Finger Lakes: Follow the Leaders

BY BILLY NORRIS | FEBRUARY 20, 2025

“This is a horrifically extreme and terrifying region to grow anything in,” explains Christopher Bates, MS, whose projects in the Finger Lakes span three separate wine labels, a brewery and a slew of restaurants. 

Head Winemaker Wes Andrew of Atwater Vineyards muses, “The only consistent thing here is inconsistency.”

“The lakes that keep us alive in the winter eat us alive with mildew in the summer,” says Josh Wig, Co-Owner of Lamoreaux Landing.  

Making wine in the Finger Lakes is clearly no walk in the park, and yet year after year, estates across the region turn out compelling Rieslings, Cabernet Francs, Chardonnays and a litany of other wines. Even though the climate is brutally marginal at best, scrappy producers are able to fight their way through it. But that’s not the full picture. The Finger Lakes has been the American wine scene’s underdog for decades. What will it take to break through? 

Overlooking Seneca Lake from Boundary Breaks. 

A Refresher 

Situated directly south of Lake Ontario in northwestern New York State, the Finger Lakes—colloquially referred to as FLX—is the United States’ preeminent cool-climate (or cold-climate, as Forge’s Rick Rainey insists) growing region. It’s about five hours by car from several major cities; New York City, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and Toronto are all more-or-less equidistant. The landscape is bucolic and evocative, some of the most stunningly beautiful farmland in America. The FLX boasts a long history of viticulture that dates back to the 1820s, with modern winemaking operations taking up shop beginning in the 1950s. 

Formally established in 1982, the Finger Lakes AVA includes 11 different lakes and comprises 9,035 planted acres of vineyard land. Of those 11 lakes, winegrowing centers around four. Seneca Lake is the largest and deepest, with the highest concentration of vineyards on its borders and its own AVA designation as of 2003. A prime strip of land known as the “Banana Belt” lies along Seneca’s western shore and is generally viewed as the tenderloin of the region. At over 600 feet deep, Seneca hasn’t frozen over since 1912. Cayuga Lake, the second largest and second deepest of all the lakes, also boasts its own formal AVA, established in 1989. It, too, hasn’t frozen since 1979. Keuka Lake is the shallowest of the four and hence freezes more regularly. It has the steepest slopes and the second highest concentration of vineyards, while Canandaigua Lake brings up the rear.  

The lakes themselves are critical to the region’s ability to actually grow grapes. The sheer aggregate volume of lake water holds so much thermal mass that in the summer, the lakes provide a cooling effect to counteract high temperatures. As ambient temperatures drop in the fall and winter, the lakes shed warmth, helping to shield vines from damage.   

Riesling vines at Silver Thread Winery on Seneca Lake.