Wineries – Breweries – Cideries – Distilleries. The Finger Lakes have them all, and they have a lot of them.
Wine is the famous drink of the Finger Lakes area, going back to the 19th century. But the region is now famous for its many local craft breweries, as well. The 21st century has introduced more and more cideries and distilleries, adding a wealth of options for your drinking experiences throughout the region.
WINERIES
While there are wineries in many of America’s 50 states today, early on there were really two major wine producing regions in the country – California’s Napa Valley and New York’s Finger Lakes region.
In the middle of the 20th century, large wineries in the Finger Lakes District like Taylor, Great Western, and Gold Seal were incredibly successful producing popular wines and “champagnes” for America’s – shall we say – rather unsophisticated wine tastes. These wineries did however establish a significantly important industry that supported much of the area’s economy and made the Finger Lakes wine region rather famous in America.
Today, there are dozens and dozens of smaller farm-based wineries amongst many of those early vineyards, producing some of the finest wines in America, and developing rich international reputations.
You can’t visit them all, not even in a solid week of a vacation, so to help you pick out the ones that would best fit your interests, click HERE for our best wineries in the Finger Lakes lists.
BREWERIES
Like much of the rest of America, the home-based brewery business is alive, and very strong in the Finger Lakes region. Bolstered by a supportive New York State government that promotes “farm breweries”, there has been an explosion of what are generally categorized as “craft” breweries across the region.
These newer options in the adult beverage sector are not only plentiful, but are also bringing incredible quality to a market that seems to have no observable saturation point for visitors to the area. We will show you the best of them here.
CIDERIES
The government legislation that helped promote the beer brewing businesses across the state has also encouraged a healthy growth in the cidery market, too. Apple growing has long been a staple of New York’s agricultural signature, and the recent development of cideries seemed logical.
Like many of the local wineries and breweries, most of the identified cideries will also feature wine, beer, food and music entertainment to make your visit group friendly.
You can read about the best cideries in the Finger Lakes HERE.
DISTILLERIES
While liquor has long reigned popular in the modern adult beverage business, the industry in general has not been as rooted here in the Finger Lakes, as in other areas of America, such as Kentucky or Tennessee.
However, several new Finger Lakes based distilleries are out to change that perception. Let us tell you where they are!
WHERE TO DRINK
When people think of the “Finger Lakes” region, they think of the wineries almost as much as they think about the lakes. And for good reason, as today the wine industry dominates the local tourism trade.
But the good news for visitors is that there are so many more options to go along with the excellent wine availability, today. Whether traveling alone, with a spouse, or a group, many of the most popular venues offer a mix of adult beverage selections to please everyone’s palette.
Enjoyed responsibly, these venues can be an meaningful extension of your fun Finger Lakes vacation stay!