Planning your visit
Wineries Near Watkins Glen: How the Lakes Are Laid Out
Most people arrive in Watkins Glen for the gorge, or for the racetrack. Then they finish the walk by early afternoon, look at the map, and wonder where to go for a glass. The answer depends on which way you turn out of the village, and the two directions give you very different days.
Where is Watkins Glen in relation to the wineries?
Watkins Glen sits at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. Wineries line both of its shores heading north. Keuka Lake is the next lake west, about twenty minutes over the hill, with its own set of wineries around Hammondsport. Both are easy half-days from the village.
The Finger Lakes run north to south like fingers on a hand, and Watkins Glen sits right at the bottom of Seneca, the longest and deepest of them. Drive north along either shore and you follow the water for miles. Drive west instead, over the ridge, and you drop into Keuka: the only lake in the region shaped like a Y, and the one where our family settled.
That twenty-minute hill is the whole story. It is short enough that plenty of guests do both lakes in one stay, and long enough that the two feel like separate trips. Seneca is wide open and busy. Keuka is smaller, the roads hug the shoreline more closely, and the pace drops.
How long does it take to drive from Watkins Glen to Keuka Lake?
About twenty minutes from Watkins Glen to Hammondsport, at the southern tip of Keuka Lake. Corning is a similar distance in the other direction. That puts three very different places within half an hour of each other: a gorge, a glass museum, and a lake full of vineyards.
It surprises people. The Finger Lakes look sprawling on a map, and they are, but the southern ends of Seneca and Keuka sit close together. If you are already staying in Watkins Glen, you are twenty minutes from a lake you probably had not planned to see. We meet guests most weeks who tell us exactly that.
If you want the full picture of what fills a day around here beyond the wine, we wrote it down in our guide to things to do in Watkins Glen, and the same for Hammondsport on our side of the hill.
What makes the two lakes different for tasting?
Seneca is long, deep, and holds heat well, with wineries spread along both shores. Keuka is smaller and Y-shaped, so its slopes face more directions and the drives are shorter. On Keuka you can taste at several places without spending the day in the car.
Depth matters more than it sounds. A deep lake holds warmth into the autumn and softens the winter, which is why cool-climate grapes do well on these slopes at all. Riesling is the signature of the whole region for that reason. The Finger Lakes Wine Alliance makes the same point about the growing conditions here.
The practical difference is distance. Around Seneca, the shore road runs a long way and the stops are spread out. Around Keuka, the lake is small enough that three or four visits fit comfortably into an afternoon, with time to sit between them. Neither is better. They ask for different days.
Choosing your direction out of Watkins Glen
- North along Seneca: the longest drive, the most ground to cover, best with a full day.
- West over the hill to Keuka: twenty minutes, shorter distances between stops, easy half-day.
- South to Corning: the glass museum, then back up to either lake in the afternoon.
- Whichever you pick, book any seated tasting ahead on summer and autumn weekends.
Can you visit both lakes in one trip?
Comfortably, over two days. One lake per day works far better than trying to cross between them twice in an afternoon. Watkins Glen makes a practical base for both, since Seneca starts at your door and Keuka is twenty minutes west.
The mistake we see is ambition. Eight wineries in a day sounds like value and ends up as a blur of parking lots. Three or four, with a proper lunch and time to sit by the water, is the day people actually remember. We laid out how we would build a weekend around Keuka in a two-day plan.
People ask us how many wineries they should see. We always say fewer than they think, and to sit down at each one.
Where do we fit in?
We are on the west side of Keuka Lake, on the hills outside Hammondsport, about twenty minutes from Watkins Glen. Céline and Sébastien LeSeurre are French winemakers; Sébastien is the sixth generation of a winemaking family from Champagne. We are open daily, ten to six.
Our first harvest here was in 2012. Before it, Sébastien tasted grapes from more than two hundred vineyard sites across the region before choosing where to plant. French roots, Finger Lakes soul. We make Finger Lakes wine with a French mindset, and our sparkling follows the méthode champenoise his family has used for six generations.
If you are coming over the hill, no appointment is needed to taste. A seated experience is worth reserving ahead on a busy weekend, and you can see what we offer on our experiences page or plan the practical side on our visit page. Dogs are welcome.
Twenty minutes from Watkins Glen, on the west side of Keuka Lake. Come as you are, or reserve a seated tasting ahead.
Are there wineries in Watkins Glen itself?
The village sits at the foot of Seneca Lake, and the wineries begin along the shores heading north from there. Keuka Lake, with its own wineries around Hammondsport, is about twenty minutes west.
Do you need reservations for Finger Lakes wineries?
For a standard tasting at our winery, no. Walk in any day between ten and six. A seated experience is best reserved ahead on summer and autumn weekends. Other wineries set their own rules, so check before you drive.
How many wineries can you visit in a day?
Three or four is a good day. It leaves room for lunch, for the drive between stops, and for actually sitting somewhere with a view. More than that and the afternoon runs away from you.
When is the best time to come?
Late spring through October is the fullest stretch, and autumn brings both the colour and the harvest. We go through it season by season in our guide to the best time to visit.
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.
