Keuka Lake is the Y-shaped “Crooked Lake” of New York’s Finger Lakes, the cradle of the state’s wine industry and home to some of the oldest and most historic wineries in the East. Centered on the village of Hammondsport, its steep, lake-tempered slopes are best known for cool-climate Riesling and a sparkling-wine heritage that reaches back to 1860.
Keuka’s wines are labeled under the parent Finger Lakes AVA, and its slopes hold two landmark firsts: Pleasant Valley Wine Company, founded near Hammondsport in 1860, is designated U.S. Bonded Winery No. 1, and in 1962 Dr. Konstantin Frank founded the winery that launched the East’s vinifera revolution.
Weis Vineyards
Born in Zell Mosel, Germany, Winemaker Hans Peter Weis grew up in the vineyards and cellar of his family’s winery. It is there that he gained his passion for wine. Continually learning and working with ...
Explore Weis Vineyards →Know the wines of Keuka Lake
Wineries to visit
Best time to visit Keuka Lake
Base yourself in Hammondsport, the lakeside “Wine Capital of New York State,” and drive the Keuka Lake Wine Trail — a roughly one-hour circuit — with the Corning Museum of Glass a short trip away. Late summer through fall, the harvest season, is the peak window, though tasting rooms are open year-round.
More about Keuka Lake
Wineries to Visit on Keuka Lake
- Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery — the estate that proved European vinifera Riesling could thrive in the East, founded 1962 on Keuka’s western shore.
- Bully Hill Vineyards — French-American hybrid wines, an on-site restaurant and the Greyton H. Taylor Wine Museum, just north of Hammondsport.
- Heron Hill Winery — cold-climate Riesling and Chardonnay on a slate hill overlooking the lake, established 1977.
- Pleasant Valley Wine Company — the region’s oldest winery (U.S. Bonded Winery No. 1, 1860) and its historic sparkling wines, in eight National Register stone buildings.
Keuka Lake Wine Tours
Finger Lakes tours reach Keuka’s wineries from the Ithaca and Hammondsport areas: