Americana Vineyards Winery — Attraction in Town of Covert

Maybe their wines are good, but I'll never know because of what happened. I was on vacation in the Finger Lakes in October '24 on a personal wine purchasing trip -- my wife and I do it every 5 years. We visited 106 different Finger Lakes wineries on the trip and brought home over 10 cases (no two bottles alike). There were only 2 wineries where we visited but didn’t taste. Americana being the first one. We were there to taste a few specific white wines we were interested in, to see which ones we liked enough to purchase. But instead of charging a tasting fee to taste only what we were interested in, we had to pick one of several pre-selected ‘flights’.

Each flight contained 4 wines, a couple of which we didn't care to try within each flight choice. So to taste the ones we wanted, we'd have had to purchase 4 different flights and dump many of the wines we weren't interested in. Plus "flight" pours are about half a glass, so the flight of 4 wines is about 2 glasses total. This is way more wine to consume than someone who's driving to visiting many more wineries in a day might want to drink. Conversely, a "tasting" pour would typically be smaller (an ounce), just enough to see if you like it. So I asked the man who seemed to be running the show if we could NOT pick one of their set flights and instead pick the 4 specific wines we wanted to try and with smaller pours. He said, "That's not the way we do it". I told him that we weren't there to sit around DRINKING; that we were there to taste to purchase and only wanted small pours for which we were willing to pay a tasting fee. He insisted we must pick one of the full flights and that there was no flexibility. So I asked, "So how am I to decide which bottles of your wine I want to buy today if I can't taste the ones I'm interested in?" His answer -- "You don't". I said, "thank you" and we walked out.

Now I read that the winery is up for sale. I guess you can't run a business that way and survive. Too bad Americana! Maybe in 5 years, the NEW owners will be much more accommodating, and I'll be able to support them with my dollars and bring some of THEIR wines back home with me.

Update: I originally posted this review on yelp and then emailed a copy directly to the winery. I actually received a response. The response was, “Lies. And who uses yelp.”. This has to be the same guy I met at the winery due to the identical level of rudeness. Stay away if you can. They don’t deserve...

The last time we visited the Americana Winery in 2017, we were thrilled with the Ambiance and free fudge samples. However, this Winery has changed significantly since then.

I don't really enjoy giving a negative review, however, this winery is starting to feel tired and dated. Our group was the only group that came in for tastings in nearly an hour. The grounds are starting to look tired, and the winery feels discombobulated with many dated products, and decor. One corner had Halloween decorations, while another area still had a small Christmas tree erected.

Slushies were available, as well as wine tastings. Wine was served in a clear plastic cup.

They offered samples of dips that they had on the shelf.

There was a "for sale" sign on the property, I don't imagine that we will visit this Winery again, unless it is under new management

Note: My gal pals are back back in the Finger Lakes for our 10th annual tour and I am reviewing the wineries that we visited. These reviews are based on our experience this year (2024) as policies, owners and crop can fluctuate,...

Service was somewhat lacking I'm afraid. We weren't greeted when we came in. That's okay. There were three of us and a baby, and we did find one available table, which was nearly impossible to squeeze into, but squeeze we did.

We ordered a charcuterie which is a meat and cheese platter, a pot of gold appetizer and a pulled pork sandwich, all of which we shared. The food was fine, but we weren't provided with plates for the appetizers which I found quite peculiar. It made for an awkward eating experience, especially since the cheeses offered were crumbled goat and blue. We also ordered a bottle of wine which we had to remind our server to bring.

On the plus side, our baby received rave reviews from the other people who came to enjoy the music, which also was excellent, provided by Party of Four.

Edit Thanks to the owner for your thoughtful reply! I feel like I have to...