Cayuga Lake Wine Trail — Attraction in Town of Varick

Three years later the wine trail is using COVID to cash in. This was my first time visiting in about five years. Most places had affordable tastings where it would be "sample five wines for $5". Now it's a flight in most places because of "COVID". Sixty-Eight Winery had a $25 tasting fee for one person. Really? Knapp, which I love, had a $12 tasting fee and Lucas charged $10 for tastings. I have even greater respect for Thirsty Owl. They're still affordable with $5 to sample five wines and you get $2 back if you make a purchase after your tasting. Guess where I spent the most money? Thirsty Owl. That is how you do business people! Thirsty Owl gets a gigantic thumbs up while the majority of wineries from yesterday get a big thumbs down. Stop price gouging on the tastings. COVID is an afterthought. Especially stop the price gouging now that we are experiencing 40 year high inflation. The consumer is getting crushed as it is. Looks like I will be hitting the liquor stores over the border in NY and just purchasing Finger Lakes wines without the absurd tasting fees. I will be mostly purchasing Thirsty Owl products because they have my ultimate respect. Way to ruin a...

We recently visited Cayuga Lakes Region and used the pamphlet from the Wine Trail. We only had 2 days, unfortunately, but managed to visit 6 wineries, plus several other places (cheese factory, fruit and veg.stands, Sauders Grocery Store, It's a Wonderful Life Museum and Bridge). We loved the diversity in the wineries! Each one unique! Loved that we could bring our little dog along! Yes, the tastings were pricey, but we expected that. Most wineries explained the wines and several that had pre-arranged tasting choices, allowed substitutions. You could also add another for $2. We bought a few bottles at each stop, and usually something at the gift shop, if they had one. The towns along the way usually have a little cafe where you can get lunch. Don't forget to go on the east side of the lake! The beautiful farmland along the way was a big part of our enjoyment. My husband, who is not the wine enthusiast I am, enjoyed the liquor and hard cider tastings. We will most certainly come back and this time we will allow more time! We came in late August and it was...

We were disappointed by the cost of tastings when we visited on July 9. Most of the places we visited were $12 or more for 5 wines with a bag of chips. I would rather have a cheaper tasting and exclude the chips. At several of the wineries you could no longer choose the individual wines you wanted, instead having to choose from a pre-determined flight. There was little to no interaction with the person serving you the wine. I miss having the wines described and explained to us. I am hoping that this is just temporary due to coming out of the covid restrictions. If it’s not we will not be back. Way too expensive! Such a shame - used to be so much fun with minimal expense. Shout out to Thirsty Owl - $5 and we each chose our wines. The server was informative (sorry…forgot his name) and it was like it used to be. Thanks...