Once Finger Lakes 655 NY-14

Winemaker Alek Ajder and his wife Megan Granata are originally from Milford, Connecticut. After studying Political Science at UCONN, Alek started working in restaurants and in 2008 went to Sommelier school in Manhattan. He worked as a Sommelier at Joseph’s Steakhouse in Bridgeport, Connecticut and at The Oval Room in Washington. D.C. “In 2008 Megan and I started vacationing in the Finger Lakes. We’d return every couple of years, and eventually we decided that we would like to move to the Finger Lakes and try our hands at growing grapes and making wine. So in the summer of 2015 we started looking at land here.” After searching for about a year, they found 15 acres of property that met all their criteria and seemed to be meant for them. Located by Keuka Lake's Bluff, clouds can frequently be seen rolling in, creating a 'Divided Sky'. Fun Fact: Alek enjoys the band Phish who has a song of the same name. :)

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery is the pioneer of the Eastern United States vinifera movement. Situated on the southwestern hills of Keuka Lake, it was there in 1957 that Dr. Konstantin Frank planted the first vinifera vines in the Eastern United States and ignited the “Vinifera Revolution”. This movement would forever change the course of winemaking in New York. Four generations strong, the Frank family are leaders of grape growing and winemaking throughout the Finger Lakes. Dr. Konstantin Frank fell in love with a special property on Keuka Lake for its exceptional characteristics – shale-based soils and steep slopes. With decades of knowledge and experience, he successfully planted the first European grape varieties in our home vineyard in 1958. Many of these Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir vines are still in production to this day and they represent some of the oldest vines in America.

Element Winery came about in 2009 by the multi-talented Christopher Bates - Master Sommelier, Winemaker & Executive Chef. There are less than 300 Master Sommeliers IN THE WORLD and we are lucky enough to have one here in the Finger Lakes pushing the definition of what's possible in our extreme climate. With freezing winters and hot summers, wines here take time to evolve into their full potential. Thus, Element wines always flaunt older than average vintages.

Location: Southeast Seneca Lake. Simply put, Forge makes wine in the traditional, handcrafted manner. They harvest by hand. They sort by hand. They load the grapes into the press by hand. We shovel the vats out by hand. They employ spontaneous fermentation and ferment in very tiny lots, so that they truly understand the expression of the vineyard each year. Using very low levels of sulphur, they ferment their Rieslings bone dry, and do not fine or filter their red wines. Indigenous yeast fermentations proceed very slowly- not in Spring, but in the Summer after the vintage, they are finally able to move toward bottling the wines. Once fermentations are complete, their team begins diligently tasting through barrels and tanks, giving each a detailed rating and review, and writing personal tasting notes. Small batch winemaking - hundreds of separate, small French barriques from more than a dozen different vineyards, each with its own story and personality.

West Seneca Lake

Southeast Seneca Lake

Keuka Lake Living Roots highlights the best of the owners' (Sebastian & Colleen Hardy) hometowns and their surrounding wine regions. From two different corners of the globe: Rochester, New York and Adelaide, South Australia. Though Living Roots was founded in 2016, their​ ​legacy began six generations back with ​Thomas​ ​Hardy,​ Seb’s great-great-great​ ​grandfather. In ​1850,​ ​at​ ​the​ ​age​ ​of​ ​20,​ Thomas​ immigrate​d ​to the​ ​new​ ​British​ ​colony,​ ​Australia. He soon planted the Hardy family’s first grape vines and jumpstarted 150+ years of family winemaking.​ ​ They opened the Living Roots urban winery and tasting room in Rochester in 2017. The Finger Lakes winery and tasting room officially opened in the fall of 2023 and sits on Colleen's family’s Shale Creek vineyard overlooking Keuka Lake.