![]() ![]() The distillery, cider and craft beer movements also have boomed in the Finger Lakes region in the last five years. Taughannock Falls has a 215-foot-high waterfall - 30 feet taller than Niagara Falls. Wine tastings can even be done in a sleek mahogany runabout or other small boats on Cayuga Lake. You also can hire a private car or a limousine, or a designated driver to chauffeur your vehicle. I puttered down Seneca Lake’s western side, stopping for tastings at Billsboro, Fox Run and Red Tail Ridge wineries, and my car trunk began to fill. The network of lakes also makes this region ideal for following three wine trails - and a cheese trail - in crisp, sunny fall weather. The deep, cool lakes moderate the often extreme summer and winter weather, creating an ideal climate for cool-climate grapes such as Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc, among others grown, by the 120 wineries that flank their shores. ![]() The Finger Lakes’ signature wine is Riesling, a classic European grape producing sweet and dry wines, plus excellent ice wine. “This region’s many lakes, with their different slopes, create a microclimate that is more diverse - and I think better - than the Niagara region, which only has one lake,” she said. Knowledgeable co-owner Stephanie Mira de Orduna served me a flight of five Rieslings from around the world, including one from the Finger Lakes. That evening in Geneva, a small city graced with Greek Revival and Italianate homes at the northern tip of Seneca Lake, I settled into the chic Microclimate Wine Bar tucked away on historic downtown Linden Street. These days, it’s a popular kayak and canoe route and a scenic waterway for self-skippered European-style canal boats. I headed off on my rental bike (delivered to the inn) and pedaled two blocks to hook up with the pathway following the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825. Nearby is Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park, a lavish Queen Anne-style summer estate from 1885 surrounded by a spectacular 50 acres of formal gardens.Ī short drive away in Newark, I checked into the Vintage Gardens B&B, an elegant Tudor inn run by a California couple from Chico. There are hands-on cooking and wine classes, a gourmet boutique, tasting rooms and the Upstairs Bistro, where I enjoyed lunch ordered from a menu listing ingredients sourced from 40 local farmers and producers paired with wines from Long Island to the Finger Lakes. I had a great introduction to all things New York at the New York Wine & Culinary Center, a nonprofit showcase of the state’s foods, wines and brews. After a 40-minute drive from Rochester, N.Y., I arrived in lakefront Canandaigua. ![]()
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