OT: Pitt weekend - Finger Lakes vaca questions | Syracusefan.com

OT: Pitt weekend - Finger Lakes vaca questions

Toga

Toga

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Coming in for the Friday night Pitt game and gonna do a Sat/Sun night Finger Lakes thing with the fiancee. Hoping for some nice foliage.

Suggestions for foliage routes / wineries / accommodations / restaurants are appreciated.
 
Hammondsport area is a good place to start.

I know some people who have enjoyed the Inn at Glenora Wine Cellars for accommodations.
 
No place better than using Ithaca as your base. Best restaurants in the State, at least outside NYC. Gorgeous vistas and gorges for foliage viewing and hiking. Some nice wineries up the west side of Cayuga Lake, and close to Seneca Lake (which has the better wineries, IMHO). Also closer to Syracuse...
 
Ithaca has a couple nice restaurants but they dont compare to Syracuse restaurants...ithaca is gorge-ous though. I would recommend hitting up a bed and breakfast somewhere along Keuka lake and hit up all the wineries along it. Many major award winning wineries around all the finger lakes and Keuka has a bunch. You really cant go wrong... There are also some good campgrounds around the finger lakes with amazing scenery if you guys are campers.
 
Glenora Inn is very nice. Check out their website for nice packages including dinners at their gourmet restaurant and helicopter rides over Seneca Lake. If you're a Hilton points junkie there is a Hampton in Geneva convenient to both Seneca and Cayuga. If you stay in Geneva, Nonna's Trattoria is a nice little Italian restaurant across the street from the Hampton.
As far as wineries go, it depends on your tastes. For good dry reds try Long Point on the East shore of Cayuga. Six Mile Creek is another good option. On Seneca, Shaw has some great wines but a very bare bones tasting room. The Milestone Bordeaux blend at Miles is generally very good and the 1800s mansion complete with ghost shouldn't be missed. On Keuka, you can skip Bully Hill but don't miss McGregor for a great sit down tasting and some unique varietals.
Lots of great whites in the area. Dry Rieslings stand up to the best anywhere and Herman Wiemar may have the best. Favorite oaky Chard is at Red Tail Ridge. Kong's Ferry also is a good choice with three different Chards with completely different character. Most scenic tasting room is Ventosa at the north tip of Seneca. For fun and fun only try Three Brothers. Wines are iffy but the microbrews are very good. Hazlitt is another fun place with their sweet icon RedCat.And Lucas is generally very lively too.

Some oneoffs -
Montezuma for Bee vodka
Sheldrake Point - only Gamay in the lakes
Belhurst offers a very nice tasting experience.
Castel Griche for authentic German cuisine.
Magnus Ridge - one of the newest but an opulent tasting room and some interesting young wines.
Villa Bellangelo for an Italian themed tasting.

PM me for any other specific recs.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
 
Glenora is a great winery on Seneca Lake. I would recommend that you spend a day in Skaneateles. Great restaurants (Rosalies, Sherwood Inn, Mandana Inn, Bluewater) and a good winery called Anyela's. It is a tourist village for sure. Nice shops and a dinner boat cruise...
 
If wineries are the draw then definitely the Finger Lakes are your best bet - maybe stay around Canandaigua for a home base might be a good bet. Can get to all of the lakes from there - Seneca has a lot of good places but Keuka has some good ones as well, including my favorite Dr. Franks. I may not be the best to give advice though as sweet white wine isn't my preferred vino (why I like Dr. Franks - their dry Riesling and rkatsiteli are fantastic)

If the foliage is your draw then I would recommend heading north to the Adirondacks though timing may put the leaves past peak. One of my favorite places on earth. Many cool towns and restaurants up there and the views can't be beat - there are some wineries up that way as well, though nowhere near the quantity or quality as the Finger Lakes.

Can't go wrong either way.
 
Dinner boat cruise with dinoasaur bbq of course! I love skaneatelas but i was not happy with Anyelas...i guess its all about preference but the tasting only lasted 4 minutes and their wines are not great compared to the finger lakes wineries.
 
Adirondacks absolutely cannot be beat for camping anywhere in the country...nothing is better. For wine don't pass up the finger lakes though...Dr. franks on keuka just won tons of awards including winery of the year. Once again though... You really cannot go wrong going to any of the lakes...they will all be beautiful and they will all be relaxing..and you will ejoy some of the best white wines in the World.
 
Consider going down the west side of Seneca lake to hit the wineries and then walking *down* Watkins Glen. After that you can make it to Ithaca or Skaneateles for dinner.
 
Walking The Glen is a great idea for a nice hour excursion for a day no question
 
Yea, the Glen is a real nice walk. If your in Watkins Glen, Seneca Harbor used to be a great place to eat (I worked there for a summer) right on seneca lake. I poured wine at Glenora for a summer also, they have a great restaurant, if you go, ask for Kathy, and tell her "Chisom" sent ya. The Switzerland Inn on Keuka lake is a good place to grab a drink if you are on that side of the lake. If you get into Penn Yan, Lloyds has the best chicken wings in the area, and Cams has the best NY style pizza.
 
I went to school in Ithaca and lived right on Cayuga Lake so I vote for that area. I lived right on Rte 89 which is a good place to start the wine trail. The little Mom and Pop wineries are great as you get to learn about what your drinking, have healthy samples in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Plus, if you find something you like you can buy it pretty cheap. FWIW, Ithaca to Syracuse is approx. a 75 minute drive.
 
SUFaninNJ said:
I went to school in Ithaca and lived right on Cayuga Lake so I vote for that area. I lived right on Rte 89 which is a good place to start the wine trail. The little Mom and Pop wineries are great as you get to learn about what your drinking, have healthy samples in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Plus, if you find something you like you can buy it pretty cheap. FWIW, Ithaca to Syracuse is approx. a 75 minute drive.
Expand...
I used to live in the Finger Lakes and did a few "wine tours". I agree with what you say about the Mom and Pop's. Toga, if you are only devoting one day you probably want to have a plan, but sometimes its best to just get in the car and drive up and down the sides of some of the lakes: Seneca, Cayuga, Keuka. Really any of them. You will have beautiful views and then you can stop wherever you feel like it.

However, that being said, I will put a vote in for Naples. One of my favorite drives was coming over from Penn Yan and driving down over the hill into Naples. It's a very pretty ride. Also, in Naples you can get one of their famous Grape pies.

http://gonewengland.about.com/od/newyorkstate/a/aagrapepieny.htm
 
cliftonparksufan said:
I used to live in the Finger Lakes and did a few "wine tours". I agree with what you say about the Mom and Pop's. Toga, if you are only devoting one day you probably want to have a plan, but sometimes its best to just get in the car and drive up and down the sides of some of the lakes: Seneca, Cayuga, Keuka. Really any of them. You will have beautiful views and then you can stop wherever you feel like it.

However, that being said, I will put a vote in for Naples. One of my favorite drives was coming over from Penn Yan and driving down over the hill into Naples. It's a very pretty ride. Also, in Naples you can get one of their famous Grape pies.

http://gonewengland.about.com/od/newyorkstate/a/aagrapepieny.htm
Expand...

Here is also a nice list with web attachments to give you an idea where they are located.

http://fingerlakes.org/things-to-do/wineries-more
 
Toga said:
Coming in for the Friday night Pitt game and gonna do a Sat/Sun night Finger Lakes thing with the fiancee. Hoping for some nice foliage.

Suggestions for foliage routes / wineries / accommodations / restaurants are appreciated.
Expand...

A lot of great options for the Finger Lakes region, honestly its only about an hour from Cuse so you could stay somewhere in Syracuse and have no issue getting to really any of the Finger Lakes and probably save a lot of money in the process. Not sure of your wine taste but if you like Sweet wines then Seneca is the way to go. My GF and I go up at least one a month to either Seneca or Cayuga lake and have a blast every single time. Theres also breweries and festivals going on up there all the time. Even if your not into Sweet wines almost every winery also has dryer reds/whites and they offer so many different variations of sweet wines you cant help but enjoy them even if its not your thing.

I would recommend either Seneca or Cayuga lake with Seneca being the #1 option. Each side of the lake has a number of different kinds of wineries with some including a brewery aspect and even one with a line of hard ciders. I would highly recommend, Three Brothers (Three wineries in one plus a Brewery), Zugabees, Pleasant Valley, Miles (on the water and has beer), Seneca Shores (free tasting), Glenora, Torrey Ridge (2 wineries in one including some honey/fruit wines), Ashley Lynn (all wine is made from apples), Fruityard (has some unheard of fruit wines including Plum), Wagner (huge brewery inside along with wine and a great restaurant), and Hazlitt is a must stop.

Cayuga lake has less wineries and is more spread out but has some outstanding wine companies including Swedish Hill, Thirsty Owl, Americana, Buttonwood, Hosmer, and a few others. They offer a good mix of dry and sweet and several have oustanding views/seating areas and restaurants. One note most of the wineries close by 5 and a handful go to 6-7, make sure you get an early start. Most of the wineries on Cayuga and some on Seneca have seating areas around the wineries and make a great place to buy a bottle of wine and enjoy lunch via bought there or brought with you. A wegmans sub in a cooler will hold all day and goes great with a bottle or two of wine.
 
Consigliere said:
Glenora Inn is very nice. Check out their website for nice packages including dinners at their gourmet restaurant and helicopter rides over Seneca Lake. If you're a Hilton points junkie there is a Hampton in Geneva convenient to both Seneca and Cayuga. If you stay in Geneva, Nonna's Trattoria is a nice little Italian restaurant across the street from the Hampton.
As far as wineries go, it depends on your tastes. For good dry reds try Long Point on the East shore of Cayuga. Six Mile Creek is another good option. On Seneca, Shaw has some great wines but a very bare bones tasting room. The Milestone Bordeaux blend at Miles is generally very good and the 1800s mansion complete with ghost shouldn't be missed. On Keuka, you can skip Bully Hill but don't miss McGregor for a great sit down tasting and some unique varietals.
Lots of great whites in the area. Dry Rieslings stand up to the best anywhere and Herman Wiemar may have the best. Favorite oaky Chard is at Red Tail Ridge. Kong's Ferry also is a good choice with three different Chards with completely different character. Most scenic tasting room is Ventosa at the north tip of Seneca. For fun and fun only try Three Brothers. Wines are iffy but the microbrews are very good. Hazlitt is another fun place with their sweet icon RedCat.And Lucas is generally very lively too.

Some oneoffs -
Montezuma for Bee vodka
Sheldrake Point - only Gamay in the lakes
Belhurst offers a very nice tasting experience.
Castel Griche for authentic German cuisine.
Magnus Ridge - one of the newest but an opulent tasting room and some interesting young wines.
Villa Bellangelo for an Italian themed tasting.

PM me for any other specific recs.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
Expand...


Pretty much nailed it here, man. Dry and Very Dry rieslings are the best around Seneca Lake between Geneva and Penn Yan and stack up against anything like you said. I also like Hermann-Wiemer and I'll put their cuvee blanc against most french champagnes even. Red Tail Ridge, Billsboro, and Anthony Road I also like.
 
I spent the weekend up on Keuka Lake. You really can't go wrong at any of the places mentioned on here. One of my favorite places in the world.
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One other thing to note if you have time Friday during the day take the short drive up to Beak and Skiff Orchards in Lafayette past Onondaga Hill. Not only will you get some incredible views on the way through Onondaga Hill but they have a winery and a vodka distillery about a half mile from the orchard. There winery has three apple wines and about 5 ciders verying from dry to sweet. I highly recommend it. Plus its about a 20 minute drive from Syracuse with pretty much zero traffic.
 
Finger lakes is more beautiful than napa...trust me. If you want red wines then sure napa...but the white wines in finger lakes region are the best in the world...including france.
 
Might i suggest staying in Auburn friday night its about 25 mins from the dome (minus traffic) and about about 10 mins from the cayuga wine trail. I don't have a suggestion about which hotel, i guess check trip advisor. If your into nature you can check out montazuma wildlife refuge, you can check out the birds or ask at the visitor center for directions to the mud locks to check out the bald eagle nest. from there you can do the winery thing, if you ask me you can't go wrong with any one of them just pick up a case of finger lakes resling, its what the finger lakes wines are know for. I would stay in Ithica or Watkins Glen for the night then Sunday, if you want to check out some fall colors, I suggest Lechwerth State park. Its kind of on the buffalo edge of the fingerlakes but well worth the trip when the colors are at their peak. Its kind of like a mini grand canyon with fall colors all over it.
 
No offense tom...but there is no reason i can think of to ever go to Auburn...unless you are going to watch the Doubledays
 
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