The Finger Lakes region of New York was named America’s Best Wine Region by Wine Enthusiast in its 2025 Wine Star Awards, recognizing the region’s world-class Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Blaufränkisch, and traditional-method sparkling wines. With more than 140 family-owned wineries across Seneca, Keuka, and Cayuga Lakes, the Finger Lakes offers an intimate wine country experience rooted in nearly 200 years of winemaking tradition. Individual honors include Red Tail Ridge Winery’s American Winery of the Year recognition and back-to-back New York Wine Classic Winery of the Year awards for Weis Vineyards. This post explores the story behind the award, the region’s unique glacial geography, and why the Finger Lakes is one of the most compelling wine travel destinations in the country right now.
In October 2025, Wine Enthusiast, one of the most widely read wine publications in the world, announced its Wine Star Awards. The top honor for any American wine-producing region went to the Finger Lakes.
Not Napa. Not Sonoma. Not the Willamette Valley.
The Finger Lakes.
If you’re already a fan of this region, you’re nodding. If you’re not, let’s fix that.
What the Award Actually Says
Wine Enthusiast called the Finger Lakes a “hotbed of innovation,” praising its vibrant Riesling, herbaceous Cabernet Franc, Blaufränkisch, and what they described as “a kaleidoscope of sparklers.” Wine Enthusiast Media President Jacqueline Strum said the region has been “a beacon of innovation, resilience, and quality within American wine,” noting that its winemakers “combine deep respect for tradition with a forward-looking commitment to sustainability and community, producing wines that consistently stand among the world’s best.”
That’s not regional boosterism. That’s one of the most credible voices in global wine media saying so in print.
Why the Finger Lakes?
The recognition didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s the result of nearly 200 years of winemaking and a geography that shouldn’t work, but does.
Eleven glacially carved lakes stretch across central New York, running deep enough to stay liquid through winters that would destroy most vineyards. These lakes function as thermal batteries, absorbing summer heat and releasing it slowly through fall and winter, creating a hillside microclimate where cool-climate grapes ripen slowly and completely while holding onto the crisp acidity that makes them exceptional.
The result? Riesling that critics compare to Germany’s Mosel Valley. Cabernet Franc with a brightness and herbaceous precision that serious collectors seek out. Sparkling wines made by traditional Champagne methods, from a region once nicknamed the “Reims of America.” And increasingly, Blaufränkisch and Grüner Veltliner, which have no American equivalent.
The region now encompasses more than 140 wineries and over 10,000 acres under vine, nearly all of which are family-owned and operated. That’s not a coincidence. It’s the culture.
The Awards Keep Coming
The Wine Enthusiast honor doesn’t stand alone. Weis Vineyards on Keuka Lake was named New York Wine Classic Winery of the Year in both 2024 and 2025, and their 2018 Riesling Ice Wine took the 2024 Governor’s Cup, the competition’s top prize. Red Tail Ridge Winery in Penn Yan received a nod for American Winery of the Year in that same 2025 cycle. Osmote Wine on Seneca Lake, one of the region’s exciting voices in hybrid winemaking, has placed its bottles in Michelin-starred restaurants. The New York Wine Classic has also recognized Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Damiani Wine Cellars, and Billsboro Winery for top whites, sparkling, and dessert wines, respectively.
These are verified, competition-backed, press-acknowledged results.
The Best Time to Visit Is Right Now
National recognition has raised the region’s profile, but the Finger Lakes region hasn’t become overpriced or over-touristed yet. You can still walk into a world-class tasting room on a Saturday afternoon without a reservation made two weeks in advance. You can still stay at a lakeside inn without paying Napa prices. You can still have a real conversation with the winemaker about what they planted last season and why.
Three distinct wine trails cover three distinct lakes, each with its own personality. The Seneca Lake Wine Trail offers the most wineries and the grandest scale. The Keuka Lake Wine Trail winds along a Y-shaped lake through some of the most scenic vineyard country in the Northeast. The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail, the oldest wine trail in America, runs past farmstands, distilleries, breweries, and historic small towns along the longest of the Finger Lakes.
And the landscape, eleven glacial lakes, gorges, waterfalls, rolling vineyard hillsides, is as beautiful as any wine region in the world.
We can’t wait to welcome you
We’ve always known there’s something special about this place. The way the light hits the lakes in the morning. The winemaker who remembers your name. The view from a hillside tasting room that stops you mid-sentence.
It’s wonderful to watch the rest of the world start to feel it too.
Come see what all the conversation is about. We think you’ll quickly understand why people who visit Finger Lakes Wine Country have a hard time staying away.