Food

THESE LAKES ARE MAKING GREAT WINE!

Pouring a glass of red wine at table overlooking Cayuga Lake, in Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

Cayuga Lake wine tasting. New York. Courtesy of Cayuga Lake Wine Trail.

FINGER LAKES WINES

What’s the hottest up-and-coming wine region in the United States? It’s the Finger Lakes, in upstate New York, where cool weather and a diverse combination of soils are now producing extraordinary cool climate grapes.

It is, perhaps, the most unusual wine regions in America. And now, it is also becoming one of the best. In fact, Finger Lakes wineries are now producing some of this country’s best whites -- Riesling, in particular. In fact, some are world class. They are now definitely worth a taste! And the area is definitely worth a visit!

The reason Finger Lakes wines have a less than stellar history, has everything to do with the history of alcohol legislation in the State of New York, and nothing to do with the quality of the region’s terroirs and microclimates.

Autumn at a Finger Lake winery in upstate New York.

By Kim Thompson, Byte-sized Travel. Autumn at a Finger Lake winery. New York.

Ever since restrictive laws were eased, allowing winemakers to sell directly to wine drinkers, small, artisanal, boutique wineries became economically viable. There are now over 100 wineries in the area.

Satellite view of the Finger Lakes. Courtesy of Google Earth.

The microclimates around the three major lakes, Keuka, Seneca, and Cayuga, with their warm summers and cool winters, and limestone-laced soils, offer perfect growing conditions for aromatic Riesling and Gewurztraminer.

Finger Lakes Vineyards at sunrise, in upstate New York.

“Finger Lakes Vineyards at sunrise.” New York. Courtesy of Visit Finger Lakes.

The award-winning Rieslings from the Finger Lakes have garnered praise from Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Food & Wine, Wine & Spirits, and Decanter, among others.

The region is also getting accolades for its cool-climate reds like Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir. The lakes create a stable microclimate, as they regulate air temperatures, avoiding extremes.

Sunrise overlooking a vineyard.” New York. Courtesy of Visit Finger Lakes.

Wine Trails:

The Finger Lakes offer three distinct wine trails: Cayuga Lake Wine Trail, with 16 member wineries, Keuka Lake Wine Trail, with 8 member wineries, and Seneca Lake Wine Trail, with 35 member wineries. Each is belongs on your wine-inspired travel bucket list.

Vineyard at Cayuga Lake, in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

Vineyard at Cayuga Lake. New York. Courtesy of Cayuga Wine Trail.

The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail, with its breathtaking views, is America’s first wine trail. Along the trail, along with the family owned and operated boutique wineries, check out the cideries, meadery, distilleries and taproom.

Harvesting grapes at Atwater Estate Vineyards, at Seneca Lake, New York.

By Lauren Long. “Finger Lakes winery grape harvest: Atwater Estate Vineyards on Seneca Lake.” Courtesy of NYup.

The Keuka Lake region is is home to the first bonded winery, established in 1860. The first Vinifera vines were planted here. Heron Hill Winery, Hunt Country Vineyards, and Keuka Spring Vineyards, are among the best.

A few wineries of note deserve your attention.

Late harvest vines. Courtesy of Bloomer Creek Vineyard.

Bloomer Creek Vineyard:

Kim Engle, winemaker at Bloomer Creek Vineyard, on the east side of Seneca Lake, works with a close-to-the-earth, unmanipulated style to create his small production Rieslings, Cabernet Francs and Pinot Noirs, wines that are showing up in more connoisseurs’ glasses. Their mission: to produce wines with a “sense of adventure.”

Sunset through the vineyard next to Cayuga Lake at the Heart and Hands Wine Company. Finger Lakes, New York.

“Sunset Over the Lake.” Courtesy of Heart & Hands Wine Company.

Heart & Hands Wine Company:

Heart & Hands Wine Company, at Cayuga Lake, makes distinctive, terroir-driven wines. They own and manage their Estate vineyard, and partner with several premier winegrowers in the Finger Lakes. Their vineyard, located in the east side of Cayuga Lake, about 200 meters from the shoreline of Carr’s Cove, is optimal for growing Pinot Noir. Onondaga limestone enriches the entire site.

"Lake View in Fall.” Seneca Lake. New York Courtesy of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars.

Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars:

For over twenty years, Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars founders Mark Wagner and Josh Wig have set the standard for sustainable viticulture and cool-climate winemaking on 100 acres of planted vineyards on the eastern hillsides of Seneca Lake.

Working with sound environmental management practices, which minimize the use of synthetic fungicides, pesticides, fertilizers, fuel, energy, and waste, Lamoreaux Landing not only makes beautiful wines, but keeps the planet more beautiful.

Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake. Lodi, New York.

Vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake. New York. Courtesy of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars.

Lamoreaux maintains soil biodiversity, by returning the pomace, leaves, and prunings from the vines back to the vineyard, with additional mulch from their surrounding fields, virtually eliminating the need for the use of synthetic fertilizers.

Through the carefully concerted use of cover crops, mulching, pruning, shoot positioning, and cluster thinning, Lamoreaux trains its vines to provide for the optimum levels of crop load and canopy density.

Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars wine bottles and glasses overlooking Seneca Lake. Lodi, New York.

Wine bottles and glasses overlooking Seneca Lake. New York. Courtesy of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars.

By utilizing 100% row-middle cover crops for soil retention, an aggressive mulching program to conserve moisture, and an extensive drainage tiling system with vegetative buffers to avoid runoff, Lamoreaux is able to avoid severe drought stress in the driest of years while, preventing the adverse and compounding effects of an irrigation system.

Organic sulfur is the primary staple of their disease control program. And they don’t need to use much of it.

Hand-picking grapes at Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake. Lodi, New York.

Hand-picking grapes at vineyard at Seneca Lake. New York. Courtesy of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars.

The long sunny days and cool nights at Lamoreaux contribute to the intense aromatics and crisp acidity found in their wines.

Their estate grown fruit, delivered to the winery at the peak of ripeness, crushed within minutes of harvest, results in some brilliant Rieslings, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and Grüner Veltliners, among others.

Forge Cellars Vineyard. Seneca Lake. New York. Courtesy of Forge Cellars.

Forge Cellars:

Forge Cellars is a small, artisanal producer focusing entirely on Dry Riesling and Pinot Noir. Three partners, French Winemaker-Grower Louis Barruol, of Château de Saint Cosme, in Gigondas, and Finger Lakes winemakers- growers Richard Rainey and Justin Boyette, grow grapes and handcraft wines exceptional, interesting wines. They are known for their perfectly balanced minerality, aromatics, and fruit.

They harvest, sort, and press the grapes by hand. They employ spontaneous fermentation and ferment in very tiny lots. They use very low levels of sulphur. They ferment their Rieslings slowly, to bone dry. And they do not fine or filter their red wines.

Bottle and glass of Martin Reinhardt 2012 Finger Lakes Riesling on table overlooking lake.

Martin Reinhardt 2012 Finger Lakes Riesling. Courtesy of Anthony Road Wine Company.

Dessert Wines:

While the lakes moderate the climate during the spring, summer and fall, the Finger Lakes region typically has very cold winters. Ice Wines, made in select years from frozen grapes, are sweet, yet surprisingly sophisticated, as are the regions other dessert wines such as vin doux naturel, port and late harvest wines. Find out more Finger Lakes dessert wines here.

Lunch table at Finger Lakes vineyard. Courtesy of Farm to Fork Fondo.

Finger Lakes Food & Wine Pairings:

Farm to Fork Fondo offers fabulous farm-to-table-vineyard-to-glass dinners at select vineyards. They offer up the best food and wine in the Finger Lakes region in truly beautiful settings.

Taking in the view at Sheldrake Point Vineyard on Cayuga Lake. New York.

“Taking in the view at Sheldrake Point Vineyard on Cayuga Lake.” Cayuga Lake. New York. Courtesy of NYup.

For more beautiful wine stories in New York State, check out Beautiful Food & Wine Just Up the River. Also see 10 Beautiful Rides to Beautiful Wines Now, in California, and The Most Beautiful Wine: Labors of Love Now, in Italy.

Vineyard at the Finger Lakes region of New York State.

By Kyle Bolstad. “Typical vineyard of Finger Lakes.” New York.

Read more about Fresh Water all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.

Local Finger Lakes wine and cheese plate, overlooking the lake.

Local Finger Lakes wine and cheese plate. Courtesy of Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism.

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Concord grape clusters at a Finger Lakes vineyard in upstate New York.

By Michele Rittenhouse. Concord grape clusters. Courtesy of Watershed Post.

Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Contest. We run new creative contest every week!

Large wine barrel at Lucas Vineyards, in the Finger Lake region of New York State

By Paul Cooper. “Grapes, Before And After.” Lucas Vineyards. Covert, New York.

Photo: Cayuga Lake wine tasting.Cayuga, New York. Courtesy of Cayuga Lake Wine Trail.
Photo: by Kim Thompson, Byte-sized Travel. Autumn at a Finger Lake winery. Hammondsport, New York.
Image: Satellite view of the Finger Lakes. Courtesy of Google Earth.
Photo: “Finger Lakes Vineyards at sunrise.” New York. Courtesy of Visit Finger Lakes.
Photo: “Sunrise overlooking a vineyard.” South Bristol, New York. Courtesy of Visit Finger Lakes.
Photo: Vineyard at Cayuga Lake. Cayuga, New York. Courtesy of Cayuga Wine Trail.
Photo: by Lauren Long. “Finger Lakes winery grape harvest: Atwater Estate Vineyards on Seneca Lake.” Courtesy of NYup.
Photo: Late harvest vines. Seneca Lake, New York. Courtesy of Bloomer Creek Vineyard.
Photo: “Sunset Over the Lake.” Cayuga Lake. New York. Courtesy of Heart & Hands Wine Company.
Photo: "Lake View in Fall at Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars." Lodi, New York Courtesy of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars.
Photo: Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake. Lodi, New York.Courtesy of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars.
Photo: Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars wine bottles and glasses overlooking Seneca Lake. Lodi, New York. Courtesy of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars.
Photo: Hand-picking grapes at Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake. Lodi, New York. Courtesy of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars.
Photo: Forge Cellars Vineyard. Seneca Lake. New York. Courtesy of Forge Cellars.
Photo: Martin Reinhardt 2012 Finger Lakes Riesling. Courtesy of Anthony Road Wine Company.
Photo: Lunch table at Finger Lakes vineyard. Courtesy of Farm to Fork Fondo.
Photo: “Taking in the view at Sheldrake Point Vineyard on Cayuga Lake.” Cayuga Lake. New York. Courtesy of NYup.
Photo: by Kyle Bolstad. “Typical vineyard of Finger Lakes.” New York.
Photo: Local Finger Lakes wine and cheese plate. Courtesy of Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism.
Photo: by Michele Rittenhouse. Concord grape clusters. Courtesy of Watershed Post.
Photo: by Paul Cooper. “Grapes, Before And After.” Lucas Vineyards. Covert, New York.