Saison · Finger Lakes
Harvest Season in the Finger Lakes
For about six weeks in the autumn, everyone here stops answering the phone. The fruit decides the schedule and nothing else gets a vote. If you visit during harvest you will find the region at its busiest and, we think, at its most interesting.
Guests often apologise for coming during harvest, as though they were interrupting. They are not. This is the part of the year the whole place is built around, and you can see it happening from the terrace.
When is harvest in the Finger Lakes?
Harvest generally runs from early September into late October, though the exact dates change every year with the weather. On our slope above Keuka Lake the fruit often ripens slowly into the third week of October, because the lake keeps the vines cool and stretches the season.
Nobody can tell you in August when picking will start. It depends on the summer, the rain and the fruit itself. Sparkling grapes come in first because they are picked at lower ripeness, and the later reds finish the season. Anyone who gives you a firm date months ahead is guessing.
The lake is the reason the season runs long here. A deep body of water holds warmth into the autumn and cold into the spring, so the fruit ripens slowly rather than all at once. The Finger Lakes Wine Alliance describes this cool-climate character as the defining feature of the region, and harvest is when you can taste the argument.
What actually happens during harvest?
Fruit is picked, sorted and pressed, usually within hours. Fermentation starts in tank or barrel and the cellar runs on a schedule set by the fruit rather than the clock. Most wineries stay open through it, so visitors can watch the work while it is happening.
The smell changes first. Then the noise: pumps, forklifts, hoses on concrete. Then the light in the cellar goes on before dawn and stays on well after the tasting room has closed. It is the least glamorous and most decisive stretch of the year, and everything you drink twelve months later was settled during it.
For our sparkling wines the work barely begins at harvest. Those bottles are made by the méthode champenoise and rest more than ten years on the lees before release, each one handled at least sixty-eight times along the way. The fruit picked this October will not be poured for a decade.
Is harvest a good time to visit?
It is the best time, with one caveat. The lake is still warm, the hillsides are turning, the summer crowds have gone and the region is visibly at work. The caveat is that the winemaker may be in the cellar rather than the tasting room, so a seated tasting is worth booking ahead.
September and early October are the weeks we would choose if we were visiting rather than working. Midweek is quieter than weekends, and the light in the late afternoon is the best it gets all year. Our guide to the best time to visit the Finger Lakes sets out the rest of the calendar, and the fall foliage guide covers when the hillsides turn.
Visiting during harvest
- Book seated tastings ahead. Staff are split between cellar and room.
- Midweek is calmer than weekends through September and October.
- Layers. The mornings are cold and the afternoons are not.
- Ask what came in that morning. Someone will be glad to tell you.
- Expect equipment, hoses and noise. That is the point.
What does harvest look like here?
We are Céline and Sébastien LeSeurre. Sébastien is the sixth generation of a winemaking family from Champagne; Céline grew up in a family vineyard in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Our first harvest in the Finger Lakes was in 2012, and we have worked every one on this slope since. French roots, Finger Lakes soul.
During harvest we sleep badly and eat standing up. Then in December we open a bottle from the year before and remember why.
If you come in September or October you will likely find one of us between the press and the tank. Come anyway. A seated tasting runs about forty-five minutes and you can usually see the block the fruit came from while you drink it. Dogs are welcome, inside and on the terrace.
Visit while the cellar is running.
Common questions about harvest season
When does grape harvest start in the Finger Lakes?
Generally early September, running into late October. The exact start changes every year with the weather, and grapes for sparkling wine are usually picked first because they come in at lower ripeness.
Can you visit Finger Lakes wineries during harvest?
Yes. Most stay open right through it. Book seated tastings ahead, because staff are working between the cellar and the tasting room, and midweek visits are quieter than weekends.
Can you watch the grapes being pressed?
That depends on the winery and on the day, since pressing follows the fruit rather than a schedule. Ask when you book. Even without a formal tour, harvest is visible and audible from most tasting rooms.
Is fall the best time to visit the Finger Lakes?
September and early October combine warm water, turning hillsides, thinner crowds and an active harvest. The main trade-off is that winemakers are busy, so reservations matter more than they do 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.
