Finger Lakes Winery Reviews

Atwater Estate Vineyards - Great Wine & Great View

swirt — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:01:19 -0500

Atwater Estate Vineyards is located at the Southeastern side of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail. It is well known for having a wide variety of wine and a relaxed, friendly, yet knowledgeable tasting room staff. Its location and relaxed atmosphere makes it a great first stop if entering the trail from the South or a great finish if starting from the North.

Kings Garden Vineyards - A Dry little garden

swirt — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:59:25 -0400

Kings Garden Vineyards in Lodi, NY has been developing on the Eastern side of Seneca Lake for nearly two years and now it is finally open. It always impresses me when these new wineries start up and have great wine right out of the gate.

Cobblestone Farm Winery - Review

swirt — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:36:35 -0500

The Cobblestone Farm Winery is one of the newer wineries on the West side of the Cayuga Wine Trail. Onced housed in the farm's cobblestone house, it is now located in a more modern tasting room that has a lot going for it, but lacks cobblestones. The location of the winery is along Rt 89 in the town of Romulus. It is one of the northern most wineries on Cayuga Lake, second only to Motezuma Winery at the tip.

Choosing an Appropriate Wine Glass

swirt — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:47:02 -0500

Let's start with the obvious, you can drink wine out of any glass you want. Do what makes you happy. There are lots of varieties of wine glasses some of which are designed for aesthetics and appearance and others are designed for enjoying the wine. I don't need a "pretty" glass to do that, but if you do, then feel free to go for the most glamorous glass you want. Here are the things I look for in a wine glass.

Wagner Vineyards and Micro-Brewery Review

swirt — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:02:58 -0500

Wagner Vineyards and The Wagner Valley Brewing Company sits on East side of Seneca Lake in the town of Lodi. This estate winery has been open since 1979 so it has been on the Seneca Lake wine Trail for more than a quarter century.

Dr. Konstantin Frank - Winery Review

swirt — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:37:23 -0500

The winery of Dr. Konstantin Frank is considered by many to be the Grand Daddy of the wineries in the Finger Lakes. No it is not as old as the Pleasant Valley Wine Company, or as embattled as Bully Hill, nor was it the first to gain major international recognition (like Gold Seal was). It is however the work and determination of Dr.

Planning Parties - To raise spirits and make Finger Lakes plans

swirt — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:03:30 -0500

We are fortunate to have many guests of our B&B that are true fans of the Finger Lakes and come back year after year. Many come as groups of friends and hold "planning parties" over the Winter to plan for their trip. Usually to plan which wineries they want to hit, what great restaurants they want to return to and so on. This is a great way to beat the Winter blues and gives reason to raise glasses in celebration. I have been fortunate enough to hear tales of these planning parties and so I have learned what are critical parts.

Pump Your Wine to Keep Your Wine

swirt — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:00:03 -0500

Opening a bottle of wine presents itself immediately with a conundrum. If you open a bottle of wine (especially a tannic red) you want to let it breathe for an hour or more to let the tannins oxidize a little so that the wine becomes a little mellower and more round. The problem is, if you let the wine breathe too long the entire thing oxidizes and just ends up tasting bad. So the question arises of how do you keep half a bottle of wine around for a few days? The answer ranges from the simplistic "Put the cork back in" to the space-aged "inject it with an ine

Stever Hill Vineyards - Winery Review

swirt — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:55:47 -0500

Stever Hill Vineyards is located just a mile South of Branchport on the West side of Keuka Lake. On a recent visit we found that this winery fills a nice spot in the large gap between Dr. Frank's and Hunt Country.

A Rosé by Another Name Might Make You Blush

swirt — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:57:41 -0500

For many years the Finger Lakes "suffered" from a reputation that it could only make sweet Catawba-based Rosé wine. Years later the California based White Zinfandel is credited by many snobs as ruining the notion of a good Rosé. I'm not a big fan of White Zinfandel but I do credit it with being the wine that got a lot of people into drinking wine.