A Weekend in the Finger Lakes (Seneca Wine Trail)
- nicole elizabeth
- Apr 14
- 10 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Last January, my boyfriend and I took a trip to New York to visit the Finger Lakes area to celebrate our 2-year anniversary. We both love wineries and have heard great things about the Finger Lakes, specifically the Seneca Wine Trail, and it certainly did not disappoint for our first time there! Seneca Lake, where we stayed, is home to 30 wineries! Here's how we spent our weekend in the Finger Lakes-
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Table of Contents:
About the Finger Lakes:
The Finger Lakes are located in central New York and are made up of 11 narrow lakes that resemble the fingers on a hand, hence the name. The lakes that make up the Finger Lakes are: Otisco Lake, Skaneateles Lake, Owasco Lake, Cayuga Lake, Seneca Lake, Keuka Lake, Canandaigua Lake, Honeoye Lake, Canadice Lake, Hemlock Lake, and Conesus Lake. Cayuga and Seneca lake are probably two of the most well-known among the 11, however, the entire area is stunning, and there is so much to do and see in this region. The Finger Lakes region contains over 100 wineries & breweries, 3 distinct wine trails (Seneca Wine Trail, Cayuga Wine Trail, Keuka Wine Trail), hiking, water recreation, and charming, scenic towns.
Day One: Watkins Glen State Park & Brewery
We got to the finger lakes area around noon on a Friday afternoon. Coming from southeastern, PA, we had about a 4-hour drive to Watkins Glen State Park. We decided, since we were staying in the town of Burdett, which is on the southern side of Seneca Lake, it would make sense for this to be our first stop.
Watkins Glen State Park:
Watkins Glen was absolutely beautiful, even covered in snow! Neither of us had been to this park before, and with the snow, it was like walking into a true winter wonderland. Watkins Glen is located at the southern tip of Lake Seneca at 1009 N Franklin St, Watkins Glen, NY 14891. The main attraction at the park is the 400-foot deep gorge, which features 19 waterfalls. The most popular trail in the park is the Gorge Trail, a 2-mile trail that winds down into the gorge and takes you through some of the waterfalls. Not only do you get to experience waterfalls from all angles on this trail, but you'll also experience Jacob's Ladder, which consists of 180 stone steps located near the end of the trail. The Gorge Trail is typically open from late Spring to early Fall, weather permitting. Unfortunately, because we went in the middle of January, we obviously could not get close to the falls, so we just had to admire the gorge from the Rim Trail up above, which was fine too. Despite some trails being closed, we still got to explore and walk around, taking in the beautiful scenery! Even if you're not a hiker, this park is a must-visit stop if you're in the Finger Lakes area. During the Summer, the park offers camping, picnic areas, and an Olympic-size swimming pool for visitors. This is also a dog-friendly park, however, dogs must be leashed, and they are not allowed on the Gorge Trail. I believe during the regular season, it is $10 per vehicle to enter the park. Everything about this park was beautiful, and I'm so glad we took the opportunity to visit during a season that I probably would've never planned to visit the park otherwise!
Local Brews:
After we spent some time at the park, we headed over to Grist Iron Brewing Company, located at 4880 NY-414, Burdett, NY 14818. This brewery was founded in 2015 and is a microbrewery that sits on 150 acres overlooking Seneca Lake. They offer 15 different beers on tap at all times, and all of the beers are created on site. Iron Grist also serves food, host events, and just have an overall cool atmosphere! While I definitely recommend checking this brewery out, some other local breweries in the southern region of Seneca Lake include Two Goats Brewing (Burdett), Seneca Lake Brewing Company (Rock Stream), Rooster Fish Brewing (Watkins Glen), and Scale House Brewery (Hector). I truly don't think you'll find a bad brewery here! After our time at the brewery, we headed back to our airbnb to end day one with some board games and movies.
Day Two: Wineries, Wineries, and More Wineries!
Day two was our big winery day, but we first started off with breakfast on the vineyard property at Hector Hideaway. It was so nice being able to just walk a couple feet down the road from our villa and enjoy this breakfast spot. The food was amazing!
Seneca Wine Trail:
During my visit, we specifically spent all of our time along the Seneca Wine Trail. Seneca Lake is the deepest of the Finger Lakes and is one of the most popular wine regions, containing over 30 wineries, breweries, cideries, and distilleries. The Seneca Wine Trail stretches from Watkins Glen (South) to Geneva (North). Due to the climate that the lake creates by helping to moderate temperatures, it makes this area ideal for grape growing with some of the award-winning wines being Rieslings, Cabernet Francs, Gewurztraminers (my boyfriend's newfound favorite after this trip) and Chardonnays. We found it easier to stick to one region since we only had 1 full day for the wineries, but I'd love to go back and explore some of the other regions in a longer trip one day!
Winery Number One: Three Brothers Wineries and Estates:
After finishing breakfast, we started the main event of the day- our self-guided winery tour! Winery number one was my favorite of the day. We started at Three Brothers Wineries & Estates located at 623 Lerch Rd, Geneva, NY 14456. It was such a fun vibe here, and the property was really nice! The winery features 4 tasting rooms: Stony Lonesome Wine Cellars, Passion Feet Wine Bar, Bagg dare Wine Co, and War Horse Brewing Co. What I loved about this winery was that each tasting room was different in what they specialized in, so you could truly pick the one that best fit your taste for wine! Stony Lonesome specializes in more traditional, dry, and dessert sweet wines. Passion Feet specializes in fruity, sweet, and semi-sweet wines. Bagg Dare specializes in Bayou-inspired sweet wines, and is the most photographed on the property, and lastly, War Horse Brewing specializes in a variety of craft beers, sodas, and hard ciders. Passion Feet Wine was our tasting room of choice; it had such a fun and funky vibe, and the wine was great! This is a boutique-style tasting room to honor bold, brazen, brilliant women. I am a big sweet wine gal, so I loved all of the wines here! When we went, they had a wine slushy as well, which was equally as amazing as their normal wines. Tasting options here include guided tours, which must be booked in advance, available Monday-Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., or self guided flight options on a first-come-first-served basis. The hours vary by day and season, so I recommend checking out their website before planning your visit here!
Winery Number Two: Wagner Vineyards Estate Winery:
We headed to winery number 2, Wagner Vineyards Estate Winery, located at 9322 NY-414, Lodi, NY 14860. Established in 1979, this is a family-owned winery and is also one of the oldest in the Finger Lakes region. The vineyards span over 250 acres, and what's cool about this winery is that all of the wines are 100% produced from their own sustainably managed vineyards. This winery has over 30 award-winning wines and is one of the region's most popular tasting destinations. They have wines ranging from super dry to dessert sweet, and this was where my boyfriend discovered his new favorite type of wine: Gewurztraminer. Here, tastings are offered daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and you have the option for a guided tasting (reservations are recommended), a self-guided wine flight tasting, which is what we did, and their newest option of a library wine tasting, which includes learning about how wine varies and changes over time.
Winery Number Three: Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards:
Our third stop was Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards, located at 5712 NY-414, Hector, NY 14841. Beginning in 1852, the founders of this winery started off by shipping fruit produced on their vineyard to different markets by way of wagon, boat, and railroad. By the early 1900's the founder's son purchased a farm next to the land his parents had owned, which was then passed down two more generations. By the 1980s, the founders great-grandsons had divided the land, and both operated vineyards on the property! The winery was officially started in 1985. There is so much ongoing family history behind this vineyard, and one of its most popular wines, Red Cat Wine. Tastings are offered on a first-come-first-served basis and the hours vary by day of the week and season. I recommend checking their website before your visit for their tasting room hours! This is more of a traditional tasting room in the sense that we sat at a big horseshoe table in the middle of the room and had someone pour our wine samples one by one, rather than us doing our own flight tasting like the previous wineries had the option for.
Winery Number Four: Silver Springs Winery:
Our next stop was Silver Springs Winery, located at 4408 NY-414, Burdett, NY 14818. This family-owned winery was opened in 2004 and maintains a deeprooted history for full bodied, handcrafted reds, and fruity, rich white wines. It is a micro winery that offers a hippie home like atmosphere. This winery offers more of a hippie style vibe and features an art gallery featuring local artists. Tastings here are super interactive, and individualized in a standing tasting style on a first-come-first-served basis, and you can choose from a traditional wine flight, or dessert wine tasting.
Winery Number Five: Red Newt Cellars:
Our last winery stop was Red Newt Cellars, located at 3675 Tichenor Rd, Hector, NY 14841. Founded in 1998, this winery has been named among Wine & Spirits Magazine's 2011 Top 100 wineries of the year, and the owner is one of the top winemakers in the Finger Lakes region! This was one of the other wineries that featured my boyfriend's newfound favorite wine haha. This winery also featured a pretty good food menu as well! This winery produces 20,000 cases of wine annually, and is best known for their reislings, my favorite type of wine. Tasting options here include a traditional stand-up tasting, which is offered daily from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on a first-come-first-served basis. There is also a seated tasting option, which is what we did, that is offered daily from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. where you can get wine by the glass, flight, or bottle.
My Wine Verdict:
It was hard to choose my favorite of the wineries that we visited, and I know we didnt even graze the surface of all of the wineries this region has to offer, but I guess that's just an excuse to go back again! I think my favorite winery for the vibes and atmosphere was the Passion Feet Wine tasting room at Three Brothers, but my favorite wine was probably from Wagner Vineyards. Overall, I was not disappointed with any of them though!! While we chose to do mostly self-guided tours because we wanted to explore at our own pace, websites like getyourguide and viator offer differently tour options if you'd like a more structured plan. Here is a great example of one of the tour options you could book https://getyourguide.tp.st/n2n50KdJ , but you can also typically book tasting options right on the individual winery websites. Regardless, if you decide to book a tour(s) through a group, or if you want to do a self guided tour like we did, the fingers lakes area offers PLENTY of transportation options to get from winery to winery which is definitely a super great resource to utilize if you want. Especially during the busy seasons though, make sure to reserve transportation far in advance!
Getting Around the Finger Lakes & Wine Trails:
Having access to a car is definitely necessary for getting around this region, no matter what part you're visiting. What's great about the wine trails though, is that there are several transportation options to get you from winery to winery. The first option is to drive yourselves from winery to winery, which allows more flexibility, however, will also require a designated driver. As mentioned aboved, there are several companies that offer guided wine tours, and will take you from tasting to tasting. Also available along the wine trails are designated driver services, where you can actually use your own vehicle and hire a driver. Lastly, there are two options for a more unique experience, the lakeside trolley and the Finger Lakes Rail Riders. Make sure to do your research before your trip, as some of these options may not be available year round.
Where We Stayed:
There are a ton of places to stay all around different parts of the Finger Lakes. We stayed at Vineyard Villas in Burdett, which is located on the southern end of Seneca Lake. Such a cute little villa sitting on a vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake. We had a great stay here, their website can be found here: https://thevineyardvillas.com Depending on which area you want to stay in, there are also several options to check out on places like VRBO https://vrbo.tp.st/3DyuCqJn.
Where We Ate:
Elf in the Oak (4221 NY-414, Burdett, NY 14818
Hector Hideaway (located right on the property of our airbnb!) (3708 Mathews Rd, Burdett, NY 14818)
Jerlando's Ristorante & Pizza Co. (400 N Franklin St, Watkins Glen, NY 14891)
Final Thoughts:
We had a great experience in the Finger Lakes and I would love to take a trip back when it's warmer and experience a different part of the region. Visiting in the Winter definitely had it's cons, as it was freezing, and snowed while we were there, however, having virtually no crowds at any of the wineries we went to was super nice I hope this post inspires you to take your own trip to the finger lakes to enjoy the great wine scene! If I could only choose one winery to recommend visiting from the ones I went to on this trip, I would recommend Three Brothers, because it had the most diversity and options all on one property. Thanks for reading, and remember, there's always more to be explored :)
-nicole elizabeth
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