Wine Spectator – September 30, 2019

TTRRAAVVEELL

Ravines Wine Cellars (ravineswine.com) purchased its

main facility on Seneca Lake and opened a tasting

room here in 2012 but also kept its original location on

Keuka Lake. The rustic Seneca tasting room is down a

dirt road, in the midst of wide-open vineland, but it’s

humming with activity. Visitors can sample dry Ries-

ling, barrel-aged Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Bordeaux

blends and more, starting at $5. There’s an in-house

chef who creates bites for tastings and wine dinners.

Stonecat Café (stonecatcafe.com) is a

well-loved restaurant among visitors

and the local wine trade alike. Its

120-selection wine list focuses solely

on the Finger Lakes, perhaps the most

comprehensive all-local program in the

area. The food is solid and covers a lot of ground,

from barbecue to duck confit. Reservations are rec-

ommended; make sure to ask to sit on the terrace.

20 WINE SPECTATOR • SEPT. 30, 2019

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Award of

Excellence

1833 Kitchen & Bar (1833kitchen.com), the main restaurant of the charming Inns of Aurora, is

a few minutes down the road from Heart & Hands, making it a great post-visit stop. There’s a

patio with serene views of the backyard and Cayuga Lake. The food is fresh and well-executed,

the service is attentive, and the 110-selection wine list has a nice array of bottlings to sip al-

fresco, including many local options.

Boston seafood chowder

Cayuga Lake

Heart & Hands estate vineyard

Heart & Hands Wine Company (heartand

handswine.com) is a little out of the way from

the main wine trail, but it’s well worth the trek.

Atypically for the area, the winery focuses on

Pinot Noir, including single-vineyard bottlings,

but it also produces Riesling, Chardonnay and

sparkling wines, among others. It sources from

estate vineyards as well as grower partners on

Seneca, Cayuga and Skaneateles lakes. The

small tasting room offers educational guided

tastings, with either a vineyard or cellar tour, for

$30 per person; regular wine flights start at $5.

A Guiding Hand to the Finger Lakes

BY EMMA BALTER

D

ownstate New Yorkers often forget that there are wine regions in

their backyard. Among the most visit-worthy is the Finger Lakes,

a picturesque region close to the Canadian border that made its

name with Riesling but has more than one trick up its sleeve. Wineries

have elevated their visitor experiences over the years, creating a vibrant

wine trail. Here’s a guide to some of the best places on the two main

lakes, Seneca and Cayuga.

Seneca Lake

Award of

Excellence

Anthony Road Wine Company (anthonyroadwine

.com) makes a range of wines from a dozen varieties,

including Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Cabernet

Franc and Pinot Noir, some bottled in a series reflect-

ing winemaking style experiments. You can sample

the wines through themed flights for $5–$10. The

tasting room is vast and inviting, with a patio offer-

ing striking views of Seneca Lake.

Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard (wiemer.com) is

a standard-bearer for high quality wine offerings

in the Finger Lakes, notably through its single-vine-

yard Rieslings from HJW, Magdalena and Josef

vineyards, as well as with its méthode traditionnelle

sparkling wines and many more. Regular tastings

cost $8 for six wines; flights that focus on a grape

or style cost $12–$15; and tailored tastings are

$25–$50. Walk-ins are accepted, but reservations

are recommended.

Winemaker Fred Merwarth (left) and Oskar Bynke,

co-owners of Hermann J. Wiemer