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Belhurst Castle, Yes, although I've heard Watkins Glen is pretty good too. We did the west side of Seneca Lake last year and will be doing Keuka Lake in about 2 weeks. Loads of fun.
Thanks for all of the replies guys. I really liked Belhurst Castle too (at least from the pictures online), but I called and they were booked that weekend.
I called around to a few different touring services, and this seems to be a busy weekend. All that were available were the limos and larger SUVs made for larger groups, which ended up being just too cost-prohibitive for two of us. So, I ended up finding the trolley tours that ToeJam linked. This seems like a reasonable alternative to a limo service. Could anyone tell me about any of these wineries listed on the trolley tour?: Seneca Lake Tour
Wagner's winery and microbrewery
Ginny Lee Cafe for lunch
Standing Stone Winery
Lake Wood Winery
Magnus Ridge Winery
Barnstormer Winery
Cayuga lake Tour
American Vineyards
Knapp Restaurant for lunch
Knapp Winery
Varick Farm Winery
Goosewatch Winery
I'm leaning toward the Seneca lake one, based on your suggestions, and the tour seems better, which also includes a winery tour.
Thanks for all of the replies guys. I really liked Belhurst Castle too (at least from the pictures online), but I called and they were booked that weekend.
I called around to a few different touring services, and this seems to be a busy weekend. All that were available were the limos and larger SUVs made for larger groups, which ended up being just too cost-prohibitive for two of us. So, I ended up finding the trolley tours that ToeJam linked. This seems like a reasonable alternative to a limo service. Could anyone tell me about any of these wineries listed on the trolley tour?: Seneca Lake Tour
Wagner's winery and microbrewery
Ginny Lee Cafe for lunch
Standing Stone Winery
Lake Wood Winery
Magnus Ridge Winery
Barnstormer Winery
Cayuga lake Tour
American Vineyards
Knapp Restaurant for lunch
Knapp Winery
Varick Farm Winery
Goosewatch Winery
I'm leaning toward the Seneca lake one, based on your suggestions, and the tour seems better, which also includes a winery tour.
The only one of these I've been to is Wagner - it was the last stop on my birthday wine tour a few years ago. It was nice to have the variety as a lot of us went to the brewery side since we had been wine tasting all day. I stuck to the beers and didn't venture over to the wine side (they are split when you walk in). I can tell you this - it was the rowdiest stop of the day. But keep in mind we were on the beer side and it was also later in the day near closing time for all the locations. Can't speak to the wines, but we had a blast at the brewery side!
American, Knapp, and Goosewatch are all names that ring a bell to me as being popular wines in the area, but other than that I don't really know much.
Most transportation services are not going to give you the sort of "tour" you are looking for... they typically just drive you to where you want to go and that's about it.. Another option is staying/stopping at one of the bigger wineries that do have full tours of the facilities available, such as Glenora - Glenora Wine Cellars
You might want to consider Canandaigua Lake too. Canandaigua also has the New York Wine & Culinary Center which is very popular and always has a lot of events around food and wine.
I believe the big tour company was Caz Limo and the folded about a year ago.
Yeah but that's just transportation. I don't think any of the transport companies do anything besides drive you from place to place. If they're looking for a "tour" with someone knowledgeable explaining stuff along the way, I think the best bet would be doing a tour of an actual winery/vineyard.
I went down to Cape May a few months ago and toured a winery/vineyard - the tour was about 2 hours long and extremely interesting and fun. We learned not only about wine in general, but the history of the winery and how everything works. It was probably one of the best wine-related tours I've ever been on.
You might want to consider Canandaigua Lake too. Canandaigua also has the New York Wine & Culinary Center which is very popular and always has a lot of events around food and wine.
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check this out too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Becca8377
Yeah but that's just transportation. I don't think any of the transport companies do anything besides drive you from place to place. If they're looking for a "tour" with someone knowledgeable explaining stuff along the way, I think the best bet would be doing a tour of an actual winery/vineyard.
I went down to Cape May a few months ago and toured a winery/vineyard - the tour was about 2 hours long and extremely interesting and fun. We learned not only about wine in general, but the history of the winery and how everything works. It was probably one of the best wine-related tours I've ever been on.
Yes, I really really really like wine
I think I've decided on using the trolley service, most likely the Seneca lake tour leaving from Geneva. It'll end up costing me about 1/3 the price of a private driver for the same amount of time, and the itinerary seems pretty good, including a winery tour. The downside is that it will be a regimented time schedule and we will have no choice in where we go... But I think that will be balanced out by spending less, and thus having more money to buy wine or go to restaurants. I just don't know if I can justify spending hundreds of extra dollars on basically a DD.
I think I may look into a more detailed winery and vineyard tour for Sunday. I'm an avid homebrewer and home winemaker, so getting a more detailed tour is right up my alley, and my fiance is really getting into winemaking and homebrewing with me, so I think we'd both enjoy a good tour. We both have future dreams of growing grapes and opening up a small winery. This is probably just a pipe dream, and having a few vines in our backyard will probably be closer to reality, but it'd still be nice to see and daydream about!
Doing it on Sunday when we wouldn't be drinking, or maybe having just a little bit, would probably be the way to go. No worries about which places we can get to.
I think I've decided on using the trolley service, most likely the Seneca lake tour leaving from Geneva. It'll end up costing me about 1/3 the price of a private driver for the same amount of time, and the itinerary seems pretty good, including a winery tour. The downside is that it will be a regimented time schedule and we will have no choice in where we go... But I think that will be balanced out by spending less, and thus having more money to buy wine or go to restaurants. I just don't know if I can justify spending hundreds of extra dollars on basically a DD.
I think I may look into a more detailed winery and vineyard tour for Sunday. I'm an avid homebrewer and home winemaker, so getting a more detailed tour is right up my alley, and my fiance is really getting into winemaking and homebrewing with me, so I think we'd both enjoy a good tour. We both have future dreams of growing grapes and opening up a small winery. This is probably just a pipe dream, and having a few vines in our backyard will probably be closer to reality, but it'd still be nice to see and daydream about!
Doing it on Sunday when we wouldn't be drinking, or maybe having just a little bit, would probably be the way to go. No worries about which places we can get to.
I think this will be your best bet for what you're looking for. The limos are pretty expensive unless you get a bunch of people and yes, they are basically just DDs. I just did a trail for my sister's bachelorette a few weeks ago in the Hudson Valley.
I'd definitely see about a bigger winery/vineyard tour on Sunday - look into the wineries with the bigger facilities. Glenora, which I posted before, is one. Fox Run is another - Welcome to Fox Run Vineyards!. But stick to the bigger guys, as the smaller ones won't have too much to offer in that regard.
You wont regret, or miss anything, being on a somewhat regimented tour. The wineries have small nuances in their operations, but the wines are very similar.
Know going in that the wines which are produced along the Finger Lakes are on the sweeter side. Dry cabs and merlots are NOT their thing, although they all try to produce something along those lines.
What you get in the finger lakes is a sweeter, dessert wine for the most part. Some make an ice wine. They are great for after dinner wines....but for a palate looking for a dry white or red, maybe not so much.
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