Shaw Vineyard

About Shaw Vineyard

Shaw Vineyard sits on the west shore of Seneca Lake along Route 14, a short walk from Hermann J. Wiemer, where the lake's deep water stretches the season enough to ripen Bordeaux varieties in a cool climate. Steve Shaw grew up in the Finger Lakes, took his cues from vinifera pioneers Konstantin Frank and Hermann Wiemer, planted his first vinifera block on Keuka Hill in 1981 and worked with Silver Thread in the 1990s before buying these 50 acres in 1999. The first vintage was 2002; the post-and-beam tasting room and underground cellar followed, and the doors opened in 2007.

The house style is resolutely dry and unusually patient. The vineyard is farmed for small, tight clusters, picked by hand and later than most neighbors, and in the cellar reds are fermented whole-berry after week-long cold soaks, raised in mostly neutral French oak and held five years or more before release, unfined and unfiltered. Cabernet Franc is the standout, made full and age-worthy with an unoaked Loire-leaning sibling, alongside Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and the Keuka Hill Reserve Meritage blend. Whites rest on fine lees; the Riesling is released with bottle age, Road Block Reserve is a late-harvest botrytis bottling, and an Orange wine of Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio spends over a year on skins.

The timber-frame tasting room overlooks the vineyard, and the operation is deliberately small, so the mood is serious rather than festive. Walk-ins are the norm, but hired vehicles and groups must arrange a visit in advance. There is no restaurant or events program; this is a stop for people who want to taste what a decade of cellar time does to Finger Lakes reds.