Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard

Best Riesling in the US, hands-​down.

Ah! The best wines at Finger Lakes. I mean what can I tell ya! It’s a busy place but extremely well organized and IMHO the best wines at Finger lakes. I mean completely wonderful. I’ve already bought 3 cases in the past year and I am sure it’s not the end of it. The Frost Cuvee, Dry Riesling, Semi Dry Riesling are a must for your table wines. And for your wine pleasure try their reserves and the TBA Josef vineyard (yes it’s expensive but worth every penny)

I will forever have this great memory, and am looking forward to sharing this experience and recommending this wine to many, many others! I am a sommelier from Virginia and just recently visited the Finger Lakes region for the first time to take a sommelier exam with the Court of Sommeliers at the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua, NY. A sommelier friend recommended the vineyard. I heard of HJW before from inquiring about purchasing clones last year. Anyway, I stopped by on my way south, and I had the best time that I have ever had at a tasting room and/​or vineyard. I have been to many, many Virginia vineyards that are top notch and not to criticize other wineries or vineyards at all, but HJW vineyard took things to another level.
Kay was in the tasting room and she did a phenomenal job explaining the region, climate, soil, vineyard layout, and different varietals and wines. I left feeling taken care of and knew the full story of the vineyard. As a sommelier learning the full story, the region, the soil type, the types of grapes are very important to me. However, I find myself leaving tasting rooms with a good idea of the wines from trying them, but not of the story or additional crucial information. HJW delivered. In addition, I have to point out phenomenal hospitality that is hard to find.
Furthermore, the staff seemed engaged and dedicated to the craft of winemaking. From my understanding, staff just picked TBA grapes. They nodded their heads when they passed by me, not even knowing who I was. I get a real sense that the owners /​managers put a great deal of investment into every part of the vineyard from not only the field but also to the tasting room staff (who at other places sometimes sadly, maybe not intentionally, get overlooked).
Awesome, just awesome job!

I am not much of a white wine drinker. Their cabernet franc 2013 is excellent. Very smooth and tasty. The inside is very nice. They even sell grape plants… if I only knew how to make their cabernet franc… hmmmm.

This is the second time we are here. Last year we came in Summer. We did wine pairing, which is 25 dollars for 5 wines and assorted cheese and meat. We loved it. This year we came in fall. Scenery is quite different this time since you can enjoy foliage in this season too.

Nice but expensive wines for tasting and Nicole was really helpful as our guide. Tasting room was freezing cold so bring a coat!

disclaimer: this was our favorite vineyard and experience. Wanda was wonderful for our tasting and gave good tips for enjoying each pour. Beautiful tasting room. Delicious wines. A must visit!

My absolute favorite winery in the Finger Lakes region. They have an open, spacious tasting room with lots of friendly, knowledgeable staff to answer any questions and to give you pours.
Their tastings are $ 5 for 5, and extra if you want to try the reserve Rieslings. I tried their Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, and Rieslings. I was thoroughly impressed with each of them. If you love refreshing, clean tasting white wines that can range from semi sweet to dry — you won’t regret coming here! They definitely have something for everyone :)

If you only have time for one winery, this is the one. The wines are consistently good and very fairly priced, considering the quality.
They put a new addition with a very large, clear pane of glass in the door. Though this was my first stop on my brief wine tour, I fully walked face first into it. Now, I am klutzy, but beware of this door. It will materialize out of nowhere, at least until it attacks enough tipsy patrons to show some battle wounds.

The tasting room and buildings in general at Hermann Wiemer are impressive — very fancy. As such, and being a famous winery, it can be quite crowded even in off times.
The whites were good as expected, reds did not impress, even compared to some of the other wineries in the area.
The staff were a little flustered (understandably) with the number of people to serve and also answering questions. Worth a visit but wasn’t the highlight of my trip.

The ambiance is a little pretentious but the quality of the wine backs it up. I think they should wave the tasting fee if you buy a bottle.

Great winery if you love Riesling especially. The tasting room has an old barn feel. The have a beautiful outdoor patio, great to take that glass of wine out to to relax and enjoy the scenery. Friendly staff, wines are pricier than most wineries but they are boutique quality wines.

Nice tasting room. Pretty crowded on a Saturday so they didn’t explain the wines we were tasting. $ 5 for 5 tastings. Staff seemed nice though and the dry reisling was pretty good.

Great winery and friendly staff. Ordered 5 bottles of wine to take back to California. Thank you HJ Wiemer for the delicious tasting!

This place should be on the top of your list when touring the wineries around the Finger Lakes region. Even though it doesn’t offer Seneca Lake views as many of the others do don’t let that distract you. Make this one a must visit.
Staff is top notch, fun, professional, entertaining, and really knows their stuff.
I’m not a huge fan of white wines but the Rieslings here will blow your socks off. They are that good. We purchased a box full to take home.
Wonderful tasting room area that is situated in a modernized old barn. Small patio area to take some wine on and enjoy a nice afternoon. At only $ 5 for 5 tastings it is so worth it as Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard makes the best Rieslings hands down. Just delicious.
We even tried some of their special sparking wines courtesy of the sommelier who was serving us and it was amazing. Yes, we bought this too.
I’m heading home to pop a bottle right after work!

One of the oldest and best wineries in the Finger Lakes, do not miss this winery when you’re in the area. The property itself is beautiful and while it doesn’t boast views of Seneca Lake like some of the other wineries, the gardens, vineyards and elegant tasting room more than make up for it. When you enter the modern ‘barn’, a host/​hostess greets you, asks if you’re there for a tasting and then guides you to an appropriate part of the tasting room. This is really nice especially when it’s busy (and it was fairly busy on a summer Friday afternoon when I was there) and helps keep the flow of traffic.
Our sommelier was incredible, extremely kind and knowledgeable and very attentive while still serving multiple groups.
As for the wine, these are absolutely some of the best Rieslings you will get in this region and their reds are fantastic.

Fantastic wines, awesome staff, and a beautiful tasting room all make this a must-​stop location on Seneca lake.

I came on a Sunday late afternoon and this place was packed (surprisingly with more kids than adults)! The only spot open was a corner in Michael’s area. I’m glad he approached me quickly or I would have went down the street to try another place.
I did the reserve tasting which got me 5 tastings for $ 5. Despite the crowd, Michael did a great job pacing the tasting, describing each one and never forgetting about me. He even threw in a double tasting of one wine just in case he forgot (of course I will not fight over more wine). Went home with a box full of their dry riesling (which is served at EMP) and their cabernet franc.
I will definitely be back and hopefully during a less busy time.

Hands down, still the best Riesling in America. The name has changed (they can no longer call the Dry Riesling «Johannisberg» due to anal Germany DOC restrictions), but the quality is the same, or better.
One of the classier tasting rooms, and it was blissfully quiet when we came in (a concert at Glenora drew some of the weekends crowds away). I got me a bottle of the 2011 Dry that is fantastic.

One of my favs of the wineries my girlfriends and I visited over the weekend. Dottie was extremely knowledgeable about the history of both the history of the vineyard and the wines we were tasting. I found we got more info here than any of the others. She took her time with us, even explaining the grafting process.
Interesting too, that here I liked the dry Reisling the best, while at Belhurst I found I liked the semi-​dry the best, as far as level of sweetness vs. dryness. This is where I decided to purchase my Riesling and I DO love my Rieslings.