneca Lake)
19.) Shalestone Vineyards (Lodi, Eastern Shore Seneca Lake) - "High discourage groups of 8+" Dry Red Wine only.
20.) Silver Springs Eastern Shore, Seneca Lake)
Cayuga:
1.) Sheldrake Point (Cayuga Lake, Western Shore).


Not in Finger Lakes:
16.) Johnson Estates(Wait.......someone snuck this in, this is in Dunkirk (716 area code)).
18.) Casa Larga (Fairport NY, 30 minutes north of Canandaigua)

Resources:
1.) Wine Enthusiast Guide to Finger Lakes, April 2011


Attendees:
1. Justinrsanderson
2. Justinrsanderon + 1 (Evan)
3. Tiger
4. Tiger +1
5. Bahwm
6. Ddeudeg
7. vwsmaltz
8. vwsmaltz +1

Maybe:

1. KatyRSanderson



Regrets:
1. Klezman
2. RPM
3. Randysanders

I will be up in Toronto around Labour Day weekend, and although I am not free during the weekend, I might be able to swing something around then. I'd like to redeem the Finger Lakes from my last trip up there

We almost went up for Memorial Day, but decided to stay closer to home and got a cottage on the North Fork instead.

These are the wines that I enjoy, along with a few additions from my local wine shop.

Anthony Road Wine Co
Keuka Lake Vineyards
Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard
Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellar
Ravines Wine Cellars
Bloomer Creek
Fox Run Vineyards

Disclaimer - at a Dr Frank sparkling tasting last night, I disliked 4 of the 5 wines that we tried. I've enjoyed all of the still wines though.

If I had a car, I'm sure that I'd have visited by now.

To add a few wineries to the list Catherine Winery (Seneca)
Prejean Winery (Seneca).

I would love to do a tour, August is currently most free except for the clambake. September 17 and the weekend of 24 are busy otherwise I'm free. Labor day I may be busy but not sure yet.

klezman wrote:I will be up in Toronto around Labour Day weekend, and although I am not free during the weekend, I might be able to swing something around then. I'd like to redeem the Finger Lakes from my last trip up there

Feel free to list wineries you suggest avoiding. I've never been to a winery in the area.

justinrsanderson wrote:Feel free to list wineries you suggest avoiding. I've never been to a winery in the area.

I wish I remembered...

justinrsanderson wrote:... and what wineries people would be looking to visit....

Seems like Hunt Country Vineyards should be considered due to their great participation here. There were a lot of other recommendations in the Finger Lakes region in that thread too.

Mad updates to post #1.

Also, What is a cream sherry?

justinrsanderson wrote:Mad updates to post #1.

Also, What is a cream sherry?

Cream Sherry

Paging nematic. He has connections to Fox Run and Anthony Road. I really enjoyed the Resilings from Anthony Road. Plan to purchase when I come through on the way to Buffalo.

justinrsanderson wrote:I think some point in late August or early September would be great.

We usually go to the State Fair in Syracuse on Labor Day weekend, so we can probably join in for at least part of the tour if it's on either side of that weekend.

-mikegberg +swmbo +2 kwmbe*

*kids who must be entertained

Updated list, just possible ones.

Can people that are interested in attending throw out some dates that will or won't work?

Also, take a look at the wineries, and see if there are any you definitely would like to go to.

So this post has fallen off......I'd still like to get this together. Even if I end up just going with my wife, and friends.

Here's a couple videos that reminded me of the event:

Daily Grape Blind Riesling Tasting
Daily Grape - Finger Lakes book and wine interview

Just to throw some random dates out there. I might be going to Keuka lake wine trail the weekend of july 31th if anyone is in the neighborhood.

tiger7610 wrote:Just to throw some random dates out there. I might be going to Keuka lake wine trail the weekend of july 31th if anyone is in the neighborhood.

I'm planning on the end of August at the earliest, but certainly by October. We'll spend a night or two there.

I am going to Canandaigua for a concert in a few weeks, maybe we will knock one or two of the wineries off the list before then.

klezman wrote:I will be up in Toronto around Labour Day weekend, and although I am not free during the weekend, I might be able to swing something around then. I'd like to redeem the Finger Lakes from my last trip up there

How about Sept 1, 2, 3?

justinrsanderson wrote:How about Sept 1, 2, 3?

Sept. 1 & 2 are out for me. It's back to work and we are thinking of heading out to cheron98's place on Sat.

Molarchae and I will have to pass on this, unfortunately Due to her needing to spend much time in lab playing with pipettes and PCR machines we can only get out to Toronto for the weekend and won't have the time to take even a day trip. I don't know if I'm even going to be able to go and meet the new baby of one of my best friends.

Next time, hopefully!

We also finally tried the LH Vignoles from Hunt Country a while back...yum! Looking forward to their icewine, too!

I have had the Dr. Konstantin Frank reisling, and it was not bad.

If this tour was later in the fall (early october), I would be able to join.

-Andy

wkdpanda wrote:I have had the Dr. Konstantin Frank reisling, and it was not bad.

If this tour was later in the fall (early october), I would be able to join.

-Andy

I like October. The first weekend in Oct. Is a wine weekend at Minnowbrook (Blue Mountain Lake) sponsored by Vinomania in Syracuse ... Awesome!!! But the 2nd or 3rd weekends would be fine. Dr. Constantine Frank is a must. One of few in the Finger Lakes who can pull off a drinkable Red. When my wife and I first went there we got a bottle of 2001 Cuvee d' Amour, drank it on our first anniversary last Feb., and went right out and got a 2008. Delicious.

Has anyone considered going all-out and hiring a DD bus, van or limo and spending Sat. Night somewhere nice like Glenora? If we chose a date, say... the 3rd weekend, what's that, 15th & 16th? And we started getting preliminary numbers, I'd be glad to start making some inquiries.

randysanders wrote:I like October. The first weekend in Oct. Is a wine weekend at Minnowbrook (Blue Mountain Lake) sponsored by Vinomania in Syracuse ... Awesome!!! But the 2nd or 3rd weekends would be fine. Dr. Constantine Frank is a must. One of few in the Finger Lakes who can pull off a drinkable Red. When my wife and I first went there we got a bottle of 2001 Cuvee d' Amour, drank it on our first anniversary last Feb., and went right out and got a 2008. Delicious.

Is the event at Minnowbrook on Oct. 1 & 2? That could possibly work for ddeuddeg and me. The 2nd weekend, 7th - 10 we will be doing some tastings and feasting at a few of our wine clubs in Healdsburg, CA. The 3rd weekend, 14th - 16th I will be at a conference in Rochester. I think the next two weekends in Oct are OK for us.

BTW, congrats (albeit late) on your first anniversary! I had no idea!

randysanders wrote:Dr. Constantine Frank is a must. One of few in the Finger Lakes who can pull off a drinkable Red. When my wife and I first went there we got a bottle of 2001 Cuvee d' Amour, drank it on our first anniversary last Feb., and went right out and got a 2008. Delicious.

The name of the wine, Cuvée d'Amour didn't have anything to do with it right?

I just came back from doing some tastings around Keuka lake. I visited Hunt Country. Very large open tasting room and gift shop and a great view. The wines were very good and interesting. Then we went to Dr. Konstantine Frank. That was a great experience. I tried a grape I have never even heard of before, and apparently since Dr. Konstantine went to Cornell, we got a 20% discount from the guy who was running the tasting. Also very good wine selection. If anyone is looking for a very different experience in wine tasting then you can see Bully Hill. Not great wines, but interesting crowds. I felt like I got a free showing of Jersey Shore and Desperate Housewives all in 30 min.

Katy and I went to Casa Larga is Fairport this weekend, we had a lot of fun, ended up with 9 bottles. Their Ice Wine was superb, Katy thinks their Cab Franc Icewine is her new favorite wine (Too bad it is $75/bottle 375ML). The rest of their stuff was really reasonably priced. I especially like their estate Chard (CLV), using Hungarian, American, and French Oak. They poured for us a tasting of each of the underlying chards, and then the blend of them. That was really cool.

We also went to NY Culinary & Wine center on Canandaigua lake, it was a really nice facility, but the wine/beer tastings were OMGOMGOMGPONIESOMG PONIES!. The restaurant there was ambitious, but not very good.

While out there, I heard that the chef at Red Newt (the winemaker/owner's wife) was killed in a car wreck a few weeks ago, and the husband was badly injured. They are not closing or selling, but still disappointing to hear. She was scheduled to be a contestant on Chopped this season.


Dates - Oct 1-15 are out for me, I will be in California, but the 21-23 would work for me. I'd love to go all out and spend a night, and get a limo/bus if we have enough attendees.

Yes, Minnowbrook is the 1st & 2nd of October.
Look on http://www.minnowbrook.org/ the front page of the Minnowbrook web site. Judy and I want to go, we missed the Summer one, but we went last year and it was FABULOUS! Bring your hiking shoes. The Friday night is optional, but well worth showing up if you can.

Looks like we're headed for October 21 - 23 for the Finger Lakes.

I'm glad this thread is moving along. So, how do we start a participant list up at the top?

And yes, the name of the wine was totally appropriate for the occasion, but the wine was extraordinary too. For our wedding in Las Vegas we had Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee (get it?) and a 2001 Turley Pesenti Vineyard Zin...spectacular!

randysanders wrote:Yes, Minnowbrook is the 1st & 2nd of October.
Look on http://www.minnowbrook.org/ the front page of the Minnowbrook web site. Judy and I want to go, we missed the Summer one, but we went last year and it was FABULOUS! Bring your hiking shoes. The Friday night is optional, but well worth showing up if you can.

Looks like we're headed for October 21 - 23 for the Finger Lakes.

I'm glad this thread is moving along. So, how do we start a participant list up at the top?

And yes, the name of the wine was totally appropriate for the occasion, but the wine was extraordinary too. For our wedding in Las Vegas we had Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee (get it?) and a 2001 Turley Pesenti Vineyard Zin...spectacular!

Hay, you guys got married in Vegas? We did too just a year before you! What date and where? Oh, and we had an Iron Horse Wedding Cuvée as well!

Only the person who started the thread with the first post can start a participant list at the top of the thread and add other information, as needed. We typically follow the same format so that anyone can look and easily follow the developments.

Oh, and strike us from the first weekend of October. We are cooking the Shakespeare Benefit dinner at our house that was purchased at the Fabulous Feast in March--seven course dinner and wine pairing.

SJCwineaux wrote:Seems like Hunt Country Vineyards should be considered due to their great participation here. There were a lot of other recommendations in the Finger Lakes region in that thread too.

Standing Stone was my first Wine.Woot way back when.

randysanders wrote:
Looks like we're headed for October 21 - 23 for the Finger Lakes.

I'm glad this thread is moving along. So, how do we start a participant list up at the top?

I updated the first post and made some assumptions. Also blocked off the dates on my work calender. Katy and I are planning on spending both Friday and Saturday nights in the Finger lakes. I will put some more effort in to this post later today, or tomorrow.

justinrsanderson wrote:I updated the first post and made some assumptions. Also blocked off the dates on my work calender. Katy and I are planning on spending both Friday and Saturday nights in the Finger lakes. I will put some more effort in to this post later today, or tomorrow.

So is October 21-23 the date that we are shooting for? Also we should figure out what lake we are hitting? because while it is possible to hit both lakes and I think Keuka is gorgeous it is about a 30 min drive between the 2 lakes.

tiger7610 wrote:So is October 21-23 the date that we are shooting for? Also we should figure out what lake we are hitting? because while it is possible to hit both lakes and I think Keuka is gorgeous it is about a 30 min drive between the 2 lakes.

Multi-day trip. I will work on organizing the 1st post in to what is near each other. East to west, or west to east?

My guess is west to east, give that on least on seneca lake the majority of decent wineries are on west side of the lake

tiger7610 wrote:So is October 21-23 the date that we are shooting for? Also we should figure out what lake we are hitting? because while it is possible to hit both lakes and I think Keuka is gorgeous it is about a 30 min drive between the 2 lakes.

Both lakes? Which 2 lakes do you mean? Keuka and Seneca, Keuka and Cayuga, or?

ddeuddeg wrote:Both lakes? Which 2 lakes do you mean? Keuka and Seneca, Keuka and Cayuga, or?

I organized the list a bit better, and also decided to bold wineries that people certainly want to go to (the current ones are only mine, and katy). Let me know what ones everyone definitely wants to go to.

justinrsanderson wrote:I organized the list a bit better, and also decided to bold wineries that people certainly want to go to (the current ones are only mine, and katy). Let me know what ones everyone definitely wants to go to.

WOW, justinsanderson, you're really getting this thing going now. Thanks!
Has anyone stayed anywhere around the lakes?
I've stayed a Glenora, very nice, but pricey.
And, Judy says the Fall is peak season thereabouts.

bahwm wrote:Hay, you guys got married in Vegas? We did too just a year before you! What date and where? Oh, and we had an Iron Horse Wedding Cuvée as well!

Only the person who started the thread with the first post can start a participant list at the top of the thread and add other information, as needed. We typically follow the same format so that anyone can look and easily follow the developments.

Oh, and strike us from the first weekend of October. We are cooking the Shakespeare Benefit dinner at our house that was purchased at the Fabulous Feast in March--seven course dinner and wine pairing.

Well, will coincidences never end. Look forward to seeing you guys again. February break of course, the 18th at the Belleza Chapel. We flew in the day after Valentines Day.

randysanders wrote:WOW, justinsanderson, you're really getting this thing going now. Thanks!
Has anyone stayed anywhere around the lakes?
I've stayed a Glenora, very nice, but pricey.
And, Judy says the Fall is peak season thereabouts.

Thanks, now people just need to say where they'd like to go, especially if it's one not on the list.

As for accomodations...I have not stayed anywhere. I think somewhere on the middle to northern of edge of Seneca's Western shore might be a good idea, so we can hit those the night before, and the morning after on our way to the Eastern shore of Seneca. I'm willing to spend about $150/night for two nights

This past February we stayed at the Hotel Clarence in Seneca Falls. It is a really nice boutique style hotel. But they are showing rates around $170. currently.

randysanders wrote:WOW, justinsanderson, you're really getting this thing going now. Thanks!
Has anyone stayed anywhere around the lakes?
I've stayed a Glenora, very nice, but pricey.
And, Judy says the Fall is peak season thereabouts.

We stay up in Geneva at the north end of Seneca. Ramada Inn last week, right on the lake. There is a Hampton Inn a block away. Hampton is a little less and has free breakfast. Ramada has the lake, and a bar, and with Eggs Benedict for $6, breakfast is very reasonable. I'd recommend either.

polarbear22 wrote:We stay up in Geneva at the north end of Seneca. Ramada Inn last week, right on the lake. There is a Hampton Inn a block away. Hampton is a little less and has free breakfast. Ramada has the lake, and a bar, and with Eggs Benedict for $6, breakfast is very reasonable. I'd recommend either.

Any wineries we must hit that you liked?