I don’t make wine myself, but I enjoy a few glasses of wine on a Friday or Saturday night while out with friends or enjoying a movie on the couch. Last year, I went to the Finger Lakes Wine Festival with one of my friends who likes to make wine, and he really enjoyed it.

What I liked about this festival is that it showed off some of the wines, allowing festival goers to taste last year’s vintage, learn a bit about some of the local wineries, enjoy a bit of entertainment and live music and buy some local arts and crafts. It’s a great party that even if you don’t like wine you will enjoy.

What my friend, who typically makes about three batches of wine a year, loved about this festival was the chance to talk to a lot of the vintners. The wine festival is typically held in July, so the weather is nice in New York, but it isn’t during the harvest time, so both the smaller and larger wineries from the Finger Lakes wine growing region can come out to represent their wines, answer questions or just talk about wine.

My friend also liked connecting with other home vintners who were in the hundreds. He said that networking with them was also a great opportunity, because they were able to swap emails and also talked about some of their problems that they have experienced and even boasted about their equipment.

More than 75 different wineries came last year, and the show is scheduled to be bigger and better than last year. If you are going to be in New York State this year, check it out, because it is a fun party, a nice place to taste wine and enjoy upstate New York’s summer.