The Finger Lakes

Glaciers gouged eleven long narrow lakes into the hills of upstate New York, and the deep water moderates the climate enough that vines survive winters that would otherwise kill them. The result is the most convincing cool-climate wine region in the country, built above all on Riesling, which ripens here with the acidity that the grape needs and which the warmer American regions cannot give it; Cabernet Franc and sparkling wines follow. Wine trails run down both sides of Seneca and Cayuga, the two largest lakes. At the southern end, Watkins Glen has a gorge trail that climbs past nineteen waterfalls through a slot of layered shale, walking under and behind the water on stone stairs cut a century ago.

History

The region is at the heart of the Haudenosaunee homeland, and the Seneca and Cayuga gave their names to the two largest lakes; the Tuscarora lived here from about 1720, and in 1753 the Tutelo-Saponi settled at Coreorgonel at the south end of Cayuga Lake. Seneca and Cayuga towns stood near present-day Geneseo, Geneva, Aurora and Watkins Glen, and the name Finger Lakes for the group goes back to the late 19th century (Wikipedia, Finger Lakes).

Highlights

• Riesling on the wine trails - cellar doors down both shores of Seneca and Cayuga.
• Watkins Glen gorge - nineteen waterfalls on a stone stairway through a slot.
• Taughannock Falls - a single drop higher than Niagara, near Ithaca.
• The Corning Museum of Glass - a serious glass collection at the region's edge.

When to go

June to October, with the harvest in September and autumn colour in early October the best of it; many cellar doors reduce hours in winter. The gorge trail at Watkins Glen closes from roughly November to May because of ice. Summer weekends on the wine trails are busy with parties.

Practical notes

Tasting means driving between wineries on lake roads, so arrange a driver or a tour. Quality is uneven, with serious producers next door to places selling sweet novelty wine to bus groups, and the trail brochures do not distinguish. The gorge trail is closed for half the year and its car park fills by mid-morning in summer.

Nearby

Ithaca and Cornell are at the south end of Cayuga; Niagara Falls is three hours west.

Key facts