Finger Lakes Explorers

Although Knapp Winery is a bit tucked away off the beaten lakeside path around Cayuga Lake, it’s well worth the stop, as we found out on an overcast Saturday in late fall. The winery and attached restaurant have firmly set their place in the Finger Lakes wine and culinary scene, and with good reason. With the large selection of truly unique tastes, charming staff, and warm tasting room, Knapp easily stands out among the crowd.

Know Before You Go

Lake: Cayuga

Location: 2770 County Road 128 on the west side of Cayuga Lake

Hours:    10:00AM-5:30PM

Cost: $10 tasting

Groups: Call ahead for 11-16 people to make a reservation.

Website: Knapp Winery Website

Reasons to Visit:

• Friendly and knowledgeable server
• Good wine selection
• Generous pours
• Cozy atmosphere

Wines

Sometimes you go to wine tastings where five or six wines are offered and you think, “Hmm. None of these sound all that great.” Luckily, this was not the case at all at Knapp. The list of options for tastings was extensive with over 30 different types of wine plus six different types of spirits. I didn’t even know where to start! Luckily, our pourer was there to help.

I tend to prefer the drier wines, so I tried out the Brut sparking wine, Barrel Reserve Chardonnay, and KV Estate Dry Riesling. The sparkling wine was my favorite of the bunch, although that’s not saying much because I love pretty much all sparkling wine/champagne I try. For the reds, I tried the Sangiovese, Lemberger, and Meritage. I mentioned to our pourer, Matt B., my surprise at seeing Sangiovese as an option in the Finger Lakes. It turns out that Knapp is one of only three wineries in the Finger Lakes region that grows the grapes needed to make the Sangiovese. If that wasn’t cool enough, he went on to boast that they were only one of five to make the Lemberger! I was feeling pretty exclusive at this point, so my tastings may have been biased, but I really enjoyed the Lemberger a lot. I highly recommend giving it a try when you visit Knapp.

Atmosphere

Knapp Winery was our first stop on a Saturday afternoon in late fall. It was on the early side when we arrived and the tasting room was very quiet, with only one other small group. Despite the lack of visitors at the time, the friendly welcome of the staff and the cozy decor warmed the place right up.

The inside of Knapp is kind of a country-chic. Wine barrels lined several walls and served as tables for displaying bottles and other goodies for sale. The tasting tables were covered in burlap, adding to the charming farm feel. It may have been because of the time of year, but the ceiling and several wine barrels were lined with sparkling Christmas lights, brightening up the interior.

But even through the charming decor, the true star of Knapp was our pourer, Matt B. His knowledge of not only Knapp’s wines but wines in general was truly impressive and his charm kept us giggling the whole time. He turned what might have been a good experience into one that was the highlight of our day.

 

Views

From the actual tasting room, there weren’t really any sweeping views of Cayuga Lake, or anything else for that matter. The winery is set a bit up the hill from the lake and is surrounded by vineyards. However, just a short stroll down the hill from the tasting room and vineyards lead us to some beautiful open views of Cayuga. So even if your tasting view isn’t anything spectacular, you’ll be leaving to quite a scene.

Value

We found Knapp to be a really good value for the quality and variety of wines we could choose from. Once the tastings were done, Matt B. twisted my arm into trying the Grappa. I had tasted Grappa before while touring Italy and was less that thrilled with it, which I let Matt B. know. He convinced me that Knapp’s Grappa was completely unlike the Italian Grappa, much smoother. Well, I trusted him, and he was right! So much smoother than any of the Grappa I had in Italy. Having me convinced, he then suggested the Limoncello made with the Grappa and lemon juice. Also delicious!