Wine!

Chautauqua County is home to MANY excellent wineries- and Silver Creek is home to the annual 'Grape Festival'! Every year, the festival begins on Thursday night, with locals crushing grapes- with their feet- the way it was done for hundreds of years... Now, we have high-tech wineries centered in what must be trillions of grape vines- literally everywhere you go in September, the wonderful aroma of ripe grapes is in the air!

As you drive along Routes 5 and 20, as far as the eye can see, you'll see grapefields- vines brought from Europe to grow and make the finest grape juices and wines.

Here is a partial list of wineries with links to their websites... remember, there are others...(Sorry if we missed you- please let us know, we'll add you...)

Arrowhead Wine Cellars
Blueberry Sky Farm Winery
Johnson Estate Winery
Mazza Vineyards
Merritt Estate Winery
Penn Shore Winery
Presque Isle Wine Cellars
Vetter Vineyards
Willow Creek Winery
Woodbury Vineyards

Wineries often give tours and have wine tasting events for groups and individuals. There's nothing like going to the real winemaker, choosing from their own stock and then enjoying it through the year! Check the calendar for special events...

From the Chautauqua Wine Trail website:
The Lake Erie Viticultural Area is also known as Chautauqua -- the largest grape growing county outside of California, with some 20,000 acres (8,094 Hectares) of vineyards. This sea of Concord grapes, major processing plants, and the headquarters of National Grape Cooperative Association, which owns Welch Foods, makes New York the largest grape juice producing State in America. Just off the Ripley exit (#61) of the New York State Thruway, you can sample free grape juice and learn about New York's vineyards, grape juice producers, and wineries.