Planning your visit
Wine Tasting With Friends: How to Plan a Group Visit in the Finger Lakes
A group tasting usually starts with someone in a chat thread saying "we should do a winery." Three weeks later, that same person is the one who knows the time, the address and who is driving. If that person is you, this guide is for you.
We welcome groups at our tasting room on Keuka Lake, outside Hammondsport: birthday tables, old friends catching up, colleagues on a day away from the office, families gathered for a reunion. The groups who have the best time have usually planned the same few things beforehand, and every one of them is easier to settle before the day than on it.
How do you plan a group wine tasting?
Choose the winery and the type of tasting first, then book ahead with a confirmed headcount. Name one person as the point of contact and arrange transport before the day. Ask everyone to bring a photo ID too, since the tasting room may want to see it before pouring.
The order matters here. Once the tasting is booked, the rest of the day hangs off that time: when you leave, where you eat, when you head home. Groups that decide on the day often spend it in a parking lot on the phone, while groups that booked walk straight to a table that is ready for them.
How far ahead should a group book a wine tasting?
Book as early as you can, and earlier still for summer and fall weekends, the busiest time of year in the Finger Lakes. A group needs a table set aside, and a seated experience has a fixed number of places. Weekdays are easier to arrange and often give a group a calmer, more personal tasting.
When you book, have the date, the number of guests and your expected arrival time ready. If the headcount changes, tell the winery as soon as you know. A table for eight that turns into eleven on the day is hard for any tasting room to manage, whereas a phone call two days earlier usually sorts it out.
You can see our available times and reserve on our booking page. For a larger group, or if you have questions about what is possible, contact our team directly before you book and we will talk it through with you.
Which kind of tasting suits a group?
Most groups do best with a seated tasting. Everyone sits at the same table, hears the same explanations and tastes at the same pace, so the group stays together. A tasting with food, such as a wine and food pairing, turns the visit into a shared meal and works especially well for a celebration.
At a busy bar, a group splits up within minutes. Some people get served while others wait, and the conversation breaks into pieces. Around a table, everyone follows the same thread and the person pouring can talk to all of you at once, which feels closer to a dinner party than a queue.
At our tasting room, our team guides the Educational Wine Tasting: five wines over about forty-five minutes, with an explanation of how each one is made. A Taste of France is a seated hour of wine and macarons. The Signature Wine & Food Pairing is seated too, runs about seventy-five minutes and follows the seasons, and for a birthday it is usually the one that feels like an occasion.
Why should one person handle the booking?
With one point of contact, the details stay straight. That person books, confirms the headcount, passes on any dietary needs for a food pairing and takes the call if plans change. When five people each ring the winery with their own version of the plan, the group arrives to a booking that matches none of them.
Collect what the winery needs before you call: the final number, any allergies or dietary needs if you are booking a pairing, and whether anyone in the group will skip the tasting. Then send everyone one message with the confirmed time, the address and the name of the person to call if something goes wrong.
The organizer's checklist
- Choose the winery and the experience, then book with a firm headcount.
- Act as the single point of contact for the booking.
- Pass on allergies and dietary needs before a food pairing.
- Confirm transport there and back before the day.
- Remind everyone to bring a photo ID.
- Send the group one message with the time, the address and your number.
Who can join a wine tasting in New York?
You must be 21 or older to taste alcohol in New York State. That applies to every guest in the group, and a tasting room may ask to see a photo ID. Guests under 21 can still come along, sit with the group and enjoy the setting, but they cannot be served wine.
The New York State Liquor Authority sets the rules for licensed premises like ours, and we apply them at every table. Ask everyone to bring ID, including guests who are clearly over 21, and you avoid an awkward moment at the start of the tasting.
If your group includes children, we offer Le Petit Gourmand, a tasting made for kids with four juice and bite pairings, so the youngest guests get their own place at the table. Our guide to the Finger Lakes with kids has more ideas for a family day.
How should a group get to the winery?
Arrange transport before the day. A group can hire a driver or a larger vehicle, or travel in several cars, each with a designated driver who stays off the wine. The lake roads are narrow and winding, so the plan has to cover the trip home as well as the trip there.
Our guide to Finger Lakes wine tours compares the options in detail, from driving yourselves to hiring a driver for the day. With a group, the thing to watch is timing. Every stop takes longer with ten people than with two, so plan fewer stops than you think you need.
For a bachelorette party or a full weekend away, our guide to planning a group weekend in the Finger Lakes covers lodging and the rhythm of a two-day trip.
A group tasting at our table
We are Céline and Sébastien LeSeurre, French winemakers on Keuka Lake. Sébastien is the sixth generation of a winegrowing family from Champagne. Our tastings are educational, which means we explain where the grapes grew and how each wine was made, and your group leaves with something to talk about over dinner that evening.
Our favorite moment with a group comes near the end, when one of them starts explaining a wine to the rest of the table.
Bring your group to our table above the lake.
Common questions about group wine tastings
Do you need a reservation for a group wine tasting?
Yes. A group needs a table set aside, especially on summer and fall weekends, so book ahead with your headcount and call the winery if the number changes.
What should each guest bring to a group wine tasting?
A photo ID. The tasting room may ask to see it before serving, so it is worth bringing even for guests who are clearly over 21.
Can we book a private wine tasting for our group?
Contact our team before you book and tell us about your group and the occasion. We will tell you what we can arrange and which experience fits best.
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.
