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At White Birch Vineyards Tasting Room we are celebrating our Nation's Independence with three, new delicious Specialty Drinks.
Stop in today to try one. Salute!
The Federalist
An Upstate take on a Kentucky Mule.
McKenzie Rye Whiskey, Thyme Infused Simple Syrup, Ithaca Ginger Beer and Muddled Blackberries
French ’76
A bootleggers favorite from another epic fight for American freedom: Prohibition.
Black Button Citrus Gin, Dr. Frank’s Sparkling Riesling, Fresh Lemon and Simple Syrup
Pink Patriot
A tart twist on a beverage made famous by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys.
1911 Raspberry Cider, McKenzie Bourbon, Fee Brothers Barrel Aged Bitters and Muddled Grapefruit
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- Written by White Birch Vineyards Tasting Room
Much to the delight of wine and spirit enthusiasts, the Finger Lakes Region is continually expanding with new vineyards, wineries, tasting rooms, cideries and distilleries.
Our region is becoming the travel destination for great wine, spirits, craft beers and ciders and White Birch Vineyards is excited to be a part of this growing industry.
There are currently more than 100 wineries in the Finger Lakes AVA, and some of them, like White Birch, are close to home for the perfect getaway to experience the Finger Lakes!
White Birch Vineyards Tasting Room is conveniently located in the beautiful village of Skaneateles and is nestled in the middle of excellent shopping, Skaneateles Lake boat cruises, luxurious accomodations and world class restaurants. Whether you want to spend a day, a weekend or longer, Skaneateles will fit your every need and the White Birch Vineyards Tasting Room will provide you with a complete Finger Lakes Tasting Experience; including our own unique single-vineyard wines, an excellent selection of Finger Lakes wines & locally distilled spirits.
White Birch VIneyards was recently named in the "Suburban Tour of Wine Trails" by Syracuse.com in their "Summer Wine Tours Within an Easy Drive of Central New York" article, Link below.
Come visit us for a tasting today at 18 West Genesee Street, Skaneateles, NY!
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White Birch Vineyards Tasting Room was excited to host the Skaneateles Life Magazine's "Mix and Mingle" event on Thursday June 1st in conjunction with Pure Catering and Last Shot Distillery. It was a lovely evening, complete with great food, great wine and great company - all perfect examples of life in Skaneateles. Luke Houghton of Pure Catering cooked up some divine appetizers, showcasing his unique and sophisticated culinary talents with such gems as beet lollipops, tuna tartar tacos and burrata with apricot bruschetta. Adinah Dutton of White Birch Vineyards put her culinary skills on display with a delicious selection of desserts including white, chocolate and peanut butter truffles, chocolate strawbrries and mint buttercream chocolate torte. Everyone had a wonderful time sipping White Birch Vineyards wine and sampling Last Shot Distillery's portfolio of spirits.
Thank you to everyone for a great evening!
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- Written by Chris Fluri, Vineyard Manager
Wh
en pruning grapevines a general guideline is to prune 85 to 90% of last year’s growth off to control how many fruitful buds are left so the vine does not have too much fruit to ripen. We use the cane pruning technique which leaves full canes intact to tie the fruit wire. Each bud on last year’s canes will have fruit unless the cold temperature has damaged it. The past winter was mild compared to the previous three so the amount of fruitful buds should result in a good harvest. But of course, it is farming so you can never be totally sure until the fruit is on the scale on the press pad. In the picture to the right of a Cabernet Franc vine you can see the cane that was formed last season is laid on the wire and connected with a twist tie and young shoots are growing out of it. The process of pruning and tying is all done by hand and is a very intensive job. We have some rows that are close to 1000 feet long and containing 200 vines, making the start of the row a mental challenge before the physical work has even started.
Next blog topic will be canopy management.
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- Written by Chris Fluri, Vineyard Manager
The process of hilling and unhilling (covering and uncovering vines with dirt to protect them from the temperature) is only performed in cold climate viticulture areas, making it an extra task during the busy start of the season. If the weather chooses not to cooperate by dropping a lot of rain, it can make getting early season tasks completed quite challenging. We did receive a lot of rain in the beginning of the month but now it is finally drying up so we are able to get tractors down the aisles. We use two different implements to pull back the dirt we used to protect the vines; one is a frame with disc gangs on the front and finger tines on the back and the other is a side mounted blade we angle toward the tractor to pull dirt back away from the base of the vine.
Next task is pruning and tying down. 
