Americana Vineyards and Winery
by
K.L. Sullivan
Summary: Located in Interlaken, New York near Cayuga Lake, a visit to Americana Vineyards offers visitors a taste of vinifera and Native American grape wines. Looking for a place for lunch or dinner check out the onsite diner which offers locally grown produce and local meats. Indulge yourself with made to order sandwiches or homemade soups and more. Check the café for operating days and hours.
Joseph Gober, Jr. left the corporate world and purchased the winery from the original owners in 1998. At that time Americana vineyards was producing 500 gallons, about 209 cases. Today Americana has 14 acres of grapes and produces 10,000 cases. The previous owners started Americana in 1981. With the change in ownership came the opportunity to begin adding dry wines to the winery’s list of wines. Seventeen varieties of wines are produced with Cabernet Franc and Baco Noir being the most popular.
Two years ago Gober added a retro “diner” in response to visitors frequent question, “Where can we go to eat?” When you visit the diner, you will notice that everything is local. Even the beef is obtained locally and they make their own sausage.
The winery and tasting room is located in an old barn built in 1820. The barn was moved about five miles to the current location of Americana. They disassembled the barn and moved it in pieces. The facility is welcoming and has a wonderful ambiance. We learned that the previous owner of the barn stopped by Americana recently and was thrilled to see the barn rebuilt and in use as a tasting room. Outside of the tasting room, a wide porch has tables and rocking chairs to enjoy. Behind the winery and diner is a pavilion available for visitors to enjoy.
We tasted several wines with the tasting consultants who obviously enjoyed sharing their knowledge of the winery’s history and wine. The Riesling 2007 offered a floral and honeysuckle nose with a fruit taste. With a residual sugar of 2 percent, it had a sweet aftertaste. Chardonnay 2006 was aged in Hungarian oak and the result was an oak and caramel nose, with a taste of butter, smoke and oak. There was butter on the aftertaste. Pinot Noir 2006 was light orange to red with a nose, taste and aftertaste of cherry. It was very light. Baco Noir, a dark purple, was aged in stainless steel tanks. It had a fruit nose and cherry taste. The aftertaste was of cherries. Sweet Rosie was produced with the Ives grape. The nose was sweet, like an American grape and the wine dries on the aftertaste. Sweet Rosie pairs well with fudge. Revolutionary Red was a semi-dry hybrid blend and was smooth. Be sure to notice the label of a figure crossing the Delaware River. Likenesses of Presidents are not permitted on wine labels so the figure was obscured but it gave the impression of George Washington. Barn Raising Red, a blend of Baco Noir and Catawba, was light bodied, sweet, and fruity even on the aftertaste.
The tasting room offers a selection of items to browse including Sweet Rosie Brownie handmade candles, birdhouses, local area cheeses, Pinot Noir wine jam, Attitude Aprons, dips, sauces, Roasted Garlic Champagne Mustard, Cheese Stuffed Olives, more than 20 flavors of fudge, handcrafted cutting boards and more.
For Gober, the winery is about a life style. One of his goals is to create a memory for visitors. He likes to get a “smile on people’s faces.” Here you will find every reason to smile – food, wine, friendly wine consultants, history and ambiance. We hope you enjoy your visit.
Americana Vineyards
4367 East Covert Road
Interlaken, New York 14847
GPS N 42° 57.542' W 076°67.696'
