Leidenfrost Vineyards

One of my favorite stops on the trail mainly because of the infectious «Girl Power» vibe! These ladies sure know how to pour a tasting. You may think this is your run of the mill novelty winery, but I assure you, it is not. I invite all my ladies to visit the cute building with a homey timber frame tasting room. And if the beautiful view of the vineyard and lake on a sunny day isn’t enough, the winemakers are a Father and Daughter team! How adorable is that… Want more? Come pet the friendly and gorgeous ginger Siberian husky pup! His mommy, Elizabeth Leidenfrost, brings him to work everyday. His name is Baco, after my favorite wine to pair with pizza, Baco Noir.

Walked in to a bright cheerful tasting room which offered spectacular views of Seneca Lake from the French doors leading to the deck. The person behind the bar encouraged us to take our tasting out on the deck to enjoy the beautiful weather. We were shocked to witness such a carefree and laid back atmosphere where enjoying the wine and scenery was paramount. This farm to bottle winery was just the right way to end the day. Fantastic full bodied reds, and delightful Rieslings are something not to be missed. The cheerful staff and laid back atmosphere will keep us coming back again and again. Though next time we will bring friends!

Good wines, but had a super rude host. Said we didn’t have $ 1 for the reserve wines and lady says «guess you must not leave tips either.» Actually we planned to buy a case and walked out instead.

Beautiful tasting room. Low fees. Excellent wine. Wonderful staff. I can’t say enough about how lovely a day at Leidenfrost is! You can bring a picnic and sit out on the deck and enjoy their delicious wines. Perfection.

Of the eight wineries we visited around Seneca Lake, Leidenfrost had the worst wine. Their tasting is cheap, but for a good reason. None of the seven dry wines we tried were enjoyable, with the exception of the reserve cab franc, and even that was not as good as most cab francs we tried elsewhere. If you are just looking for a place with a lovely view (and free peanuts), Leidenfrost is fine, but if the wine matters at all, go elsewhere.

This was the most memorable stop on our whirlwind wine tour this past weekend, which speaks volumes considering the prior stop was the Finger Lakes Distillery.
Good wines, I especially enjoyed the Burlesque sweet red, and above all the young woman with the geisha tattoo pouring the wines was beyond personable as well as fantastically knowledgeable about her craft. The sweeter whites also stood out. I’m a big fan of their Catawba and the Sonata was wonderful as well. The Baco Noir and a couple others had very strong notes of cow and was not for me at all, but were very interesting and noteworthy.
I wish great success to this winery — their location is beautiful and the people are true to the winemaking guild.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! Cheapest wine tastings I’ve found so far on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail. $ 1 for 3 wines and $ 2 for 6. And they are always generous with the taste portion size. And these wines are great! If you’re interested in buying a bottle, there’s great selections in the $ 8 – 10 range! The staff is friendly and they have a cute porch you can walk out on that looks over the lake!
The only reason I give this place 4 stars instead of five is that they provide peanuts to snack on. As a result, there are peanut shells all over. This and the dogs they have in the winery make my allergies go berzerk, but I’m willing to deal with it, because I love this place. And the dogs are cute. However, if you have severe allergies to dogs or peanuts, I recommend not going here.

My girlfriend and I visited the Finger Lakes region on Labor Day weekend. We are moreso into red wines as opposed to whites and we found it difficult to find vineyards that excel in reds. This one was one of the few.
The staff was very friendly and struck up conversation with us during the tasting. We ended up buying a bottle of Rhapsody which was a blend of different reds (wish we bought more).
If you prefer red wines or are just tired of trying whites or sweets down the trail, I would recommend this little gem.

Came to Leidenfrost yesterday for the Seneca Lake «Smokin’ Summer Kick Off» event. My boyfriend and I shared our tastings and were able to try 10 of Leidenfrost’s wines. By far we both agreed that the semi-​sweet Reisling was the best. The event tickets we bought gave us access to food pairings as well and Leidenfrost had a delicious chicken kabob. The view from the deck out back is beautiful. Great winery for the views!

Solid red, bright Riesling, floral, lemon, nice woman working, try 6 for $ 2

I was initially drawn to Leidenfrost by their old European-​style house that the tasting room is located in. From the outside, it looks like a hobbit could live there. But anyway, one of my first reactions upon entering the tasting room is the gorgeous view of Seneca Lake. The tasting room of Leidenfrost is certainly located on a great piece of real estate, overlooking not just Seneca Lake but rows of vineyards as well. Leidenfrost also features an art exhibition in an adjoining, more private room.
I thought the wines were alright, but certainly not great. The Sonata (a blend of Cayuga grapes and Vignoles) and the Gewürztraminer had a bad aftertaste. Some of their sweeter wines smelled very floral and fruity, but didn’t have that refreshing, smooth finish that makes sweet wines drinkable in large quantities. What’s worse, they served my companion and I with plastic cups. It simply just isn’t fun to smell and taste wines in plastic cups. Wineries, in my humble perspective, should show class at all times and serve their customers with wine glasses. Plastic cups should be used only for serving Coors Light at rock concerts and frat parties.

I don’t ever write reviews, but our experience here was terrible. I booked a tasting for a wine tour of 30 (via email, because they aren’t open on the weekdays to take your call), and was told I was confirmed with my group for 3:30 on a Saturday — we were asked not to be late, and told if we could arrive any earlier, that would be helpful. When my group arrived, I approached the man behind the bar who first told me we did not have a reservation at all, and then recanted and very rudely informed me we were late… it was 2:45, 45 minutes *before* our reserved tasting time!
Frustrated, I went out to the back deck to pull up the email confirmation on my phone (thank goodness they have to communicate via email during the weekdays!). As I was doing so, my visible frustration at the treatment of my group was obviously noticable to a group of 40-​something females, one of whom very loudly (and I assume very drunkenly) started making fun of how upset I was. When I turned to face the group of women and informed them that I could hear them, the offending female identified herself as an owner!
I was appalled that someone who would call themselves an owner of this venue would sit around drunkely with a group of women and make fun of their patrons, a group of 30 respectful 25 – 30 year olds who had been VERY eager to spend our money at Leidenfrost and taste their wine. Needless to say, I walked out and took the better part of my group back to the bus with me.
Don’t waste your time here. They are rude and disorganized, and if you call making fun of your customers and calling them liars «customer service,» you might want to recheck your dictionary.

My wife and I lived in Syracuse in the mid-​late ‘90s and we made many (many!) trips to the finger lakes for tasting. Seneca Lake was by far our favorite for the low fees for tasting, and it had our favorite wineries.
One of these was Leidenfrost.
You can’t go wrong with any of the whites, but it was the reds that were worth the trip. I’ve never been all that impressed with most of the reds in the finger lakes, but Leidenfrost made some of the best.
I do miss the old log cabin. It was small, but on a cold winter day, it was toasty inside. One time in particular, it was the middle of the week, and we spent at least an hour talking to the owner (John?) while he just kept pouring the wine.
I really miss the Finger Lakes, and am trying to get back some day!

A laid-​back atmosphere to taste some very nice wines. The tasting fee is nominal ($ 1 per person), and was refunded when we bought a bottle. The woman doing the pouring was knowledgeable, but not overwhelming, and not at all pushy to purchase anything. A really nice place to taste some surprisingly good wines (the Riesling was excellent).