finger lakes & niagara recommendations?

I can't help with bottle shops, but when my wife and I were up there, we stopped at Wagner Winery and Brewery on Senaca Lake.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/611
Had a nice meal sitting on the deck overlooking the lake. Beers and food were good, view was great.
Two Goats is pretty much right next to Wagner and a had a nice feel to the place as well.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23134

Enjoy

 

I second Two Goats - its a fun place.
I also like the Red Dove Tavern in Geneva and Wildflower Cafe/Roosterfish Brewing in Watkins Glen.
I don't know any bottle shops (and I can't imagine any there with a selection you don't already have).

 

You may want to stop in Ithaca which is at the southern end of Cayuga Lake (Finger Lakes district). Their is a bottle shop called Finger Lakes Beverage Center. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5465/view=beerfly

Their is also Ithaca Brewing Co. which just built a new brewery. Ithaca is a college town (Cornell U. and Ithaca College) with a large number of good restaurants considering it's size.

 

Fingerlakes Beverage Center is definitely the bottle shop to go to. Horseheads brewery is close by and amazing. Their entire lineup is solid, but the pumpkin is amazing (they also make the only chili beer that I like).

Unfortunately Ithaca is currently closed - they haven't opened the new brewpub yet.

 

Definitely visit Two Goats Brewing- Beef on a Weck is their only food offering and the beer selection and lake views from their deck are outstanding. Don't miss visiting Finger Lakes Distilling located just South of Two Goats. Red Newt Winery Cafe and Stone Cat cafe on the same route are worthy also.

 

Village Tavern in Hammondsport (south end of Keuka Lake) has good food and a nice beer selection. Wagner's is a nice stop...I'd give their beers an overall "not bad", but the deck is a great place to quaff a few. Interested in wine? I like Dr Frank's, Keuka Spring, and Ravines on Keuka and Miles, Shaw, and Hermann Weimer on Seneca.

 

I was in Niagara this past summer and we stopped by Niagara College after reading about the brewing school in a recent BA mag. At the College's tasting room you can try about 8 different beers and growler fill any of them as well as purchase their lager or ale in 6 packs. I spoke with the student brewmaster while doing the free tastings. We hit them in the off-season and at a time when their restaurant was closed but ate at the campus cafe, which was still delicious food. They do a tapas thing wed and thurs 5-7 and the restaurant serves lunch and dinner. It is run by culinary students and they are big into wine parings but am told that they do beer parings as well.
http://www.niagaracollege.ca/content/Benchmark/BenchmarkHome.aspx

 

The only place to go for beef on weck. http://www.schwabls.com/ It's worth the small detour just south of Buffalo (and a quick walk from my house!)

 

Stopped at these places a few weeks ago on my way to Geneva. Wasn't that excited about Horse Heads since they only do tastings and beer to go. I usually prefer breweries that sell full pints and have nice seating areas where you can kick back and relax. But it ended up being one of my favorites out of 5 breweries/brewpubs I stopped at in PA and NY. The brewers wife did a great job with the tasting and answered any questions I had about the the beer and even some local history. Planned on a quick stop but ended up staying over an hour. Not sure how Fingerlakes Bev compares to Philly but it is wall to wall beer with a ton of stuff I can't get in VA. Both stops were well worth my time.

 

Glad you are enjoying your stay. I am glad you found Ravines. In my eyes it is the best winery in the area. Be sure to eat at either the Stonecat Cafe or Red Newt or both. Both have excellent food,decent beer and a nice vibe.

 

Been getting into certain other unmentionable fermented beverages, how was Earle Estates meadery? Day trip worthy?

 

I hope you visited Shalestone. That was, to me, the BEST winery there.

 

Good to hear that Earl Estates still exists, a fine place.

 

On my way back from Niagara this spring I stopped through Buffalo and ate/drank at Blue Monk. Really nice beer bar with a large tap list and progressive food menu. The local chain bottle shop/liquor stores I found had large selections but little to nothing worth purchasing that I can't get in Ohio. This was only further proven true when the weekend after I bought some Sixpoint there they began distributing to Ohio.