February in the Finger Lakes
Originally published January 27th, 2022.
I’m sure June in Barcelona is swell, and September in Paris must be heavenly. Even Hoboken may seem appealing on a mild Spring day, provided the wind is blowing in the right direction. But you know a destination is really worth the airfare if it’s still a delight in the dark, blustery depths of winter.
Okay, full disclosure. My lifelong habit of winter travel has been more of a financial necessity than a lifestyle choice. But as any decent Pacific Northwest native will tell you, warm weather is so, so highly overrated. If you’re willing to pack an umbrella, the off-season boasts steep discounts and sparse crowds, not to mention that no-one will expect you to parade around in public in swimwear.
Even if you prefer near to far in the icy months, there are plenty of reasons to take off the bathrobe and put on your snowboots in February, and not all of them involve spending your life savings to flail down a bunny slope on rented skis while four-year-old future Olympians do figure-eights around you. (Hypothetical situation, I assure you.)
For example, in the heady, innocent days of February 2020, we spied the phrase “Chocolate and Wine Weekend” in an online community calendar. We promptly cancelled all our previous plans (plans were things you made with other people in those days ((other people are humans who don’t live in your house or in Zoom squares. Legends say they still exist, somewhere))) and packed our bags for a jaunt to the Finger Lakes.
“It’s too cold!”
“But think of all the money we’re saving!”
The Finger Lakes were carved by glaciers according to the geologists, deep, narrow bodies of water that look like a set of claw marks in the flank of upstate New York. They were once the ancestral lands of the Iroquois, although all that’s left of them now are their place names: Cayuga, Seneca, Keuka, Skaneateles and Oneida. Nowadays, the steep, sloping hills and vast freshwater lakes are best known as wine country.
Glenora Vineyards, daybreak. We stayed overnight because we had a coupon. Two free bottles of estate wine and free tasting included! Long live the off-season!
The terroir is unique, best known for producing Reisling and other cool-climate wines. But if you’re a philistine like me, not sure of the difference between Vignoles and Viognier, you will find immense relief in the laid-back and unpretentious spirit of the local winemakers. No-one here thinks they’re cooler than you (even if they are), and everyone is ready to teach you what they know. This particular weekend, each of the Seneca Lake wineries had created specific wine, food and chocolate pairings to help us explore what the region and their specific estates had to offer, without exposing ourselves as a couple of backcountry rubes.
Belhurst Castle and Vineyards. I’ve heard there’s a tap in the basement where overnight guests can access a limitless supply of the estate vintage. Alas, I am too much of a cheapskate to find out.
With 35 wineries on Seneca Lake alone, clearly this time we could only dip our toes in the Finger Lakes’ boozy waters. We passed breweries, distilleries, meaderies, farm stores, cafes and scenic lookouts galore, but lingered for peaceful hours on high balconies overlooking a steep and rolling landscape of snow and vines and rippling water. Snuggled into our down parkas under the glow of outdoor heat lamps and sipping our glasses of Gewurtzraminer in peace and solitude, oblivious to the Great Indoorsening thundering toward us from distant Wuhan, February felt fairly fabulous.
