Lake Seneca Wine Tour  by Dolores Lucey

I recently had an opportunity to experience the annual "Deck the Halls" wine-tasting tour of Lake Seneca, located in the center of the Finger Lakes region of New York State.

This  two-day tour included visits to twenty-four wineries located on the lake.  Fortunately, they were close together.   I do not think that we drove more than five miles between stops.

Each winery was bedecked for the Christmas holidays and featured an opportunity to sample both food and wine.  Mother Nature even provided snow showers to help get us in the "Holiday Spirit."  

At the first winery we were given a holiday wreath made out of grapevines and a Christmas ornament.  Also included in this package was a recipe book with recipes for each winery's featured food.

Each winery provided a unique ornament for our holiday wreath.  By the end of the two days we had the fixings for a very distinctive Christmas wreath that will be enjoyed for many years.  

Most of the wineries had selected four wines to be sampled.  Spittoons were used to evacuate the wine and palate cleansers were available so that we could properly appreciate the next wine being presented for tasting.   With twenty-four stops every sample would have added up, and we had a long drive back to Western Mass on day two.   The vintners did not rush us in any way; they seemed to encourage people to stay and visit their store.  However, they did keep the crowds moving as there were about 1,500 people on the tour.  

While some groups had rented limos and other larger groups had buses, we had our own car.  I felt that this offered us more flexibility in that we did not have to wait for "the group": we moved at our own pace.

The "Deck the Halls" tour did not include all of the wineries at Lake Seneca.  No matter what direction we looked, we were surrounded by vineyards and wineries that ranged from converted barns to palatial estates.

Our tour of the Lake Seneca wineries was truly a tasteful experience.