Steuben Wine

Roots of a World Class Wine Destination

In some ways, New York State’s recent emergence on the international wine stage seems surprising. After all, most people only think of the Big Apple when they think of the Empire State. And that doesn’t typically elicit images of vineyards and wine barrels.

Those people forget that away from the iconic skyline and the myriad skyscrapers is another New York featuring a diverse and often rural landscape with a long, rich agricultural history. As more and more oenophiles and connoisseurs around the world discuss the state’s exceptional wine offerings as if making some new discovery, much of the accolades and success can be traced back to one small town, in particular, located smack dab in the heart of Steuben called Hammondsport.

Keuka Lake A Wine Story - Video

Learn more about the remarkable history of wine around Keuka Lake in the video above.

Wine Collaborations

See what exciting collabs our tastemakers are coming up with, right here in the Finger Lakes.

Steuben Wine: First and Finest

A taste of our award winning wineries!

It makes perfect sense. You’re in the mood for some great wine (maybe even some breathtaking scenery), so you head to the place where New York’s premiere wine region— a region called out in Travel + Leisure as “the prime wine region of the Eastern U.S.”—got its start. You know, the very same place you’ll find New York State’s “Best White Wine” for 2022 and “Best Pink Wine,” “Best Sparkling Wine,” “Best Red Wine.”

If that doesn’t have you covered, those very same wineries make enough other award-winning, tongue-tantalizing, aromatic, food-friendly wines to keep you smacking your lips for days. Throw in the most unusual of all the Finger Lakes (making lake life accessible and fun), a small town that will charm you senseless, and mouthwatering food.

Tucked quietly at the southern end of Y-shaped Keuka Lake, Hammondsport is where the first grapes in the region were planted nearly 200 years ago, where the first winery in the Finger Lakes was founded—back in 1860 and still going strong—and where winemaking was changed forever thanks to the “Vinifera Revolution” nearly 100 years later.

Best of all, the wineries there keep making history by redefining just how good wine can be. After all, it’s where you’ll find New York State’s “2022 Winery of the Year,” another winery recently voted “Best Winery Tour for 2022” in USA Today's Reader's Choice Awards, and another named one of the “Top 100 Wineries in the World” in 2021.

Recent Award Winners
 

Weis Vineyards

2022 New York Wine Classic: Best Pink Wine, Best White Wine, Winery of the Year

Ravines Wine Cellars

2021 Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries

Keuka Lake Vineyards

2022 New York Wine Classic: Best Red Wine

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery

2022 New York Wine Classic: Best Sparkling Wine
2022 USA Today’s Readers Choice Award for Best Winery Tour

Genesis to Next Gen > 

For the small town of Hammondsport is where the first grapes in the Finger Lakes Wine Region were planted almost 200 years ago. Hammondsport is where the first winery in the region was founded in 1860 and seven years later became the first American winery to win an award in Europe. Believe it or not, that winery is still in business, Pleasant Valley Wine Company.

When No Isn't in Your Vocabulary >

Hammondsport is also where you’ll find the winery that forever changed winemaking in the region and beyond back in 1957 with the first successful planting of Vinifera Grapes in the northeastern United States. It’s no surprise that Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery has been named one of the “Top 100 Wineries” in the World by Wine & Spirits Magazine multiple times. It’s also no surprise that winemakers from around the world would come top Dr. Frank’s and work and then establish their own wineries. Wineries like Weis and Domaine LeSeurre and Ravines which has also been named one of the “Top 100 Wineries” in the World by Wine & Spirits Magazine multiple times.

Irreverant Genius >

Hammondsport is where, in the 1970s one local man took on global giant Coca Cola and founded his own winery on the philosophy of making the best wines he could while staying true to the Finger Lakes region. He promoted integrity and worked hard to support local growers and small independent wineries. The winery’s motto “Wine with Laughter” is still an integral part of the experience when one visits Bully Hill Vineyards.

Check out all of Steuben's great Wineries below!

Steuben Wine

Roots of a World Class Wine Destination

In some ways, New York State’s recent emergence on the international wine stage seems surprising. After all, most people only think of the Big Apple when they think of the Empire State. And that doesn’t typically elicit images of vineyards and wine barrels.

Those people forget that away from the iconic skyline and the myriad skyscrapers is another New York featuring a diverse and often rural landscape with a long, rich agricultural history. As more and more oenophiles and connoisseurs around the world discuss the state’s exceptional wine offerings as if making some new discovery, much of the accolades and success can be traced back to one small town, in particular, located smack dab in the heart of Steuben called Hammondsport.