Wine and Spirits Travel

It was time for Meg to go home and two more knowledgeable guides Teresa and Nicole, to take over and escort me through the scenery, attractions and wineries of the region.  Despite all I have seen, I am beginning to feel I’m not even scratching the surface on this trip.  There is just so much to see, do (and taste) in this area! The first stop was one of the biggest and most known wineries in this area, Dr. Konstantin Frank’s , home of the namesake wine, as well as Salmon Run and Chateau Frank sparkling wines.  The quickest way to sum up the quality of this winery is to point out the 40 gold medals their wine has won – in 2010 alone.  As if great wines weren’t enough, the winery offers some of the most absolutely incredible views you will ever see up here, with the vineyards in the front and Keuka Lake behind it.  Those vineyards have quite a history as Dr. Frank pioneered the growth of vinifera in the United States back in 1951 in his successful quest to bring Northern European win

After lunch at the Red Dove Tavern , Meg and I made a quick stop to check out Long Pier.  This is a great place to see the beauty of Seneca Lake.  It’s one of those sites you could stare at for hours, but there was still so much more of Finger Lakes to see on this day. Belhurst Castle & Winery is definitely one of those places I look forward to returning to for a longer visit.  We walked around the grounds, patio and exquisite restaurant a bit, but didn’t get to spend any time looking at the Inn or newly built spa.  I did, however, get to taste some of their wines.   They have an interesting assortment here, including a Sparkling wine, with lots of lemon and floral flavors.  Their Neptune is a good blend of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer.  I really liked the Cayuga and thought the most interesting was the Carrie Blush, named after the Belhurst founder Carrie Collins.  I was a bit skeptical when it was described as “cotton candy,” but I did get that flavor

I didn’t get quite as much sleep as I would have liked to start my first full day in Finger Lakes, but I was not about to let it get me down when I had such a great schedule ahead of me.  Meg from the Finger Lakes Visitors’ Center picked me up in Canandaigua bright and early, immediately improving my mood with a stop at the South Bristol Overlook. It was the first of many breaktaking views of lakes, mountains and valleys I was to see here and, even though I would have been content to explore it all day, I had wine to get to. The first winery of the day was a perfect choice. It was only 9:00 am so my mind wasn’t quite in tasting mode, but Tim and Diane quickly changed that in their laid back winery where they told me “we wanted to imagine more in life.”  Each bottle is a journey, not just by its name, but in the creative quotes and unique etches of their children on the bottles.  It all started – appropriately – with “Love,” Imagine Moore’s semi-dry Riesling, their most popular

I grew up in New York and spent most of my adult life there, but have never made it up to the Finger Lakes Region .   I had heard of the beauty of the lakes – Canandaigua, Keuka Park, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneatles and Orisco.  It wasn’t something I put high on my priority list, preferring to spend most of my vacation time heading south, west, or in the Caribbean.  Then I heard about the wines.  Not only were the wines from this region becoming well-known, but I was starting to hear more and more wineries around the country that were getting grapes from the Finger Lakes.  I knew it was time to check this place out. First of all, visiting the Finger Lakes wine country isn’t something you do for the day (unless you live in the area).  The region spans through over 600 miles of shoreline and includes over 100 wineries.  I would never attempt such an endeavor by myself so I called in the reinforcement which, in most cases, is the convention and visitors’ bureau and Finger Lakes has