Planning your visit
Visiting a Keuka Lake Winery With Your Dog
Plenty of people plan a Finger Lakes weekend and then stall on one question: what happens to the dog? Leaving one in a hot car is out, and a day of taking turns waiting outside is a poor holiday for everyone. So here is our answer, plainly: yours is welcome with us, indoors as well as out.
Are dogs allowed at your winery?
Yes. Dogs are welcome throughout our winery on Keuka Lake, inside the tasting room as well as on the terrace. Many of our guests arrive with theirs. We are open daily from ten to six, and no appointment is needed for a standard tasting.
The indoor part matters more than it sounds. A terrace-only policy works in July and falls apart the moment the weather turns, which around here it does often, and quickly. In April or late October, a dog-friendly winery that means only the patio is not really dog-friendly at all.
We ask for the ordinary things. A lead, and an eye on your dog around the glassware. Beyond that, nobody will look twice. Our own guests bring everything from a small terrier asleep under the table to a very large shepherd who has learned exactly where the sun falls in the afternoon.
What does a day around Keuka Lake look like with a dog?
It works well because the distances are short. Keuka is the smallest of the main Finger Lakes, so you can pair a walk by the water with two or three stops without long stretches in the car. Hammondsport village sits at the southern tip, walkable end to end.
Start early if the day is warm. Mornings by the lake are cool, the village is quiet before eleven, and dogs do better on the pavement then. Hammondsport has a green square at its centre and the shore is a few minutes' walk away. We go through the rest of it in our guide to things to do in Hammondsport.
Then pick two or three wineries rather than six. That advice holds whether or not you have a dog, but with one it stops being advice and becomes necessary: every stop is another arrival, another settling in, another round of hellos. Our first-timer's guide to the Keuka Lake wineries lays out how the lake is arranged.
What to bring
- A collapsible bowl: water matters more than anything else on a warm day.
- A lead, even where dogs run free; tasting rooms have glassware at tail height.
- A towel for the car, because the lake is right there and dogs know it.
- Something to lie on, if yours prefers a familiar blanket to a stone floor.
Is it a good idea in summer?
Yes, with the same care you would take anywhere. Come in the morning or late afternoon rather than at two o'clock, park in shade, and carry water. The lake keeps the hillsides a little cooler than the valleys, which helps, but a July afternoon here is still a July afternoon.
Autumn is our own favourite season for it. The colour along the slopes is at its best, harvest is running in the cellar, and the temperature suits a dog far better than August. We wrote about what each season brings in our guide to the best time to visit.
A dog asleep under the table while their people take their time over a glass — that is the afternoon we hoped for when we opened.
Where are you, and what can we taste?
We are on the west side of Keuka Lake, at 13920 State Route 54 outside Hammondsport, about twenty minutes from Watkins Glen and Corning. We pour Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Gewürztraminer, rosé, and sparkling made by the méthode champenoise.
Céline and Sébastien LeSeurre are French winemakers who settled here. Sébastien is the sixth generation of a winemaking family from Champagne, and our sparkling follows the same slow method his family has always used, with over ten years on the lees and each bottle handled by hand at least sixty-eight times.
A standard tasting needs no appointment. For a seated experience on a summer or autumn weekend, reserving ahead is wise. You can see the options on our experiences page, or check hours and directions on our visit page.
Open daily, ten to six, on the west side of Keuka Lake. Bring your dog, indoors or out, whichever the weather allows.
Are dogs allowed inside the tasting room, or only outside?
Both. Dogs are welcome throughout our winery, indoors as well as on the terrace. That holds year round, which matters here: the weather turns quickly, and a terrace-only welcome disappears with it.
Do I need to book ahead if I am bringing a dog?
Not for a standard tasting. Walk in any day between ten and six. If you would like a seated experience on a busy weekend, reserving ahead is worth doing, dog or no dog.
Are other Keuka Lake wineries dog friendly?
Policies differ from one to the next and they change, so we would rather you check with each one directly than take our word for it. We can only speak for our own door, and ours is open.
Is there water for dogs at the winery?
Yes, ask any of our team and we will bring a bowl. Bringing your own collapsible one is still worth it for the rest of the day, especially in summer.
Written by
The Domaine LeSeurre Team
Céline & Sébastien LeSeurre and the team at Domaine LeSeurre — a family winery on Keuka Lake, in Hammondsport, New York. French roots, Finger Lakes soul.
