Wagner Vineyards, Finger Lakes region, NY

Wagner Vineyards
9322 State Route 414
Lodi, NY 14860
www.wagnervineyards.com

So from Cayuga Lake, we veered west back to the Seneca Lake side to try out two more wineries.  I will tell you now that we ended up in Wagner Vineyards because we missed the turn to Lamoreau's winery, which is adjacent to it.  (It is really hard driving on these country roads because the signs on the road are very tiny and everyone drives really fast.)  In the end, we were glad we came here because we got to try not only their wine, but their suds as well.

From the display cases crammed full of medals and awards, to family pictures going back a few generations, it appeared to us that this winery has been around for a while and has been a labor of love.

I counted four display cases full of medals.  Quite impressive!

So anyway, the setup here at Wagner is that you pay for your tasting ticket (about a buck for each of us, I think), and you queue until a tasting station opens.  Each tasting station handles about ten people, and there is a set of wines that they pour.   A bit of an assembly line operation, even given the four tasting stations open.  You get to try about maybe six or eight wines, which are poured one right after another.

 DJKung perusing the wines available for tasting.

Like Thirsty Owl,Wagner also seemed to have a stronger showing with their whites. 

Stunning Seneca Lake views.

Even better, Wagner also has an in-house brewery.  We figured what the heck, might as well go for it. The queue for the beer tastings ($2, payable at the bar)seemed longer, but was younger and livelier. 

The bar is also open for regular pours, about $3 a pint. Wagner has Friday pub nights on the brewery deck, which from the pictures,  gets quite happenin'.    

So finally we made it to the bar and tried seven brews.  By the third half- tumbler, we were already giddy.

Generally, we were impressed with the quality of the beers, which were all very smooth and  well-balanced.  We especially liked the Dockside Amber lager (smooth and with a fruity bite), Oatmeal stout (hearty), Coffee Porter (tasted like chocolate) and the Doppel- and Trippelboch Sled Dog beers.  The latter two are mature, rich and complex German-style brews. 

So we had quite a haul coming out of Wagner: a bottle of the Reisling Semi-Dry, a 6-pack each of the Oatmeal stout and the Amber lager (for cold and warm autum days, respectively) and, as a splurge, a bottle of the Trippelboch.  Yay we love beer tastings!