Our plan the second day of our wine excursion to the Finger Lakes was to sample 7 of the 17 wineries on the Cayuga Wine Trail. With the visit to Americana Vineyards the day before, we would therefore experience nearly half of the trail. Cayuga Lake is the longest of the glacier-carved Finger Lakes, about 40 miles long, and over 400 feet deep in spots.
After an early start, we arrived at our first destination at the northern tip of the lake, Montezuma Winery, upon opening. Named after the adjacent Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, this winery offer a full range of over 30 wines, as well as mead and distilled spirits. I tasted several dry/semi-dry white and red wines. Overall, the wines were average, but the Dry Riesling and Lemberger were nice. And, I learned something new--Lemberger is the German name for the Austrian wine grape Blaufränkisch, which I am quite familiar with. We have good friends Irene and Horst Pelzmann from Berg, Austria who produce a wonderful Blaufränkisch. I even got to stomp on some a few years ago during harvest. But, more about that some other time.
Traveling about 20 minutes south on the eastern side of Cayuga Lake brought us to our next stop, Long Point Winery, known for their dry white and red wines. This winery was a bit out of the way of the majority of other vineyards on the Cayuga Wine Trail, but I am so glad we decided to make the trip. The wines here are fantastic. My hubby and I both enjoyed a tasting, which really enabled us to try twice
as many wines, and we sampled 10 different white, red and rosé wines. The dry whites, especially the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio, were quite good. The dry rosé was still a bit too sweet for my taste. However, the dry reds were phenominal. I didn't try one that I didn't love, but my favorites were surprisingly the Sangiovese, Syrah and the dreamy 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. The well-rounded structure of the latter was unbelievable for a cold-weather Cab. Aged for 5 years in American and Hungarian oak, this wine has a beautiful toasty finish. Seeing how much we enjoyed the dry reds, our tasting associate Beatrice recommended several other wineries for us to add to our list over the next few days. One of her suggestions turned out to be my favorite of the trip.
A 40-minute drive took us around the southern tip of the lake through traffic-packed Ithaca and up to Lucas Vineyards, the oldest winery on Cayuga Lake. Our Tasting Associate Paul was very knowledgeable about the Finger Lakes Region and the winery. Lucas Winery essentially started in 1974 when Bill Lucas retired as a tug boat captain and moved his family from the Bronx to a 60-acre farm in Interlaken, New York. Talk about culture shock! This history explains the nautically themed wine names like Tug Boat Red and Dry Dock. Bill's wife Ruthie and his daughters really took to winemaking and in 1985, Ruthie co-founded the Cayuga Wine Trail, the oldest and longest running wine trail in the United States. I found the pre-selected wine choices to be average, but I had heard the sparkling wine was worth trying. And, it was. It was definitely fun to "Get Nautie" at Lucas Vineyards!
Just 2 minutes down the hill was Sheldrake Point Winery. While I found the wines here weren't noteworthy, the view right on the shore of the lake was certainly worth the short drive. It would be very nice to visit this winery by boat in the summer and there is a dock provided right across the street.
It was a good thing that our next stop was the Thirsty Owl Wine Company because we were definitely ready for some lunch. A friend of mine who visits the region often highly recommended the Bistro here. It was one of the busiest days of the year on the wine trail, so there was a 40 minute wait for a table, but that gave us some time to enjoy a tasting and do some shopping. We tried 10 wines here and found them to be average. Our favorites were two blends--Snow Owl, a semi-sweet white with a fruity start and a dry finish; and Meritage, a red blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. By the time we took our seats to eat, we were starving (and a bit light-headed). It probably wasn't the best day to visit the Bistro due to the overwhelming crowd and the tiny kitchen, but the daily special, Korean-spiced chicken wings with Asian slaw, was very good. Unfortunately, the weather was chilly, so we couldn't enjoy the great view from the Bistro deck. I look forward to visiting the Thirsty Owl again sometime in the summer.
Another short drive north along the western shore of Cayuga Lake brought us to Goose Watch Winery. The driveway to the tasting room was lined with chestnut trees and the winery sold the nuts by the bag. This was the first, and it turns out only, winery we visted that included Chambourcin on thier tasting list, a relatively new grape for the Finger Lakes Region. Chambourcin is the official wine grape of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, so I am quite familiar with this wine since all of my local vineyards produce one. Though not a bad interpretation, I prefer my local Chambourcins to the Goose Watch offering. I enjoyed the white wines at Goose Watch and found the Pinot Grigio quite unique and the Traminette well done.
The perfect last stop of the day was Varick Winery & Vineyard. The tasting room is situated
at the back of a country store full of preserves, salsas and dips to sample. The wine tasting itself was also very well done with morsels of cheese or chocolate to pair with each wine selection. Like Goose Watch, I preferred the white wines here. The Chardonnay, Seyval Blanc and Dry Vignoles were all very good. I also picked up some apple butter, fig preserves and curry dip mix to enjoy at home.
We had planned to have dinner at Otto Tomato's in Victor, NY again on the advice of a friend, but we couldn't even get near the packed little eatery. I'm sure the wait was at least 1.5 to 2 hours as there were enough people waiting inside and in the parking lot to turn over the tables at least once. Apparently, everyone in Victor dines out on Saturday evening and all of the local restaurants were jammed. Unfortunately, we ended up eating at chain, Biaggi's, at the local mall. Our meal was disappointing, as most chains are.
It was another early night to prepare for another busy day, this time on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail.
Part 3 in the series of Adventures in the Finger Lakes about the Seneca Lake Wine Trail will follow shortly.