Who needs Napa? Central New York’s Finger Lakes region is a wine lover’s dream—and a delicious weekend getaway

BY DAVID LEVINE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN FRANCIS MCCAR TH Y

S

ome 11,000 years ago— give or take a millennium —the last Ice Age glaciers retreated from New York state, leaving behind a series of long, skinny and very deep depressions that filled with ice-melt. Early

North American mapmakers dubbed them the Finger Lakes.

That’s one story, anyway. The aboriginal Iroquois believed that the great creator so loved the area that he left his handprint on the land.

Either way, by happy thaw or divine gra ti, the Finger Lakes region has been blessed with perfect conditions for producing world-class wines. With more than 100 vineyards set on the gorgeous, rolling hillsides overlooking the waters, the Finger Lakes area is the second largest wine-producing region in the country.

White wines are the region’s calling card, especially Rieslings—the climate and terrain compare favorably to Germany’s Rhine Valley. “You can’t find a bad Riesling here,” says John McGregor, owner of Keuka Lake’s McGregor Vineyard. The pinot grape flourishes too, as does the chardonnay, but it’s more like the French style here, delicate and dry, rather than the buttery, oaky California flavor. The region is also known for sparkling wines, dessert wines and ice wines—produced during the winter from still-frozen grapes.

 

Keuka Blu Point in the Finger Lakes region.