WRRV Goes to the Finger Lakes

Lucky enough to have some time off I ventured out and explored some of the beauty of our great state. Check out what I found!

If you know me then you know I love only a few things, music, cats, travel oh and I guess I should say my husband! (Love you hun!) So when I found myself running into the rare opportunity of having a few days off in a row, from all three of my jobs (yes three) I jumped in the car and hit the road, with my husband....not the cats.

There are so many awesome places that you can check out within a few hours drive from the Hudson Valley and although four hours in a car can seem daunting the end result is usually worth the hike. My recent adventure took me to Western New York to the Finger Lakes Region. Oh and that reminds me, I need to add to the above list....I love love alcohol...

So of course checking out the Finger Lakes was slightly motivated by the knowledge that it's an amazing region for wine...specializing in Riesling, one of my favorites! There are over two hundred wineries in the region (and no I didn't get to them all) and now with the popularity of breweries and distilleries increasing there is something for everyone.

This time of year can be a little bit of a gamble with the weather but the timing also means you can get a pretty sweet deal on accommodations. We stayed at a place on Seneca Lake called the Glenora Inn. Over looking the lake and vineyards this place was amazing and at only $99 a night, a steal!

So now that we had our awesome deal on our sweet digs we set out to explore but how to narrow the options. Well that is the other benefit of going during off peak times...some of them are actually closed this time of year...so that narrowed it a tad. After that point we used good old fashioned know how to find our stops...if they were open...we stopped!

Now we only had one day to really get out and explore but I'm confident we found some really great places to check out...and some that you can feel free to skip over. Check out the recap below of my must visits in a list which also includes some breweries. Would you expect anything less! I must say the breweries were ok, one was pretty good but they didn't have anything close to what we have right here in the Hudson Valley. So needless to say we have brews on lock down in the H.V. but the finger lakes...well they have the vino!

So next time you have a few days off think about getting out and about and exploring the Finger Lakes...you may see me there! Heck I have about 190 more places to check out!!

Must visit...a.k.a. must taste list. 

Wineries

Hermann J Wiemer - Loved this place. Super cool design to the building too.

Anthony Road Wine Company-These guys made a special wine for the Yankees last year.

Fox Run Vineyards- As a Marist Fox I had to try this place. Great variety of wines.

Chateau Lafayettte Reneau- Also try the cider, it's yum!

Atwater Estate Vineyards-I recommend doing the chocolate pairing option for your tasting.

Breweries 

Climbing Bines - They specialize in hops so I didn't think I would like these guys but they were the best I tried. High marks, cool puppies and nice trucker hats!

Grist Iron Brewing-I'm torn about this place because I only had one beer. I didn't really like it which is why I didn't try more. We also ordered food which was good, not outstanding. The place was pretty nice and has major potential.

Starkey's Lookout-This place was right up my alley. They brew beer and wine. They had a lot of blonde and wit style beers which were all pretty good. My husband likes the darker beers so he tried them out and they were also very good (according to him). Wish we had gotten there in time to try the food. Also wish I wasn't so tuned up that I could try the wines too.

Feel free to keep on driving by...list.

Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards- They make Red Cat...enough said!

Seneca Shore Wine Cellars- Not bad but there are better. They do have a really cute kitty though!

Torrey Ridge Winery/Redneck Wines-Same mention as above only no cat so...

Earle Estates Meadery-I wasn't a huge fan of their wines...or their customer service however in the same building they also have Warthog Cidery which was awesome.