Keuka Lake Bluff
— — the bluff where a Y-shaped lake meets itself.
Not only on a wall.
“Bluff Point is the long wedge of land that splits Keuka Lake into its two branches, the only Y-shaped lake in the Finger Lakes. The Garrett Memorial Chapel stands near the southern tip, on stone laid in 1931. The vineyards run down both flanks. Dr. Konstantin Frank's winery sits on the western shore below; Keuka Spring sits across on the eastern. The view from the chapel is the lake answering itself in two directions at once.
Keuka Lake Bluff, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Bluff Point is a long narrow ridge that divides Keuka Lake into its eastern and western branches, in Yates County, New York. Keuka is the only Y-shaped lake in the Finger Lakes region, carved by glacial action that left two southern arms meeting at the head of the lake. The ridge rises about seven hundred feet above the water, with the village of Penn Yan at the head of the eastern branch and Hammondsport at the foot of the western. The Garrett Memorial Chapel, built in 1931 by the Garrett family of Pleasant Valley Wine Company, sits near the southern tip of the bluff.
The bluff is reached by Skyline Drive from Branchport on the west or from Penn Yan on the east, climbing through vineyards to the chapel near the southern tip. Dr. Konstantin Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars opened on the western flank in 1962, generally considered the start of vinifera grape growing in the eastern United States. Keuka Spring Vineyards, Heron Hill, and Ravines Wine Cellars line the road down. The chapel is open seasonally and free of charge; the wineries charge for tastings and most keep daily hours through the warm months.
Bud break on the vineyards along the bluff comes in early May, bloom in June, veraison in mid-August. Harvest runs from early September for sparkling-base whites through late October for riesling and cabernet franc. The Garrett Memorial Chapel is open daily from May through October, generally nine to five, free of charge. Winter closes the chapel and slows most of the tasting rooms; the bluff road becomes a quiet drive between bare vines and the two arms of the lake, dark blue beneath the ridge.