MONTEZUMA - With dandelions in bloom, sailboats in the water, and wine enthusiasts traveling around Cayuga Lake, Sunday saw a few signs that spring has sprung in the Finger Lakes.
For the 15th consecutive year, the Cayuga Wine Trail held its Wine & Herb Festival at the 16 wineries that ring the second-largest of the Finger Lakes.
The Wine & Herb Festival, the most popular pair of weekends in the Cayuga Wine Trail's annual calender, has been held each of the last two weekends.
And it continues to grow, all 1,800 tickets were sold just like last year.
“With the Wine & Herb Festival, I think people are just ready to do something different,” said Cathy Millspaugh, director of the Cayuga Wine Trail. “They're ready for spring, and they're ready to get out and enjoy the nice weather.”
Most of the Cayuga Wine Trail's wineries are on the western side of the lake, a dozen in all. There's also two on the east side, both located in Cayuga County - Long Point Winery, just a couple of miles outside of Aurora and King Ferry Winery about six miles further south, home to the well-known Treleaven line.
Then there's the two organizations on both foots of the lake - Six Mile Creek Vineyard, just south of Ithaca; and Montezuma Winery, just outside of Seneca Falls.
Montzeuma Winery has been at its current location - at the intersection of Routes 5 & 20, Rt. 89, and Rt. 318 - since 2001. It's a family-owned business run by George Martin, his wife Virginia, and their two sons, Ed and Bill.
The Martins used to keep 2,000 hives of bees and travel the country pollinating fruit and vegetable crops - Florida oranges in the winter, blueberries in Maine during the summer. They then began to sell wine made from honey, better known as mead, at the popular Renaissance Festival in Sterling.
Their first winery was set up near Sterling in northern Cayuga County, but the Martins soon realized they needed to be closer to the Finger Lakes to truly grow their business. They moved to their current location in 2001.
Being part of the Cayuga Wine Trail is also a critical component to the their business' recent success, which now includes a total of 26 different wines - 11 fruit wines; six honey-based wines; and nine varieties of red and white grape wines.
“To network with the other wineries is very crucial,” Martin said. “There's only friendly competition. People are visiting the Finger Lakes because of the wineries. That's why we closed our winery in Sterling - we weren't close enough to the other wineries.”
Martin estimated that at least 70 percent of the visitors this weekend were part of the Wine &Herb Festival.
Bob Knight has returned to his hometown, Seneca Falls, after crisscrossing the globe as a contractor. Now, he's glad to be back in the Finger Lakes and working at Montzeuma Winery.
“I'm here to stay, and this job here is a dream, as far as I'm concerned,” said Knight, who was happy to pour six samples of his company's product for the modest fee of just $1. “The Martins are just super. And I think they've got something that's going to get really, really big in the future. Their products just have amazing growth potential.”
Advance-sale tickets were $30 for individuals, $45 for a couple, good for both days.
“That encourages people to visit all of the wineries, and of course, to drink sensibly,” said Millspaugh, who estimates about 20 percent of those buying tickets will actually check each of the wineries off of their list.
Along with sampling some of the best that Finger Lakes wineries have to offer, each stop meant a starter vegetable or herb plant courtesy of Dickman Farms in Auburn.
“The reason we went with Dickman Farms is that they have a great reputation,” said Millspaugh, forced to make a change when the former plant supplier dropped out at the last minute. “The plants are absolutely gorgeous this year. They did a fantastic job.”
Many of the wineries also featured salsas made from their respective herb or vegetable. At Sheldrake Point Winery in Ovid, executive chef Samantha Izzo made a peach and tomatillo salsa verde - also known as “green sauce” in Mexican cooking.
“It was a beautiful busy day. Not crazy but nice and steady,” said Sheldrake Point Tasting Room Manager Kit Kalfs.
For Andrea Young, of Rochester, her visit to Cayuga Lake made for a perfect day.
“It's wonderful here. I've done a lot of biking in France, and it's as wonderful as any place I've ever been to in Europe,” she said.
The Wine & Herb Festival, the most popular pair of weekends in the Cayuga Wine Trail's annual calender, has been held each of the last two weekends.
And it continues to grow, all 1,800 tickets were sold just like last year.
“With the Wine & Herb Festival, I think people are just ready to do something different,” said Cathy Millspaugh, director of the Cayuga Wine Trail. “They're ready for spring, and they're ready to get out and enjoy the nice weather.”
Most of the Cayuga Wine Trail's wineries are on the western side of the lake, a dozen in all. There's also two on the east side, both located in Cayuga County - Long Point Winery, just a couple of miles outside of Aurora and King Ferry Winery about six miles further south, home to the well-known Treleaven line.
Then there's the two organizations on both foots of the lake - Six Mile Creek Vineyard, just south of Ithaca; and Montezuma Winery, just outside of Seneca Falls.
Montzeuma Winery has been at its current location - at the intersection of Routes 5 & 20, Rt. 89, and Rt. 318 - since 2001. It's a family-owned business run by George Martin, his wife Virginia, and their two sons, Ed and Bill.
The Martins used to keep 2,000 hives of bees and travel the country pollinating fruit and vegetable crops - Florida oranges in the winter, blueberries in Maine during the summer. They then began to sell wine made from honey, better known as mead, at the popular Renaissance Festival in Sterling.
Their first winery was set up near Sterling in northern Cayuga County, but the Martins soon realized they needed to be closer to the Finger Lakes to truly grow their business. They moved to their current location in 2001.
Being part of the Cayuga Wine Trail is also a critical component to the their business' recent success, which now includes a total of 26 different wines - 11 fruit wines; six honey-based wines; and nine varieties of red and white grape wines.
“To network with the other wineries is very crucial,” Martin said. “There's only friendly competition. People are visiting the Finger Lakes because of the wineries. That's why we closed our winery in Sterling - we weren't close enough to the other wineries.”
Martin estimated that at least 70 percent of the visitors this weekend were part of the Wine &Herb Festival.
Bob Knight has returned to his hometown, Seneca Falls, after crisscrossing the globe as a contractor. Now, he's glad to be back in the Finger Lakes and working at Montzeuma Winery.
“I'm here to stay, and this job here is a dream, as far as I'm concerned,” said Knight, who was happy to pour six samples of his company's product for the modest fee of just $1. “The Martins are just super. And I think they've got something that's going to get really, really big in the future. Their products just have amazing growth potential.”
Advance-sale tickets were $30 for individuals, $45 for a couple, good for both days.
“That encourages people to visit all of the wineries, and of course, to drink sensibly,” said Millspaugh, who estimates about 20 percent of those buying tickets will actually check each of the wineries off of their list.
Along with sampling some of the best that Finger Lakes wineries have to offer, each stop meant a starter vegetable or herb plant courtesy of Dickman Farms in Auburn.
“The reason we went with Dickman Farms is that they have a great reputation,” said Millspaugh, forced to make a change when the former plant supplier dropped out at the last minute. “The plants are absolutely gorgeous this year. They did a fantastic job.”
Many of the wineries also featured salsas made from their respective herb or vegetable. At Sheldrake Point Winery in Ovid, executive chef Samantha Izzo made a peach and tomatillo salsa verde - also known as “green sauce” in Mexican cooking.
“It was a beautiful busy day. Not crazy but nice and steady,” said Sheldrake Point Tasting Room Manager Kit Kalfs.
For Andrea Young, of Rochester, her visit to Cayuga Lake made for a perfect day.
“It's wonderful here. I've done a lot of biking in France, and it's as wonderful as any place I've ever been to in Europe,” she said.
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