I was so excited to see the #WorldWineTravel writers prompt for September: summer wine travels. I knew right away that I wanted to share some of the awesomeness we experienced on our trip to the Finger Lakes.

This region has been on my list of places I’d like to visit for a long tine. Finally in June, my husband and I made our way to Geneva, at the top of Lake Seneca. Wow were we blown away!

Located in upstate New York, and encompassing 11 lakes, there are many options for where to fly in to, where to stay, and what to visit.

We chose to stay at the top of Lake Seneca, the largest and deepest lake of the region, in a town called Geneva. This turned out to be a great spot, not only because our AirBNB was fabulous, but we could pretty easily get to the neighboring lakes, Keuka and Cayuga. Geneva is a quaint small town with a college, restaurants, general walkability.

Day 1

We flew in to Rochester, but Syracuse and Ithaca are also good options. We arrived around Noon, grabbed our rental car (which turned out to be a Ford Bronco – score!), and decided to head straight to our first winery, Hermann Wiemer.

Herman Wiemer was the first Demeter certified winery east of the Rocky Mountains! Demeter certification is a rigorous path, that takes a serious dedication to sustainable growing and winemaking practices. I would have loved to learn more about all this, and they were actually offering a tour of the vineyards and farm on the afternoon we were here. I didn’t register for the tour ahead of time because I was afraid of travel delays, etc. I was hoping there would be availability when we arrived, but is was sold out.

In the tasting room, you are able to customize your tastings from a long menu of available wines. We sampled several Rieslings, a couple of Gewurztraminers, and Cabernet Francs, and all of the wines here were outstanding. We also had a wonderful charcuterie board composed of locally made cheeses and meats that I somehow neglected to take a picture of.

The grounds, the wines, the food were all just beautiful, but unfortunately our tasting room experience was a bit off. Our guide began asking about how we got into wine. Ordinarily this would be a great ice breaker but I felt as though she were trying to gage or knowledge level and was doing it in a way that I thought might be intimidating and/or alienating to a younger and/or newer wine enthusiast. I made the mistake of sharing that I have been writing a blog for many years and just really love everything about wine. I did not mention that I hold the CSW designation because I just rarely ever do.

Our guide appeared with a “surprise” wine and said that the staff had just opened this today and wanted to know what I thought. It was very muted, and I didn’t get much on the nose or the palate. I told her this and that it was my least favorite of anything we had tasted. She then told us that it was one they thought might have been past it’s prime. It is hard to convey the overall vibe that was happening here, but it did not feel congenial. It felt like I was blatantly tested by the staff after divulging that I write about wine. Not cool.

The next stop was Belhurst Castle. An historic, and somewhat dated structure, I was told that it has a great little happy hour bar with an excellent view of Seneca Lake. We stopped here on our way to our AirBnB. It did in fact have a beautiful view and the staff was amazing. The Stonecutter’s Tavern is tucked off of the Lobby and has such a 1970’s vibe! It even has a sunken bar that I sincerely regret not getting a picture of.

Our AirBnB was fantastic. It was truly a historic building, in the rows of townhouses on South Main Street known as Rainbow Row. It was quirky but perfect in every way, including a balcony with a view of the lake.

For dinner we had booked a reservation at KindredFare. This was a great little spot that we did have to drive 5 minutes to. It is located in a strip mall, but don’t be put off by that. The food, the cocktails, and the service were fantastic.

Day 2

The only real plan for today was to hit Forge Cellars, Taughannock Falls, and an ice cream stand with duck egg custard flights. The Spotted Duck was not yet open on our way out. I guess ice cream for breakfast is not a thing.

Our next stop was Taughannock Falls State Park, located on Cayuga Lake. This was a gorgeous waterfall that is actually a few feet taller than Niagara Falls. It has a wild history that includes the building of an historic Inn that overlooked the falls. The developers faked finding the bones of giant human during the construction. Cornell University got involved and much money was made by selling tickets to view the giant bones before the entire thing was revealed to be a hoax. Today, the Visitor Center sits where the former Inn was.

Next stop was Forge Cellars and I can’t say enough good things about this wonderful place. Our guide here was Anthony who is not only an excellent tasting room host, but an accomplished author. We spent more time here than we had planned and my only regret is that we couldn’t stay longer.

The wines were outstanding, and the Wagner Vineyard Riesling is my favorite Riesling hands down.

Forge is a collaboration between the Rhone producer Louis Barroul of Saint Cosme and Rick Rainey. I have been a long time fan of Saint Cosme wine and have even spent time hunting down wine of their white wines in my area – Les Deux Albions.

I think Forge tries to fly under the radar. The only identifying signage is a tiny little sticker on their mailbox. They don’t accept tour busses, or reservations for the tasting room. The wines are too good for anonymity, people will find them.

We arrived not long after they opened on a Saturday morning. The weather was chilly and cloudy and we opted to stay seated inside. We ended up talking with Anthony at length and sampling so many wines, including a Pinot Noir that I can’t get out of my head, and regret not buying. I am planning to place an order soon. I might even join the club here. The tasting room filled up over the course of the morning and we eventually moved outside to the patio overlooking Seneca Lake. There was also a charcuterie board involved here. It had fresh french bread and I am telling, if you find yourself here, do not pass this up.

After forcing ourselves to move on, we stopped at Standing Stones Farms winery. Imagine our surprise when we realized that this is a sister winery to Herman Wiemer, just located on the other side of the lake. Not only that, but the first person we see upon entering the tasting room is our guide from Herman Wiemer yesterday! Luckily it was someone else’s turn in the rotation so we didn’t have to interact with her again.

We did a short sample here of a few wines that were unique to the east side location and headed back to Geneva to explore the little town a bit.

Our AirBnB was completely walkable to everything in Geneva. We discovered a speakeasy in the Vinifera wine market that featured all locally made spirits. I highly recommend a stop here for a cocktail. For dinner we wandered into The Rusty Pig, just down the street. We were starving and our entrees were ginormous! All in all a great day.

Day 3

Today was not only Father’s Day, but our 34th wedding anniversary. I had hired a driver through Main Street Drivers so that we could relax and really enjoy the day stress free.

Main Street Drivers offers a driver for your car, or rental car. This reduced the cost of hiring a driver by about 50% from all the places I got quotes from.

Our driver made sure we knew that his partner and his son had just dropped him off – it was Father’s Day after all. I got you dude. I am holiday tipping even if you are only a cat dad.

All of the wineries we scheduled tastings at today were on Keuka Lake. The difference in feel of the two looks was profound in my opinion. On Seneca you feel like you are riding around the top of the lake in a pretty uncomplicated oval. On Keuka we felt much closer to the lake and it felt more intimate. It also had winding roads, which proves to be my downfall today.

Our first stop was the Finger Lakes legend, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery. A pioneer of the region, he began planting his vitis vinifera vineyards in the late 1950’s.

We did the Signature Seated Tasting for a mere $18 a person. We tasted through several wines, including sparkling wines, which were our favorite.

We ordered the charcuterie board, again using completely local ingredients, including rosé “dust” from the winery. I believe he said the “dust” was from the rosé barrels? Or maybe the spent must? Whatever, I am here for this!

From here, our driver took us to a lovely scenic overlook and took our picture. I truly appreciated this as I am horrible at remembering to take photos.

Unfortunately, from here, the day begins to take a turn. I am not usually prone to motion sickness, but as soon as we got back in the car after this photo, I began to feel hints of motion sickness. I am not sure if it was the Bronco, the hilly and winding road we were on, the driving, being in the backseat, or a combination of all of it.

We made an impromptu stop at Living Roots wine cellars because it was recommended by so many people, including our driver.

Living Roots is an Australian/Finger Lakes collaboration. Existing literally because two people fell in love, it is owned by a husband and wife team who are natives of the Finger Lakes and Adelaide Hills in South Australia.

The tasting room and vineyards at Living Roots were stunningly beautiful. John tasted a couple of wines here, because I was seriously trying to makes this nauseousness go away.

Stop number 3 was Weiss Vineyards. We opted to just get a glass here and sit and chill with a gorgeous view. I am feeling worse not better, but I still have hope I can overcome this motion sickness.

We had a 2:30 appointment at the Ravines Cellars location on Keuka lake.

I am struggling here. I decide to go ahead with the tasting. I am not sure why because I was completely unfocused on anything other than my motion sickness and knew at this point that I was losing the battle.

The tasting here was a standing one, done indoors. Our host was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed the stop. Well, as much as I could anyway.

Our last scheduled wine stop was McGregor Vineyards. I cannot say enough about how hospitable and gracious they were here. They reimbursed us for our prepaid tastings and got John a glass of wine and me a glass of water. We sat on the patio with a gorgeous view of the lake. But I was feeling so, so awful at this point.

McGregor champions the Saperavi grape which grows well in this region. I am sad I didn’t get to explore this or their charcuterie board, but it will be my first stop on a return visit.

The 40 minute ride back to the AirBnB was a dicey one! I finally had the good sense to move to the front seat but it was far too late to do any good. I think the driver was a little worried that I was actually going to toss my cookies in the car. Honestly, I would have given $1,000,000.00 to toss my cookies if it would’ve made me feel any better. If you’ve ever had motion sickness, you know that you really just can’t. Ugh.

We did make it back without any issues buy my husband thought there was no way we were going to make to our pre-paid, non-refundable dinner reservation. I had my doubts, but all I knew was I just needed to lay down, close my eyes and be STILL. Luckily after a 45 minute nap, I woke up feeling perfectly fine! Whew! Off we went to dinner.

FLX Table is a chef’s table experience with a pre-set tasting menu. It has received many awards and accolades since it’s opening in 2017. A fresh and local menu, a communal table, and open kitchen, it is a foodie must do if visiting Geneva.

All of our courses were outstanding but the vibe was a bit awkward to me. It wouldn’t stop me from going back if I am ever in the area again because the food was truly excellent. But the before and after flow just felt forced and awkward and the wine pairings were not anything to write home about. I was very curious about the non-alcoholic pairings they offer and regret not giving those a try.

Day 4

Our flight out was not until 6:00 pm so we had a full day of exploring left.

The goal today was to hike at Watkins Glen State Park, located at the bottom of Seneca lake. We also still needed our duck egg custard flights.

First stop was The Spotted Duck where enjoyed a flight of custards sitting amongst the ducks that made it possible.

We entered Watkins Glen at the upper parking lot and started our hike. I must say it is as gorgeous and stunning as every photo you’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately due to deficits my husband suffers from his stroke last year, we only made it about half way and had to turn around. The rushing water, going in one direction, people going in another, a wet and slick trail, were all too much for his vision and balance. Luckily there was a cut off to an upper trail that was away from the water and also dry ground.

We headed to the lower entrance as there was a waterfall and bridge here I really wanted to see. I hiked solo for a little bit of the trail from this end.

Mission accomplished!

I still can’t believe what a great trip this turned out to be. Amazing wine, amazing food, amazing scenery. And everything was so local, it was just a great vibe.

We brought our Vin Guard Valise that holds 12 bottles, and somehow ended up with 13! Wine math lol!

I couldn’t believe that the first podcast I happened to tune into after this trip was an episode of Unfiltered on travel hacks, which discusses motion sickness on wine trips in detail. I had never thought of it before but, it is a thing, with all the winding roads, passenger vans, wine, etc. In case you don’t have time to listen, it is ginger candies and alcohol wipes (like for your glasses). I can assure I will never be without these items for future travels.

If you love reading about trave and wine adventures – and who doesn’t? – please click the links below to read about the travels and experiences of my fellow #WorldWineTravel writers.

• A Day at Champagne Vaucelle Remembered at Apéro by FoodWineClick!
• A Wine to Enjoy Around the Campfire by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Montefalco Rosso, A Revelation by Avvinare
• Our Central European Whirlwind – Prague, Vienna, and Budapest – Paired with Wine by Culinary Cam
• Sipping, Nibbling, and Hiking Through the Finger Lakes by Side Hustle Wino
• South Dakota Wine and Other Summer Sips by Cooking Chat
• Summer Wine Adventures: Cedar Lake Cellars by Our Good Life