Cayuga Lake is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. The AVA covers the land surrounding the 40-mile-long (65km) Cayuga Lake, the longest of the 11 Finger Lakes. Cayuga Lake is known for the high quality of its white wines made from Riesling, which display intense mineral and citrus-fruit characters.
The AVA, which stretches into Cayuga, Seneca and Tompkins counties, benefits from the temperature-moderating effects of the nearby lake. Vineyards are mostly planted on the slopes on the western side of the lake, where the vines are exposed to early morning sunshine during the growing season. Seneca Lake and its corresponding AVA are located directly west of Cayuga Lake.
© Wikimedia/Stilfehler
In the fall, cold air draining off the steep, hillside vineyards down to the lake results in an important climatic occurrence. The lake warms the cool air, which rises, creating a vacuum; this then draws more cold air down from the slopes onto the lake to be recycled into warm air. This continual flow of air is credited with lengthening the growing season in the Cayuga Lake region by up to three weeks, extending the hang time of the berries and allowing for the development of complex flavors as well as acidity.
Cayuga Lake, like all of the Finger Lakes, was carved out of the landscape by glacial movement during the last Ice Age. Shale soils on the slopes surrounding the lake have proved well suited to viticulture, providing a well-drained environment for the vines.
The history of the Finger Lakes as a wine-producing region stretches back to the mid-1800s, but Cayuga Lakes didn't begin to attract attention as an individual region until the early 1980s. The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail, the first of its kind in the state of New York, was established by producers in 1983 to promote the region as a premium wine destination. The AVA was granted in 1988, and became the first sub-AVA of the Finger Lakes AVA.
Along with Riesling, Cabernet Franc performs well in this cool-climate wine region. Cayuga Lake also has plantings of the Cayuga grape variety, which was bred at Cornell University (which is located in the AVA) specifically for the terroir in the Finger Lakes wine region.
