When you are visiting an area known for wineries, and offering more than 70 to choose from, it can be difficult for a winery to set itself apart. After all, the Finger Lakes are known for spectacular views (several wineries offer lakefront vistas), vineyards (many with a winery/tasting room), and riesling grapes.
So our first stop after settling the teardrop camper onto its site for the next few days was located almost on the same street as the campground. Miles Wine Cellars, part of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, is located in a gorgeous Georgian-style home built in 1798. Madam Ambassador fell in love with the 2-story Doric columns holding up the porch roof and the wide planks that formed the original floors.
In addition to the winery, there is an inn with 2 suites and a boathouse for convenient docking on the site. The winery itself has a small tasting room and nice gift shop.
But on to the title of Best Wine Label. As befitting a home of this age, it has its resident ghosts. Winery owners Doug Miles and Suzie Hays pay homage to them with the label on their Chardonnay-Cayuga Blend. This semi-dry white wine is easily seen through the clear label and the open dress of the Ghost. Shining a light through the bottle brings the ghost to the front of the house! This wine had nice citrus and apple notes with a clean, crisp finish.
The tasting room set menu offered 4 additional wines, other than Ghost. The Cabernet Franc, made from estate grapes and aged in Hungarian Oak, had a nice jammy nose with a slight pepper finish. The Dry Rose was light and not too sweet. Cache is a sparkling riesling while Wisteria, made from Catawba grapes, was a nice, sweet wine.
