The Finger Lakes

Man oh man. New York is a BIG state. First we had city living, next was mountain adventures, and next we have farm land and more lake life. But we also have winetimes, which will be a theme of this trip. Steve and I discovered wine tasting together and it’s kind of become a theme of our lives. You know those crazy people who bring back wine from vacation in the double digits? Yep. That’s us. Oh we also usually check these said bottles. So we’re totally nuts. But then you have a stockpile of 15 bottles of wine, so who’s the nutcase?

The Finger Lakes is much more than wine though. There are lakes too. And they are GORGES. And there are gorges too which are definitely really pretty. I know there are some scientific reasons for the lakes formations, but I’ll let Steve tell you about that. I will focus on the essential info: winetimes.

The first time we came to The Finger Lakes we stayed on Seneca Lake in a not awesome campsite. It also rained a lot and it was then that we discovered our tent was not waterproof. We also spilt Smoked Vanilla Porter, which is delicious, but not great when your pillows after the beer-ness soaks through. But this time? So much better. We camped in Lake Cayuga State Park, which is definitely more of a park than actual campground, but we had a bathhouse right next to us, which I’m really starting to like on the camplife. This was even more awesome when we discovered that it was super buggy and the water washed off the millions of bugs constantly surrounding us. Also, being a 10 minute walk to Cayuga Lake made our water-loving puppy super happy. Seriously, the look she gets when she even sees water is the look I get when I see cupcakes. Kindred Spirits.

One of the main draws to The Finger Lakes is the incredible wine region and since we explored Seneca Lake last time, we made the decision to explore Cayuga Lake this time. One thing that is posing to be quite difficult is finding activities that are both people and puppy-friendly. Since most people seem to thing that dogs are dirty, disgusting creatures, it makes it hard to have a good time without feeling guilty for leaving our extremely awesome puppy behind. But this is so not a problem in The Finger Lakes. Dogs are even allowed in the tasting room. Every.Single.One. Ella is a people whore. And her go-to move is lying on her side, poised for belly rubs. Which she did several times in all the wineries. When puppy is happy, Sarah is happy.

Since there are often so many wines to try Steve and I will typically split a tasting. It allows us to visit more than 3 vineyards and get to try a variety of flavors. The days of 8 vineyards in a day (yes, that has happened) may be behind us, but when I have a wine tasting buddy like Steve, you never know.

The first one we went to was Knapp Winery and it was a great way to start off. Collectively we tried 10 or 12 different wines but at only about a sip each it was the perfect way to start off. I like The Finger Lakes wines because they do German-style whites very very well. We ended up with a bottle of Seyval Blanc, which is perfect for sticky, hot days, which is exactly what we had in The Finger Lakes.

I definitely have favorite vineyards but every so often I discover one that shoes knocks my socks off and makes me want to whip out the plastic and max it out. Sheldrake Point Winery is one of those. First, it’s in an amazing location, overlooking Cayuga Lake. They even have their own private beach there. But the wine. The wine is amazing. Summer means rosé and they have a kickass one. Slightly dry, with fruity notes, but doesn’t taste like strawberry syrup. It absolutely is perfect for sitting and sipping. I wanted to buy everything, but we just ended up with 3 bottles. If you do wine tasting right – yes there is a right way to do it – bring a picnic of meat, cheeses, and bread. Pick a table, drink your wine, and time just seems to stop.

Next we headed to an old favorite, Lamoreaux Landing, this one on Seneca Lake. Wine tasting in a Greek-revival building is quite an experience. Last summer we bought 4 bottles from here and they are all delicious. Once again, super-dog-friendly, which I think makes any experience even better. The view from the tasting room is breathtaking and the winery is worth a visit just for that. But the wine is also amazing, so you should go.

We ended our winery adventure at Swedish Hill Vineyard. This one is a very large producer of award-winning Finger Lake wine. But to be honest, I was not impressed. Everything was overly sweet and fruity, not to mention they just have so many. In my wine experience it’s always the vineyards that produce a few that do them very well. It was good to experience one of the most prolific wineries in The Finger Lakes, but I think we were more successful earlier in the day.

While we are on the topic of alcohol, Grist Iron Brewery deserves a mention. As our time was running short and we needed to be in Pennsylvania to meet some friends for camping, we had a very important decision to make: visit the Seneca Falls Women’s Museum or drink more. Well, apparently beer beats feminism. You don’t find many breweries in The Finger Lakes, in fact I think this may be one of two or three, but, oh man. It is seriously worth it. Every single beer is delicious. We revisited Smoked Vanilla Porter which I will always be a fan of. If a leather-bound chair in an old-timey library was a beer, this would be it. It’s smoky and sweet, and heavy so it fills you up with feelings of being more elevated than you actually are. I actually feel cooler when drinking this. We took a growler of a great IPA instead, which is a shock because I don’t like IPA. Although it is becoming quite clear that I actually do.

When you need a break from drinking The Finger Lakes have some incredible gorges and hikes through waterfalls that are not to be missed. This time around we went to Taughannock Falls and walked through a valley to end up at an incredible waterfall. The water is extremely low this year so it wasn’t gushing down like it typically is, but still really incredible. There are some really incredible geological events that formed the incredible gorges, which I know Steve will write about. I’m here for the wine. But I also like to walk through gorges too.