Planning your visit
The Finger Lakes in Winter
Ask anyone who works here which season they would choose for themselves and a surprising number say January. The roads are empty, the light off the snow is extraordinary, and a tasting stops being a queue and becomes a conversation.
Is it worth visiting the Finger Lakes in winter?
If you want quiet, yes. The crowds are gone, lodging is cheaper and easier to book, and the wineries that stay open have time to talk properly. If you want every business open and long daylight, come in another season.
The trade is real and worth being clear about. A good number of seasonal restaurants, rentals and attractions close between November and April. What remains is enough for a weekend, and much less crowded.
What stays open around Keuka Lake?
The year round wineries, the villages with their permanent businesses, and Bath inland with its full range of shops. We are open daily through the winter, ten to six, as we are every other month of the year.
Ring ahead for anything on the lakeshore. Hours shorten and some places move to weekends only.
Driving in winter here
- Lake roads are narrow, unlit and can hold ice in shaded stretches.
- Snow is normal rather than exceptional. Plan for it and it is straightforward.
- Daylight is short. A tasting at four in January happens in the dark.
- The shoreline stays milder than the hills behind, because of the water.
What happens in the vineyard?
Pruning. The vines are dormant and every one of them is cut back by hand over the winter, which decides the shape of the following season. In the cellar, the wine from the autumn is settling and the sparkling continues its long rest on the lees.
Our sparkling spends over ten years on the lees and each bottle is handled by hand at least sixty-eight times, by the méthode champenoise Sébastien's family has used for six generations. Winter is a large part of where that time goes. We explain the method in our guide to the méthode champenoise.
In January the tasting room is quiet enough that we can actually sit down with people. That does not happen in August.
Open daily through the winter, ten to six. Dogs welcome, indoors by the fire as much as out.
Are Finger Lakes wineries open in winter?
Many are, though hours shorten and some move to weekends only. We are open daily, ten to six, through the year.
How cold does it get?
Properly cold, with snow through the season. The shoreline stays milder than the higher ground behind it because of the water.
Is winter cheaper?
Considerably, for lodging, and far easier to book at short notice.
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.
