Beyond Wine: the Beer, Cider & Spirits of the Finger Lakes

Yes, wine was obviously the focus of the 2015 Wine Bloggers Conference, but the Finger Lakes also provides ample opportunities to sip other locally produced boozy products. It started with beer when I first arrived in Corning. The Market Street Brewing Co. was only a few blocks from the host hotel and with a few hours to kill before the bus left for the Seneca Lake pre-excursion, I settled in with a sampler. The beers range from Lager to IPA, Wit to Red to Brown, with the simple Mad Bug Lager dampening the driving nerves and refreshing the palate.

Cider made it's first appearance during the Seneca Lake pre-excursion at our visit to Ventosa Vineyards where Autumn Stoscheck was pouring the Eve’s Cidery Autumn’s Gold Traditional Method Sparkling Cider. This cider received many compliments and thanks to Tom Wark, during the conference I was also able to sample more sparkling cider from Eve's such as the 100% varietal Northern Spy and orchard designate Beckhorn Hollow. This last was my favorite, probably from it's pronounced tartness and citrus profile. It's produced from a complex blend of Golden Russet, Wealthy, Wixson, Cox Orange Pippin, Northern Spy, Manchurian Crab, Spigold, and Idared apples. Tom also shared their Essence Ice Cider, made using cryo-concentration (the freezing of late harvest juice). There's plenty of sugar at 15%RS, but completely balanced with the apple's inherent malic acidity.


After the Ventosa visit, many of us ended the evening in Geneva at Lake Drum Brewing, a new craft brewery owned by Victor Pultinas and Jenna LaVita (vineyard manager and wine maker at Ventosa). She is one busy young lady. In addition to beer, the brewery also produces cider; but it was two sour beers that attracted my attention: the Wild Ale and Brett BBL #1. Victor informed me later that both were made with 50% NY malted barley. The Wild Ale is the lighter, more floral of the two as it contains some hibiscus in the mash tun, and inoculated with lactobacillus for tartness. The Brett BBL #1 is much more complex with a complete funky nature. Victor describes its creation: "The Brett was made in December as a Pale Ale that went into a Chardonay barrel from Hosmer Winery. It went through a secondary fermentation in the barrel with both brettanomyces and lactobacillus. It sat in barrel for just about eight months developing a light sour tangy taste stemming from the brett bacteria".  This is one serious beer.

Also serious is the Apple Country Spirits Pear Brandy (rested in oak barrels) that I opened at Lake Drum. New York law allows craft breweries to sell New York craft spirits, but only by the bottle - not by the snifter. As a consequence I probably consumed more than necessary but it was hard to stop enjoying this eau de vie styled brandy with it's smooth creamy pear flavor. No wonder the spirit was awarded a Gold medal at the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. 

Another brewery that showed well at the conference was The Brewery of Broken Dreams, who poured under the tent at lunch.They are located on Keuka Lake in Hammondsport and offered three solid beers at the conference: Summer Blues Wheat Ale, Our Daily Enkel Belgium Styled Ale, and All-4-One American Pale Ale. Another Keuka Lake brewery, LyonSmith Brewing Co., supplied a couple growlers for our mystery bus excursion destined for Keuka's Inn. The brewery specializes in British styled ales, with the 1814 Flood Porter the first choice of many. Named after the tragic London flood caused by the rupture of a large fermentation tank of Porter, it's a smooth beer with a hint of hops and plenty of mocha flavors.

Myer Farm Distillers appeared at the conference during a popup tasting. This organic farm to flask distillery located in Ovid grows the grain as well as distills and bottles their distillates directly on their farm. There were a plethora of spirits including the Cayuga Gold Barrel Aged Gin and various whiskeys. The Four Grain Whiskey and Wheat Whiskey were very smooth with vanilla caramel profiles, with the Rye Whiskey being naturally a little spicier and hotter, and the Bourbon Whiskey showing sweet roasted corn flavors. As for the Cayuga Gold, with the absence of juniper, it comes across more of a whiskey with maple flavors.

Finally, the post-excursion Cayuga Lake offered a couple other opportunities to sample Finger Lakes cider and spirits. Bellwether Hard Cider provided a few ciders starting with their King Baldwin, an off-dry cider that comes across very dry with the apple's acidity factored in. It's a blend of Tompkins King and Baldwin, thus the name. Their Northern Spy based Bellwether Lord Scudmore sparkling cider is also very tasty with tart citrus flavors.

At our dinner at Knapp Vineyards & Winery we were introduced to that winery's distillates featuring Limoncello and a Cucumber Vodka. The vodka was fresh and clean, little burn; whereas the lemon and lime Limoncellos were two distinct beings - both reminiscent of the appropriate fruit - oily and refreshing to the palate. 

So, if you find yourself vising Finger Lakes wine country, enjoy the many fine wines produced in the area. But don't ignore the many excellent cider, craft beer and spirits within the region. theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App will help you locate them. Cheers and safe travels.

Bus to Boat on the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail During #WBC15

How many wine trails are there where you can ride a boat straight to a winery's dock? According to boat captain, Captain Skip Stamberger of Water to Wine Tours, the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail is the only trail in the world that provides that option. It's hard to validate that claim, but for those of us who participated in the post-conference excursion, we experienced a leisurely boat ride from the Thirsty Owl Wine Company dock to Goose Watch Winery.

In 1983 the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail was the first wine trail established in NY State and currently consists of 16 wineries. When looking at the map, Cayuga Lake is represented as the index finger to the east of Seneca Lake. Ithaca is located on the southern shore and Seneca Falls on the northern end with the wineries dispersed on either shore. There's also a brewery, cider house and a few distilleries.

Our bus left Corning accompanied by Hosmer Winery winemaker Aaron Roisen and Lucas Vineyards winemaker Jeff Houck. Inexplicably, at least to us spoiled bloggers, they forgot to bring wine to share; but our friends from Cider Brothers came packed with William Tell Cider - a wine like cider produced using three strains of yeast and containing 15% Pinot Grigio. With our plastic glasses filled, we listened as Rosien and Houck gave an overview of the wine trail and their respective operations.

Cayuga Lake from Goose Watch Winery

When we arrived at Thirsty Owl, half the group departed the bus with the remainder continuing to Goose Watch.  There were eight wineries at each location and after tasting in one location we were transported past the vineyards to the lake where our boats awaited for our 15 trip to the second winery.  At least it was only that long for those of us on the faster boat.

  Goose Watch Winery 

There were several standouts in both groups starting with the cider from Bellwether Hard Cider. The Barton family started out as cider makers and eventually transitioned to wine, so its no surprise their ciders impressed several of us. Long live King Baldwin. The Hosmer selection was also solid as where the Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from Toro Run Winery. Their labels are also something special. A pleasant surprise was the Baco Noir from Americana Vineyards and Winery. The all stainless steel process creates a fruit friendly lighter wine.  Sadly I had to race through the Lucas selection which was unfortunate because their Cab Franc and Riesling were worth relishing longer. My favorite of the day probably goes to the Knapp Vineyards & Winery Rose, blend of predominantly Cab Franc with a lesser amount of Pinot Noir.

Knapp Winery

Our excursion was far from over as we were transported the short distance to Knapp where a gourmet dinner awaited us. Plus more wine, cider and spirits, the latter courtesy of Knapp featuring Limoncello and a Cucumber Vodka. All where quite smooth and tasty. Being rather fatigued a chose the Bellwether Lord Scudmore, a sparkling cider from Northern Spy apples. Dinner was informative as I shared a table with Knapp winemaker Steve DiFrancesco and Quebec blogger Gigi Bissonnette as they discussed vineyard practices in Quebec and Prince Edward County. Looking forward to a future visit to those regions very soon. But back to our subject matter.

The food on this excursion was fantastic, starting with the cheese plates donated from members of the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail. Yes, there is such an organization.  And our dinner at Knapp featured three area chefs who provided a very delicious and diverse array of food. The brisket over miniature pancakes opened my eyes to unorthodox pairings. Here's the entire menu as provided by the wine trail:

Chef John McNabb of Knapp Vineyard Restaurant served Smoked beef brisket with johnny cakes and Hoisin Poblano, Limoncello Chimichurri an Cabernet & Caramelized Onion demi sauces accompanied by fingerling potato and quinoa salads. Also served were the Calabacitas with corn tortilla ships, Cayuga Caviar and sour cream. The chocolate chunk cookie to go was also provided courtesy of Chef John.

Chef Lindsay of Crystal Lake Café at Americana Vineyards offered a house-made sausage, pan-fried chicken and deviled eggs. Jennifer, the resident baker, provided the baguette during the tasting session and the lemon bars and pecan squares for dessert.

Chef Scott of The Bistro at Thirsty Owl Wine Co. served smoked pulled pork with coleslaw and barbeque beans. Scott also provided the Peanut Butter Corn Flake cookie.

Cheers to the wineries on Cayuga Lake and in the Finger Lakes in general. Check out theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App to make future trips to the area easier to plan.