Celebrate New York’s largest wine region with special tastings, exclusive experiences, and more. 

If you’ve ever wondered when the best time to visit a winery in the Finger Lakes is, the best answer is, “any time.” Each season has its charms. But, if you’re thinking about visiting the region in August, it’s certainly an exciting time to do so. The vines are lush and full. Verasion, when the grapes start to change color and ripen, adds pops of color throughout the vineyards. And, there’s an energy in the air as it’s all hands on deck to prepare for harvest, which for some grape varieties, may happen before the month is through. 

Adding to that energy is Finger Lakes Wine Month, a 31-day party celebrating the wines and wineries of the region as well as the wine lovers who visit and raise their glasses with family and friends to toast #FLXwine.

The festive month is a collaboration between Finger Lakes Wine Country and Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, along with three wine trail organizations, Seneca Lake Wine Trail, Keuka Lake Wine Trail, and Cayuga Lake Wine Trail. 

The month “raises awareness that the Finger Lakes wine industry is a powerhouse,” says Christina Oldroyd, vice president of brand development of Finger Lakes Wine Country. 

“Many of our wineries celebrate. Some wineries choose to do special events and some do special promotions, but it’s not required for them to do anything different,” she says. “Really the goal would be to raise awareness from the consumer perspective to visit the region, experience the wineries, or even get local residents to get out and support our local wineries or go to a local wine store to purchase a bottle of local wine.”

Brittany Gibson, executive director of Seneca Lake Wine Trail, sees the month as an opportunity to go beyond local residents.

“For us in this industry and in this region, we tend to think everybody always knows about Finger Lakes wine, but that’s not the case,” she says. “For me, this is an opportunity to continue to push the message out there. Finger Lakes wine is here. It’s phenomenal and we’re excited about it. Everybody else should be excited about it, too.” 

Finger Lakes Wine Month Events

Wineries create events that reflect their history and current strengths for the celebratory month. Some wineries opt to create special wine flights, while others plan larger events, like hosting dinners or throwing “in the vines” events

“The large majority of the experiences are non-ticketed. There’s a lot of live music or specialty tasting offers that guests can upgrade to,” says Oldroyd, noting that there may be some dinners and other events that are ticketed. 

“The majority are also family friendly,” she says, while recommending that families research and call ahead to make sure the winery they want to visit and the events it’s hosting are appropriate for children.

Many wineries are still finalizing details for their Wine Month events, but Gibson expects this year’s offerings will be similar to those in the past years that she says “spanned the gamut.” Highlights included specialty tours, tastings of library wines, and more experiential events. 

Good for the Region as a Whole

“Finger Lakes Wine Month benefits the Finger Lakes community as a whole,” says Oldroyd. “It acknowledges the fact that this region is a destination hugely in part because of the wine industry and gives our businesses within the region an opportunity to celebrate the experience and the industry that really sets our region apart.”

She sees Wine Month as something that garners attention in the region and on national and global levels because the region is unique. “With our wineries offering unique experiences or events, other businesses in the region may see additional traffic to their businesses as well.”

Kyle Anne Pallischeck, executive director of Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, sees the benefits to non-winery businesses as well. “Restaurant and liquor stores will benefit from Finger Lakes Wine Month,” she says, and suggests “that businesses that would like to capitalize on the month reach out to the wineries they have relationships with to set up dinners, tastings, and other special events.”

How To Find Finger Lakes Wine Month Events

Unlike past years, the Finger Lakes Wine Month website will not post individual events. 

“This year will be a little bit different,” says Pallischeck. “Because of a variety of financial and other constraints, we’re not using a centralized calendar. Now the website is just a single page letting folks know that they can go to their favorite winery’s website to check out the calendar of events and see what the winery is hosting.”

While the website will be static, the overarching event’s social media pages will not be. FLXwinemonth on Instagram and Finger Lakes Wine Month on Facebook will share happenings of events and specials that the wineries plan.

Participating wineries will also fly a flag that says “Finger Lakes Wine Month” during the month of August to let their guests know they’re participating. 

Whether the events are big or small, it’s the celebration that counts.

“The most important message to get across, is that we look forward to celebrating Finger Lakes wine, the wineries, and the industry which is full of amazing people that do amazing work,” says Oldroyd.  “We invite everyone to come and raise a glass with us and toast the Finger Lakes wine industry.”