Niagara County Makes Top 50 List Of Best Wine Counties Outside California

There's no question that some of our country's best wine is made in California.  But if you think that's all we have, you'd be wrong.  Some of the best wines come from right here in Western New York.

Yes, if you wanted to get some really great wine, you might look to Napa Valley in California, home to some of the oldest and most distinguished wineries can be found.  But according to a recent study, you don't even have to go that far.

Along with 4 other counties in New York State, Niagara County has been named one of the top 50 counties for wine outside California.

Lawnstarter did the assessment and they compared more than 1,048 counties across 18 key relevant metrics, including:

• Visitor accommodations (hotels, motels, and inns in the area)
• Number of winery tours
• Number of wine producers
• Tasting options
• Number of vineyards
• Number of award-winning wines
• Great reviews

As you can see, this study was done on more than just the wine itself.  This study was based more on the experience than simply on the quality of the wine.  However, that was taken into consideration too.  You don't get great reviews with terrible wine.

Niagara county was 36th out of 50 counties outside of California.  Suffolk County did really well too.  They were 9th in the entire nation.

The other counties from New York were:

• Queens County - 30th
• Tompkins County - 32nd
• Yates County - 40th

I'm surprised that we didn't see more counties around the finger lakes region on this list.  They have some incredible wineries there that are a blast to visit and taste.