Toast Winery in Rock Stream makes its wine with amateur home winemaking roots. Owner Mike Gibbs began as a home winemaker and won several amateur medals before the winery. He is mostly in the back, fermenting and experimenting, while co-owner Jayne Gibbs works in the tasting room and curates the retail goods.
The winery says its name refers to the tradition of toasting wine barrels, which shapes the flavors wine takes on during aging. It also stands, the owners say, for their continuing effort to make exceptional wine. By their account, they fell for the region through years of visits from New Jersey, then spent time in North Carolina's Yadkin Valley before choosing the Finger Lakes as home. The winery says it is on the west side of Seneca Lake.
The wine list is sorted into dessert, dry red and dry or semi-dry white. At the 2026 New York Wine Classic, Toast Winery wines won 17 medals: three gold, 11 silver and three bronze. The golds went to the 2024 Pinot Noir, the 2024 MJ Red Blend and the 2024 Merlot. A 2023 VinePair review scored the 2021 Cabernet Franc 90 points. Readers voted the winery Silver in the 2026 FLX Finest.
Plan ahead: the tasting room is first come, first served, and parties under 8 do not reserve. Groups of 8 to 20 book ahead on the winery's site, which asks for at least seven days.
