| This year, determined to go “locapour” (the liquid equivalent of a food locavore, or someone who drinks local), I thought the combo of water, wine and summer seemed a good reason for a trip to New York’s Finger Lakes region to catch up with its latest offerings. But the main impetus was a celebration at the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery’s “Chateau Frank” to mark its 40 years of making sparkling wine. I’ll go anywhere for good bubbly. The quality of Dr. Frank’s cuvees was just one of the trip’s surprises.  Chateau Frank, built in 1886. Photographer: Stu Gallagher I hadn’t visited the region in some time, and a lot has happened recently. There are now more than 400 wineries in the Finger Lakes. The key grape is still riesling—not surprising when you consider the cool climate—but wineries are embracing reds like cabernet franc and gamay as well as sparkling wine and chardonnay. A new wave of ambitious winemakers is striving for global attention and getting it. Best of all: The number of excellent wines costing $20 to $35 a bottle is simply amazing. If you’re dreaming of a wine weekend road trip during harvest, there it runs through much of October. Offerings include new winery tasting rooms, a growing food scene and charming, luxurious bed-and-breakfast inns like Moonshadow in Hammondsport overlooking Keuka Lake, where I stayed. On a map, the long, narrow, deep lakes, carved out by glaciers during North America’s last ice age, look like claw marks made by some mythical giant. Which, of course, is why they’re called the Finger Lakes. There are 11, but only a few—Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga, Canandaigua—are home to wineries. Frank, a winemaking immigrant from Ukraine who arrived in the US in the 1950s, founded his eponymous winery north of Hammondsport in 1962. He’s the region’s wine hero, the visionary who persuaded winemakers to give up rustic hybrids and plant European varieties like that riesling; there are 849 acres of it planted today. But Frank also grew 60 other varieties in his experimental vineyard, said his grandson Fred Frank, who now runs operations along with his winemaker daughter Meaghan, the fourth generation of the Frank family to run the winery. Not all worked.  Two generations of Franks: Fred and Meaghan. Source: Dr. Konstantin Frank Over dinner he explained that his father, Willy, was the one who started the sparkling wine program in 1985: “He was the first producer in the Finger Lakes to make a méthode champenoise wine using the same grapes as in Champagne—pinot noir, chardonnay and the first pinot meunier in the region.” Chateau Frank, a historic 1886 stone house, winery and tasting room down the road from the main operations, is where the sparklers happen. A flight of 11 of them, from 1986 to 2021, blew me away. My biggest takeaway? How well they age. The 1986 was still fresh and impressive, with a deep gold color and plenty of richness. A 2011 blanc de blanc with lunch was just about perfect.  This lineup of Dr. Frank sparkling wine vintages, from 1986 to 2021, available during the 40th anniversary tasting. Source: Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery Current sparkling winemaker Eric Bauman makes 10 cuvees, including brut, blanc de blanc, blanc de noirs, brut rosé, riesling nature, a slightly sweet celebre and tiny amounts of three extra bruts from gruner veltliner, pinot gris and pinot blanc. All are delicious, especially the blanc de blanc, blanc de noirs and the three experimental bubblies with art labels, which we tasted while exploring the lake in a historic touring boat. Many of the European winemakers in the region got their start at the Dr. Frank winery, and more have arrived recently along with high-profile names from California. No wonder. As Fred pointed out, the cost of land is about a 10th the price of that in Napa. And in this era of global warming, the cool climate and lake effect have an obvious appeal. One of those winemakers is Paul Hobbs, famous for his Napa cabernets and international projects in Argentina and Armenia, so I stopped by his Hillick & Hobbs Estate on Seneca Lake, whose first vintage was 2019. “I wanted to make world-class riesling,” he told me back then, and he does. At his sophisticated new barnlike tasting room, which opened in 2022, I tried his three brilliant examples and drank in incredible views of the lake. You look straight down vine rows on a dramatic steep slope of shale and slate while enjoying glasses of wine and snacks at outdoor picnic tables. On another day, I headed for brand-new winery Apollo’s Praise, on the west side of Seneca Lake. Founded in 2023 by Kelby James Russell, former winemaker at nearby Red Newt Cellars, and his wife Julia Hoyle, winemaker at Hosmer, it’s already gained international buzz for riesling and fascinating reds. “The name,” Russell told me, “comes from the song Glorious Apollo, which I performed with the Harvard Glee Club as a student.” In the farmhouse on their Lahoma Vineyard property, they pulled out bottles from the current vintage. The first year, Russell said, frost destroyed half their crop. Luckily 2024 was an exemplary vintage. Best Finger Lakes wine to buy now | Dr. Konstantin Frank2024 Eugenia Dry Riesling ($40)
The winery’s basic dry riesling is a steal at $19, but this single-vineyard wine, named for Frank’s wife, is their driest, most mineral-driven one, with depth and complexity.  Dr. Konstantin Frank 2024 Eugenia Dry Riesling Source: Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery 2021 Blanc de Blanc ($45)
I loved all the sparkling wines, but this just-released all-chardonnay cuvee aged for three years in the historic cellar is what I’d choose to toast the region’s potential for great bubbly. It’s subtle, edgy and mineral, with a chalky lightness and slight succulence in the finish. 2021 Brut Cuvee 85 ($85)
This special one-off homage to the first vintage of the winery’s sparkling wine is brand new—and it wowed me. The final dosage, a combo of wine and sugar added just before corking to balance a cuvee’s acidity, was created using the winery’s remaining bottles of the legendary 1985. It’s delicate and delicious, with aromas of warm brioche and baked apple, citrus and sweet pear flavors, and it has a subtle toastiness. Apollo’s Praise2024 Dry Riesling Lahoma Viineyard ($17.50)
This entry-level white is an amazing bargain. It’s pure, distinctive and intense, with a pretty balance between appley fruit and stony minerality.  Apollo’s Praise Dry Riesling “Lahoma Vineyard” Source: Vendor 2024 Cabernet Franc Picardie ($23)
Another winner. Its aromas of cherries and red currant and savory ripe berry flavors convinced me that cabernet franc has a serious future in the Finger Lakes. Think ideal bistro red. 2024 Pentecostal Block Dry Riesling ($31)
The first vintage of this new reserve white from a special block in the winery’s Lahoma Vineyard is wonderfully savory and rich, with smoky grapefruit flavors. It’s on its own little hill, where the soil is sandy. Russell worked with this vineyard when he was at Red Newt Winery and always wanted to make a wine from this spot. Hillock & Hobbs2023 Estate Dry Riesling ($35)
The current release has more minerality and complexity than earlier vintages, plus wonderful salty notes and a hint of smokiness.  Hillock & Hobbs 2022 Lower Terrace Riesling Source: Hillick & Hobbes Estate 2022 Lower Terrace Riesling ($50)
Hobbs makes two single-block rieslings. This one is subtle and classic, with floral and herbal aromas and a long slatey taste, like wet stones. It’s very, very elegant. Weis Vineyards2024 Dry Rosé ($22)
German Hans Peter Weis worked at Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery before opening his own on Keuka Lake in 2017. This rich, award-winning pink blend brims with bright fruity notes of wild strawberries and raspberries.  Weis 2024 Dry Rosé Source: Weis Vineyards Lastly … a new kind of wine pairing? | Perhaps you’ve noticed it as well: The recent bookstore-meets-wine-bar fusion is making me wonder whether matching specific bottles with favorite books is about to become a trend. Happily, the boom in these boîtes is not confined to big cities like New York (Book Club Bar in the East Village, Bibliotheque in SoHo, the Lit. Bar in the Bronx) and Paris (La Belle Hortense and Anti-Public Library). My local is the Bookstore & Get Lit Wine Bar an hour away in Lenox, Massachusetts, home to the Tanglewood Music Festival. Besides the few thousand books on the shelves, a lineup of wine bottles awaits drinkers. | 
