Located at the southern end of Keuka Lake, Hammondsport is a quiet town with a small community of fewer than 1,000 residents that has been a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts since the mid-1800s. Boasting an unusual Y-shape surrounded by steep vineyard-covered slopes, Keuka Lake is the most distinct of all the Finger Lakes and offers a variety of watersport activities such as fishing, paddle-boarding, and seaplane rides. Hammondsport and surrounds are also an award-winning wine region, producing world-class wines, and other craft beverages, and has a burgeoning culinary scene.
1. Glenn H. Curtiss Museum
The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum is dedicated to the age of transportation with a focus on the early aviator Glenn H. Curtiss. Located half a mile south of the village of Hammondsport, the 60,000-square foot facility honors the memory of pioneer aviator, Glenn Curtiss, and houses a priceless collection of vintage automobiles, aircraft, old motorcycles, and aircraft engines. The museum also features a Restoration Shop where visitors can watch volunteer artisans working on historic aircraft, a 75-seat theater, a museum store, and an event space for special functions.
8419 NY-54, Hammondsport, NY 14840, Phone: 607-569-2160
2. Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery
Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery is a family-owned and operated wine estate that was established in 1962 by Dr. Konstantin Frank, who began the “Vinifera Revolution,” a movement that changed the course of wine-making in the Finger Lakes. Situated on the hills surrounding Keuka Lake, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery produces an array of award-winning wines, ranging from casual, easy-drinking wines to world-class reserves and limited editions. Visitors can enjoy wines tastings at Dr. Konstantin Frank’s historic former home with spectacular views of Keuka Lake, which include sampling over 30 wines from the estate’s entire portfolio, including the most premium wines. Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery also offers seasonal cheese and wine pairings on The Terrace against a backdrop of magnificent lake views.
9749 Middle Rd, Hammondsport, NY 14840, Phone: 800-320-0735
3. Heron Hill Winery
Nestled on the west side of Keuka Lake a few miles outside the village of Hammondsport, Heron Hill Winery produces a range of award-winning wines, including eight styles of world-class Riesling. The Finger Lakes are known as ‘Riesling Country’ due to the cool, German-style climate and the gravelly loam soil that is so well suited to producing top-notch Rieslings. Heron Hill Winery sources its grapes from the estate’s own Ingle Vineyard, the only vinifera vineyard on that lake, and provides a range of varietals including Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Heron Hill Winery has an elegant vaulted tasting hall and winery overlooking the rolling vineyards around Keuka Lake, as well as tasting rooms on the west side of Canandaigua and Seneca Lakes.
9301 Co Rd 76, Hammondsport, NY 14840, Phone: 607-868-4241
4. Bully Hill Vineyards Winery
Nestled in the Hills overlooking beautiful Keuka Lake, Bully Hill Vineyards is a vineyard and winery in the world-renowned Finger Lakes American Viticultural Area. Founded by Walter S. Taylor in 1967, the pioneering estate was one of the first wineries to open after the Prohibition Era in New York State. The estate pioneered the planting of French-American hybrid grapes in the United States, becoming an innovative leader in the wine industry, and continues to produce bold new wines today. Bully Hill Vineyards offers unique wine tastings and walking tours of the estate, and features a wine museum, an art gallery, a highly acclaimed restaurant, and a gift shop.
8843 Greyton H Taylor Memorial Dr, Hammondsport, NY 14840, Phone: 607-868-3610
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5. Pleasant Valley Wine Company
Pleasant Valley Wine Company, also known as Great Western Winery, is a historic wine estate in the Hamlet of Rheims near the town of Urbana in Steuben County, New York. Located in the valley just a mile from the village of Hammondsport, the exquisite wine complex features nine fieldstone buildings, eight of which have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with caves carved deep into the hillside that are used as natural wine cellars. The Great Western Winery Visitor Center features fascinating exhibits documenting the history of the winery with 140 years-worth of artifacts from the Finger Lakes wineries, a fantastic working model of the Hammondsport Railroad, and as cooper’s shop filled with authentic tools and equipment used to make barrels and wine casks. Visitors can sample the estate’s award-winning vintages and Champagnes at tastings and enjoy guided tours of the complex year-round.
8260 Pleasant Valley Rd, Hammondsport, NY 14840, Phone: 607-569-6111
6. Weis Vineyards
Weis Vineyards is a family-owned winery dedicated to producing traditional, handcrafted, top quality dry German-style wines. Owned by Peter Weis, who comes from a multi-generational winemaking family in Germany, the award-winning winery produces exceptional German wines such as Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Gewürztraminer, Blaufränkisch, and Schulhaus Red, among others. Tastings are offered in the winery’s charming one-room schoolhouse where visitors can sample five wines in a souvenir Weis Vineyards logo glass. Reservations are essential for tastings.
10014 Day Rd, Hammondsport, NY 14840, Phone: 607-284-4011
7. Ravines Wine Cellars - Keuka Lake
Ravine Wine Cellars is a small, family-owned winery dedicated to the craft of classical winemaking and producing wines that reflect the surrounding world-class wine Finger Lakes region. The artisanal winery crafts elegant and expressive wines using grapes from three vineyards on the hillsides overlooking the Seneca and Keuka Lakes. The winery has two tasting rooms where visitors can sample the estate’s vintages. The Ravines Seneca Tasting Room in Geneva is housed in a beautifully preserved historic barn with a slate roof overlooking the White Springs Vineyard, and the lovely Keuka Tasting Room has a large patio with breathtaking views over Keuka Lake.
14630 NY-54, Hammondsport, NY 14840, Phone: 607-292-7007
8. Finger Lakes Boating Museum
The Finger Lakes Boating Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the history and heritage of antique boating on the Finger Lakes. Built in 1886 and based in the historic former Taylor Wine Company's main building, the museum focuses on the world of antique boating and how it played a role in the development of recreational and commercial boating in the Finger Lakes Region. The museum houses a collection of over 200 vintage boats and crafts built by local craftsmen throughout the Finger Lakes Region during the last century. The collection includes rowboats, canoes, sailboats, inboard and outboard motors, row outboards, and hydroplanes, as well as many artifacts and ephemera relating to boating on the lake. The museum also has an active boat shop where visitors can see restoration projects underway.
8231 Pleasant Valley Rd, Hammondsport, NY 14840, Phone: 607-569-2222
