Glenora Wine Cellars

*Pasta & Wine Weekend 2015 Review*
Stellar, Stellar, Stellar! I stopped at Glenora twice during the trail event because I couldn’t get enough of that newly released Black Diamond Express and the Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese w/​Riesling. Paired with your choice of a red or white wine. The mac & cheese was perfect. Made with sharp cheddar, the cheesy taste was not lost combined with the squash. I LOVE the texture that the butternut give this type of dish, and I have not been so lucky with the balance when I make it. From now on I will be following this delectable recipe! Best sauce ever…
We opted for red wine to pair with the food, because I am not a chardonnay lover. Ugh, I imagine that’s what skunk wee tastes like. After friendly banter with the servers we moved to the bar for an additional 5 tastings. Again, I can’t get enough of the Black Diamond Express. Red Wine and Red Wine Blend lovers rejoice. It still contains 1 mystery grape… because it is a hybrid that is yet to be named.
Overall my love for Glenora has been rekindled. Well worth the visit and tastings! Now I will just have to plan a stay at the lake so that I can plan a delishiz dinner with Chef Orlando… errrr, byyy Chef Orlando.

Absolutely in love with Glenora. The premises is BEAUTIFUL, food is amazing, and they even serve cheese with your tastings! They have an inn which gets hard to book during the summer (because the area is STUNNING and everyone and their mother wants to stay here!) but during the spring and fall should be easier to book.
I had my wedding here, and overall I love this place. Obviously it has a lot more meaning to me now, but the staff here are so attentive and the view is phenomenal.
5 stars (actually, in my heart, 7) for event coordination. JAMES IS THE BEST!
5 stars for food at the inn (and wine/​cheese pairings at the tasting room!)
5 stars for accommodations (beautiful rooms, all of which overlook the lake!)
4.5 stars for wine — I think I’ve had better, but don’t knock this off your list — worth trying!

Remedial food, mediocre wine, and even worse customer service. Glenora is a carnation disguised as a rose. Trying way to hard to be more than it actually is. Don’t waste your time.

Great environment and views. The wines were very well done; however the service was lacking. I felt as if I were part of an assembly line and they needed me and my husband out asap. Maybe it just wasn’t our style. All in all a nice stop, but they could be more accommodating.

I’m going to be honest — I didn’t have the best experience here in comparison to other wineries. Glenora has picturesque views and it is a very lovely space with an inn and restaurant, but I really just wouldn’t put it on the top of my list to visit in the future.
Out of all the wineries we went to during my trip, I think this was the most impersonal. It’s not super busy (it’s still early in the season), but it just felt like the staff were cordial, but just not personable. The wines weren’t really anything special in flavor, except for the port, which I did enjoy — but I mean, they do have pouch wines (interesting) and fruitful options that are very sweet. but otherwise, the atmosphere really made it… just. not a favorite for me at all, and it’s very unfortunate, because it’s such a great space.
I looked online to see if there were tours available and we were really interested in taking one — however, it seemed the staff wasn’t really knowledgeable about whether tours were available or whether they were offered at all. It took several attempts with different staff to find out more information, and at that point, we had lost the motivation to attend. All in all, it’s still a nice stop to get some great views, but I feel like there are better wineries out there!

Love this place so much. Great people, great wine, and the food is unbelievable. Make the time to make this place a stop while you are heading down the lake. Every Thursday night in the winter is a charity night with a guest chef. All you can eat fresh pasta… You can’t beat it.

Ok wines. Service was so so. Girl pouring really didn’t know her wines or even how to pronounce them. Felt like more they were trying to get people in and out quick than offering a true tasting experience.

Super friendly staff and very knowledgable. The wine tasting was very nice and affordable. I will definitely be coming back here again soon.

What a beautiful place! The staff was so friendly on our arrival. We opted to do a tasting which was $ 3 for 6! The staff were very knowledgable about all the wines we tasted and paired a small bite of cheese with them.
The grounds outside are so pretty. There is a great view of the lake. Would be a great spot in the warmer months to stop and have lunch!

Make this one of your stops on the winery tour. Great staff! (cashier could have been a little friendlier). Great products. Little pricey, but taste is worth it. You will have a short wait during busy weekend times.

I came to Glenora when attending a business meeting in Watkins Glen. Our group began with a wine tasting, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. We sampled six different wines, having the choice of dry or sweet in all tastings. The sommelier was knowledgable and friendly. Many in our group were not big into wine, but she did not make anyone feel silly or uneducated. Tastings were paired with some yummy cheeses, which was an excellent marketing tehniqe as it made me want to purchase several! I stuck with the dry wines, and several were good. I enjoyed the dry riesling enough to purchase a bottle to bring home with me.
Following the tasting, we walked down the hill to the adjoining restaurant to have dinner and drinks on the outdoor patio. WOW, what a view! Before visiting Watkins Glen, I honestly had no idea how beautiful it is. The patio overlooks Seneca Lake. The trees on the other side of the lake were starting to turn for the fall (visited the first week of October), and the weather was perfect in the low 70s. What a truly, truly beautiful environment. I could tell that the menu at the restaurant is seasonal and changes regularly. I had the smoked apple and cheddar soup, which was simply amazing, and the braised rabbit parsnip papardelle. the rabbit was tender, and the sause was full of so many interesting flavors. It was truly a treat! The service was a little slow, but we were a large group and were enjoying drinks and conversation so it didn’t matter. I would rather wait for terrific food. Additionally our server was willing to accomodate our MANY special requests with a smile.
Overall experience was excellent. Nothing negative I could tind to say if I tried.

Glenora does make some nice wines, with their dry rose being particularly delicious. I wouldn’t really say anything special about the rest. The tasting room is spacious (although a bit too commercial for my likings), but this is good for the amount of groups that come in here.
We stopped early on a Friday afternoon and got service right away. The tasting room associate though was really unfriendly and a bit standoffish. She didn’t seem very knowledgeable about wine (for example, she was acting judgemental that we chose reds, remarking how she only drinks white in the summer) and not particularly interested in the job. She did give us some cheese pairings but most of the cheese pairings didn’t go well with the wines. They were delicious on their own right though.
Not my favorite winery, I probably wouldn’t recommend it. The staff in general seemed a bit incompetent and my mom bought a few things, the associate working at the cashier was rude.
I haven’t heard good things about their restaurant either but I can’t speak for myself.

Glenora Wine Cellars offers a large tasting room with a wide variety of excellent wines. The property also features a restaurant and inn that take advantage of the gorgeous views of Seneca Lake. It is a highlight of any wine tour in the area.

I liked the wine better when I had it at Veraisions. We all thought the samples at our tasting were far too small to do anything but touch the palette. We ended up not buying any bottles because of that, despite buying at every other winery we stopped at.
Once we had a full glass at the restaurant we loved the wine. Beautiful location.

Beautiful setting, really nice wine and what made it the best, was our sommelier Andrew who was helpful, friendly and knowledgable. Heard about the wine in several local restaurants and I am glad this was the vineyard we choose to visit. Loved the Dry Riesling and the Raspberry Rośe. Mixing them is even better. The grapes are perfect and the view of the lake only add to the experience.

By far one of the best wineries we visited. Can’t remember the name of the guy we had but he was so knowledgable. Loved the fact that we got a cheese pairing with our tasting. The warm mulled wine was delicious! Must stop if your in the area!

Such a beautiful winery. They serve you several different kind of cheeses at the wine tasting. I had never been to up state New York. My friend showed me around many different places and this winery was one of the fantastic places he took me during the trip. The selections of wine were great, especially ones I could not taste in California. They ship to only certain States and Cali was not one of them.
We then wanted to have breakfast there but it was too late. We missed the breakfast hours and we were leaving with a disappointed feeling, but a waitress stopped us and asked the chef if he still could prepare breakfast for us. She got back to us with a very pleasant answer and took us to the huge patio.
The view was spectacular and breakfast was delicious. The fruits were very fresh and coffee was excellent. Service was great too. The waitress was very attentive and friendly. Although we were only customer there, she never rushed us and let us enjoy our breakfast.
This winery was definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip. I truly appreciate the view, breakfast, interactions with people here, wine and cheeses, and everything.

Busy, Busy, Busy! Glenora on a Saturday afternoon during the summer is packed, Luckily my groups of friends (5) were able to snag a spot at the tasting bar fairly quickly. They allow you to choose 6 options from their large and quite impressive wine selection. The wine was tasty and the yellow cab was the best in my opinion. I enjoyed that the tasting was paired with small bites of cheese.
On to the bad… I felt very rushed. I did not finish my first tasting before the staff was coming back for with my second. You were definitely a number here, and there was zero attempt to establish rapport. I would give Glenora a second chance and try stopping back in during an off peak time.

The best part of the wine tasting here over others was that they actually offered food with the wine. Most of the time it’s a bit of cheese but with the ice wine it was chocolate/​raspberry fudge. Oh my! That definitely sold me on both the wine and fudge which I proceeded to purchase.

This was the first winery we hit up at 10am, which totally equals wine ‘o clock in wine country! Being 10am, it was still pretty busy, so I can just imagine what it would be like later in the day. I suggest going early, as we were able to scoot in for a tasting, even though there were 8 of us.
I must mention they have a beautiful view, being right on the lake, you can stand at the tasting table and gaze out at the beautiful scenery. So, while enjoying the scenery you can also enjoy a wine tasting for $ 2. You receive 6 wines to taste plus a special tasting of their seasonal mulled wine.
I thought the cabernet sauvignon was the best of the red, with a buttery taste I enjoy. They also had a good amount of sparkling fruity wines. I wasn’t a fan of most of them, being too sweet, but I really enjoyed the sparkling peach. It had a light peach flavor and at $ 14.99 for a bigger bottle, I was a fan!
I also enjoyed during the tasting they’d bring out some treats to sample! Great selling point, as I enjoyed the white sharp cheddar and the awesome pumpkin fudge. I don’t even like fudge and I liked this pumpkin-​y treat! They actually served it with the mulled wine. I thought I’d love it, but it was way too sweet for me. They use their raspberry wine, which to me tasted like Jesus juice, and was just not good. So that was a bummer, but whatever, I took two samples of the pumpkin fudge anyway!