We want to take the snoot factor out of wine and get to the enjoyment and appreciation of the wonders of a truly natural product.

Our wine selection is intended to have a style to suit every taste. Although we have wines from several parts of the world, our true focus and passion is local, leaning into the great (and under-appreciated) wines of New York. We favor family-owned wineries using sustainable farming practices and minimal chemical additions and to that end, we’ll tell you a bit of the backstory for our featured wineries. Our list will always be unconventional and in a constant state of flux and expansion, so keep your eyes open.

Sometimes you want wine with your food, sometimes you just want something to sip- we include suggest food pairings (though the best pairing is always the food you love and the wine you love, regardless) and note the wines which are just great to drink on their own.

But these are just our starting suggestions, the important thing is what YOU like. Of course, these wines all dance beautifully with our cheese and charcuterie boards as well as small dishes and tapas that we’ll be featuring from time to time. 

Every wine has a story to tell and we’d love to have you discover what they have to say.

Bully Hill

If you know, you know. If you don’t, we’ll tell you! Bully Hill is a family-owned winery on Keuka Lake, producing a huge variety of wine types and styles. Founded by Walter Taylor, their story is fascinating, almost soap-opera drama, legal struggles, persecution… resistance and eventual triumph. 

Ria’s

I can’t say enough good things about them! A new (2 years old) woman-owned family winery on the east side of Seneca Lake, run by Ria d’Aversa, who teaches vineyard management at Cornell, and her husband Mike Penn, who is a brilliant winemaker with experience in California and France. They strictly adhere to sustainable vineyard practices, use wild yeast for their ferments and make wines that will catch the breath of even the most jaded wine snob. Their production is limited, so we were very lucky to be able to get some of their best for our café. Before long, they’ll have a cult following, so you can be the cool kid and say that you’re been drinking this stuff for years.

Forge Cellars

This American-French joint venture is another star of the new wave of premium Finger Lakes wineries. Forge specializes in bone-dry Rieslings done in small batches of wine from grapes sourced from the best vineyards on the east shore of Seneca Lake. Unusually, the wines are barrel fermented, which brings out a smoothness, lovely acidity, and crazy-intense aromas. Sustainable agriculture, wild yeast ferments. Their winemaker, Leana Goddard, was imported from France and has done wonders in the cellars.

Terres Dorees

The Beaujolais region of France (tucked between Burgundy and Lyon) is most famous for its red wines, but the secret of the quality of their white wines is out! Jean-Paul Brun is a quirky, shrewd, and obsessed farmer and winemaker, who is adamant about organic farming, natural ferments, and no use of enzymes or other artificial aids. His wines are focused on the fruit rather than the winemaking, and are snappy, agile, and so, so enjoyable to drink. Brun’s wines have a long-standing cult following among wine geeks. 

Francois Villard

This is a family-owned winery with estate vineyards scattered around the steep rocky hills of the northern Rhône, just south of Lyon. Villard farms organically, uses wild yeast for his fermentations, and minimal amounts of new oak. This allows the quality of the grapes to shine through, giving wines of real distinction and sense of “place.” You’ll see more and more of his wines on our list as time goes on.