Black Bear Winery

A $ 3 tasting will let you try 6 different wines, meads, and ciders. Staff was friendly and the interior was very cute! Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. FYI there is a $ 10 minimum for credit card purchases.

My partner and I visited Black Bear during Thanksgiving at my parents this year. Black Bear serves a nice variety of delicious fruit wines, hard ciders, and delectable meads in their cozy log cabin lodge. Tastings are affordable at $ 3 for 6 choices. Bottles range in price but are quite affordable.
*They have a $ 10 minimum for credit cards*

The wine selection is awesome if you like fruit wines (not necessarily sweet). The hard ciders were very good and the maple selections very good and interesting. The staff was extremely friendly and very informative. Would definitely go back when in the area agAin.

So we ended our stay in NY by visiting a winery, I looked up vineyards on Unilocal and this one was the closest one to our hotel. We arrived a few minutes before the winery opened so we took in the scenery of the mountains. When the winery opened at noon, we decided to partake in a tasting. 6 wines or ciders for $ 3. Was interested to learn that all their wines were made from other fruits besides grapes. Not one single wine was made by a grape (how interesting).
We were given a piece of paper with each wine’s description and had to chose 6 out of the 14. I mostly chose the ciders. Most of the wines were made from different berries that included Raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, apples, black currants. All had a distinct flavor. The bartender explained in more detail about each beverage you chose as she poured in your glass. While sampling we munched on some German style pretzels. My favorite cider was the Raspberry Jewel, a combo of Raspberries and apples. The wine I would say the Black Moon which was made of Oak aged black currants. After our tasting we sipped on a few glasses and picked out some bottles for home.
If you are in the area you should give Black Bear Farm Winery a try, they also have a few beers on tap and there was a band setting up to play outside. They also have cheese and crackers which you can purchase while you enjoy a bottle or glass outside or in. A great end to our weekend visit and believe me if we are ever in the area again it will be a stop on our way.

We tried everything, I mean everything, some 2 times haha. Left with 4 bottles, this fruit wine is nothing amazing, but it is clean and well deserved of any praise given. Now the atmosphere, that was amazing. The only regret was that this was a last minute stop and not a partial destination. Amazing seating and the woman behind the counter made us laugh several times. They will fill any 64oz growler, even if it’s not theirs. Great service the priced were better than reasonable and this is a stop that will most certainly be made again. Oh and the bottles, well I’ll take a pic to show you they don’t use a boring old clear or green bottle. They spent a little more on the little thing and it shows. I’m excited we went down this little country road.

We made a trip to visit the Black Bear based upon an ad we saw in a magazine. I am glad we did it. They had a unique selection of fruit based wines and ciders. They can also make «Snakebites» by mixing beer and cider. Customer service was great. Very friendly. While we didn’t see any black bears, we did see a deer and a wild turkey out back.

What a fantastic family owned winery! Miss Sarit and I came here at the recommendation of her friend who is a local. They were running a special of 3 $ for 8 wine tastings, usually 3 $ for six tastings.
They have many unique wines, such as currant wines, cranberry, pumpkin and honey wines.
I purchased a bottle of the currant wine, and opened it last night (lasted just under a week uncorked!) it is complex, incredibly tart and one of the best wines I have ever had! I cannot imagine a better wine — I can’t help but to close my eyes in ecstasy with every sip.
The staff /​family that runs the place is super friendly and will bend over backwards to make sure you are comfortable and satisfied.
They have a nice seating area outside overlooking the field, or hang out indoors and enjoy the vibe.
This is definitely a must-​stop every time I go update! Spoil yourself and go crazy. Their apple cider is quite much the bomb-​dot-​com.

We really appreciate the fact that the owners built everything themselves and are fulfilling their dream. The wines can be hit-​or-​miss, but the hard ciders are consistently good. We especially enjoy their Fiber Festival each June, and we often demonstrate spinning there.
I love the sweet wines and do not miss the grapes at all!
If you wish to enjoy browsing and tasting avoid peak times or events.

Not wanting to totally bash this place, I can say that it started out as a good experience with okay wines and ciders. However, we quickly experienced the worst customer service and most unwelcoming treatment ever.
I’d love to mention their virtues, but now I cannot.
I will not go back. Sorry, Black Bear.

Not a bad way to spend a saturday afternoon. I tend to prefer my wine from grapes, and don’t believe rose is a color of real wine, but the stuff here ain’t bad. The fruit-​based wines and ciders are definitely different than what you traditionally find.
$ 3 gets you 6 tastings. They have a large variety of wines made from raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and even dandelions, listed from dry to sweet. The black moon (dark red, semi-​dry, currants) and blueberry (light-​colored, sweet) were my favs. All the wines were fairly sweet though — middle aged ladies who drink Arbor Mist would love this place. I also tried the Maple Dream, a maple-​flavored cordial. Holy cow is this stuff sweet. Delicious, and you can definitely taste the maple, but a small tasting is plenty.
The staff was extremely friendly (and were a couple of middle aged ladies, surprise surprise). Our pourer thought we were the cutest foursome of girls she’d seen and chatted with us the whole time. She also told us how our one friend had the same mischievous look as her old high school pal, and proceeded to call my friend Angie the rest of the time. Whatever, we’ve been called worse.
Oh and the wood-​smoked cheddar is highly recommended — very smokey and creamy.
The fruity wines coupled with the cutesy farm atmosphere would make this a great place for a «girls getaway»… and by girls I mean housewives who want to get away from their families. But it was also a great place for a group of twenty-​something girls to spend some time together.

Being a big fan of wine and fermented beverages in general, I was quite surprised that I had not heard of Black Bear Farm until my friend abducted my wife and I on the way to breakfast one day. He wouldn’t explain where we were going until we pulled up to the rustic little building that houses the tasting area. It was very pleasantly decorated… pretty much looked like most local wineries but without the pretentiousness that some finger lakes wineries exude.
The selection was fairly good. All fruit wines, no grapes. I was also quite pleased to find out that it was made of pure fruit juice, not the flavored apple juice that many fruit wines are made of. I am a big fan of sweet wines (Spatlese Riesling being the best) but many of these fruit wines were to sweet for me. My wife loved them of course. Big surpise of the day was the johanisbeere wine. Very dry but I love it. Other favorites of the day were cranberry and black currant. The tasting list changes on a regular basis so you can try it multiple times.
All in all, good time. The proprietress was very helpful and friendly. I will definitely make it out again.

As far as I know, the Black Bear Winery is the closest winery to the Binghamton area. We decided to check it out one snowy February weekend, drawn primarily by the Chocolate and Wine Pairing event.
The winery feels like a country winery. First off, you drive up this quaint little road, pass by an old working farm (complete with cows and lots of abandoned tires), and arrive at this log cabin-​esque structure. It’s pleasant and rustic feeling. Black Bear specializes in fruit wines — no grapes. So its a little odd to pull up to the winery and not see any vineyards stretching off into the distance.
The tasting was fine. Their wines were okay. Fruit wines always have an uphill battle in the wine arena. They just can’t compare to grapes. But Black Bear has some really interesting wines. The aromas and flavors of the strawberry wine were incredible. The blackberry too. My wife loved the Hard Cider. I also tried the Dandelion wine, which was not great. Oddly, I’m still committed to making my own in the spring.
Anyway, to close up this rambling review. It was a fun experience. We enjoyed ourselves. If you need a quick winery experience and don’t feel like driving up to Ithaca/​Finger Lakes, give Black Bear Winery a try.