Planning your visit
Finger Lakes Wine Tours: How to Plan a Day You'll Remember
On the best wine tours we see from our terrace, somebody decided who was driving before the first glass was poured. Once that is settled, the route, the lunch and the number of stops tend to fall into place.
We make wine on Keuka Lake, just outside Hammondsport, and our guests arrive every way you can think of: in their own car, with a hired driver, on a guided tour, and now and then in a limousine with a birthday banner in the window. Any of those can make a good day, and each one calls for its own kind of plan.
What are the options for a Finger Lakes wine tour?
There are four main ways to tour Finger Lakes wineries. You can drive yourself with a designated driver, hire a private driver for your own group, join a scheduled guided tour with other visitors, or book a limousine or larger vehicle for a celebration. Group size, budget and how much freedom you want will decide between them.
The region is large. The Finger Lakes Wine Alliance covers wineries spread across several lakes, and the roads between them are long, winding and often dark in the evening. Whichever option you pick, plan the whole day, including the drive back to where you are staying.
Can you drive yourself on a wine tour?
Yes, as long as one person in the car is the designated driver and stays off the wine. Driving yourself costs the least and leaves you in charge of the route and the pace. Driving after drinking is against the law in New York, as it is everywhere in the country, and the lake roads are narrow and winding.
A tasting pour is small, but pours add up over three or four stops, which is exactly why the group needs a designated driver. That person still has a good day, with the same view from the terrace and the same conversation as everyone else. Some groups take turns, with a different driver on each day of a weekend.
If you drive, plan the route on a map the night before, because the distances between lakes look short and take longer than you expect. Our guide to Finger Lakes wineries helps you pick one lake for the day, and that is the surest way to keep the driving short.
What does a private driver add?
A private driver takes your group, and only your group, wherever you want to go. Everyone can taste, you set the schedule, and nobody has to keep an eye on the clock or the road. It suits couples on a special trip and small groups of friends. Drivers fill up on fall weekends, so book early.
What you gain is flexibility. You choose the wineries, stay longer where you are enjoying yourselves and leave when you are ready. Send the driver your list of stops and your reservation times in advance, and a good one will tell you honestly if the plan is too tight.
How do guided tours and limousines work?
A guided tour follows a set route with other visitors, usually with a guide on board and tastings arranged in advance. For travelers who want everything organized, it is the easiest option. A limousine or party vehicle works like a private driver for a larger group, and many people book one for birthdays and celebrations.
If you are new to the region, a guided tour is a good way in. Someone else has picked the stops, confirmed the reservations and worked out the timing. The schedule belongs to the tour, though, so if you fall for one place you still leave with the group.
Limousines and larger vehicles suit groups who want to travel together and celebrate on the way. Call each winery ahead to make sure your group is expected. Our guide to planning a group wine tasting in the Finger Lakes covers the details that help a group visit run smoothly.
How many wineries should you visit on a wine tour?
Three wineries make a full, comfortable day, and four is the most we would suggest. A seated tasting takes around forty-five minutes to an hour and a quarter, and each stop adds driving, parking and getting seated. With three stops and a real lunch in the middle, you have time to ask questions and remember where you were.
That holds whether you drive yourself or ride in a limousine, since a driver saves you the steering but none of the time. On Keuka, we suggest staying on one arm of the lake for the day. Our Keuka Lake Wine Trail guide explains how the shape of the lake makes that the easiest plan.
Before you set off
- Settle who is driving before the first glass.
- Choose one lake for the day, and one side of it if the lake is large.
- Plan three wineries, four at most.
- Reserve seated tastings ahead, especially on summer and fall weekends.
- Put lunch between the second and third stop.
- Carry water and drink it between stops.
Do you need to book tastings ahead?
For seated tastings, yes, especially on summer and fall weekends and for groups. Many tasting rooms welcome walk-ins at the bar, but with a reserved table you are expected, seated and served without a wait. Fixed times also let you build the day around them, which helps whoever is driving plan the route.
Book the stops in order and leave a buffer between them, because thirty minutes of driving on a map is often forty in practice once someone wants a photo. If you are running late, a quick call to the winery is always welcome. At our tasting room, you can reserve a seated experience on our booking page.
Where do you eat on a wine tour?
Plan a real sit-down lunch in the middle of the day, in a village along your route, because tasting on an empty stomach makes for a shorter, harder afternoon. Around Keuka Lake, Hammondsport is the natural place to stop. Some wineries also offer food pairings, which can count as part of the meal.
Our guide to where to eat around Keuka Lake and Hammondsport lists the places we send our own guests. If you would rather combine tasting and eating, a seated pairing experience at a winery covers both.
Where we fit on your tour
We are Céline and Sébastien LeSeurre. Our winery sits on Keuka Lake outside Hammondsport, about twenty minutes from Watkins Glen and twenty from Corning, so it is an easy stop from either direction. Sébastien is the sixth generation of a winegrowing family from Champagne, and we make Finger Lakes wine with a French mindset.
Our tastings are seated and educational, and you leave knowing where the grapes grew and why each wine was made the way it was. Our experiences page lists the options, from the Educational Wine Tasting to the Signature Wine & Food Pairing, which works well as a stop in the middle of the day.
The guests who enjoy the day most usually planned to do less, with three stops, a good lunch and time to ask questions.
Make us one of your stops, and sit down for a while.
Common questions about Finger Lakes wine tours
How long is a Finger Lakes wine tour?
Plan a full day for three wineries with lunch in the middle. Guided tours often run most of the day as well. To see more than one lake properly, give it a second day.
What is the best way to do a Finger Lakes wine tour?
Any way where the driver stays off the wine. For full freedom, drive yourselves with a designated driver or hire a private driver. For an organized day, join a guided tour.
How far is Domaine LeSeurre from Watkins Glen?
Domaine LeSeurre is on Keuka Lake outside Hammondsport, about twenty minutes from Watkins Glen and about twenty minutes from Corning.
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.
