GENEVA \u2014 This year, Billsboro Winery celebrates its 20th anniversary under the ownership of Kim and Vinny Aliperti, marking two decades of producing small-batch, award-winning dry wines in the Finger Lakes.<\/p>\n
After leaving Long Island\u2019s wine country to move to the Finger Lakes in 2000, the Alipertis began the next chapter of their winemaking careers, first at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard and later at Atwater Estate Vineyards. In 2006, the opportunity to start their own venture finally became a reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Jen called with the offer, we were both a bit flabbergasted,\u201d recalls Kim. \u201cBut we quickly realized it was an opportunity we couldn\u2019t pass up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jennifer Morris and Dr. Bob Pool, a Cornell viticultural researcher, founded the original Billsboro Winery in 1999 \u2014 Geneva\u2019s very first bonded winery \u2014 and were looking to pass the baton.<\/p>\n
What began as a small operation producing 1,000 cases has grown steadily over the past two decades. Today, production has more than quadrupled. Unlike many wineries, Billsboro\u2019s model has always relied entirely on purchasing locally grown grapes.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the winery has developed strong partnerships with some of the region\u2019s top vineyards while continuing to cultivate new relationships to diversify its grape sourcing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been incredibly fortunate to work with many dedicated, sustainably minded grape growers,\u201d says Vinny. \u201cThey\u2019re the real heroes in our industry,\u201d who often playfully chides his fellow winemakers for getting \u201cmost of the media attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the beginning, Billsboro focused on producing relatively small batches of dry wines, many bottled from single-vineyard sources. That vision continues today, though the winery now works with a larger network of growers and offers a broader range of wines.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty years ago, leaning toward an almost entirely dry wine portfolio felt a bit risky,\u201d says Kim, \u201cbecause we didn\u2019t want to alienate customers who preferred sweeter wines.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winery\u2019s tasting room \u2014 housed in a late 19th-century barn \u2014 was in turnkey condition when the Alipertis opened to the public in the summer of 2007. Since then, they have remained committed to running the business with environmental sustainability in mind. Initiatives include operating on 100% solar power, maintaining a no-plastic policy, using paper-free restrooms, and composting all eventware.<\/p>\n
Today, the Billsboro farm and its iconic barn reflect both the region\u2019s rich agricultural history and its thriving tourism and hospitality industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are keenly aware of our responsibility to steward the land and the watershed,\u201d says Kim. \u201cWe want to ensure that future generations have the same opportunities we were fortunate to receive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA \u2014 This year, Billsboro Winery celebrates its 20th anniversary under the ownership of Kim and Vinny Aliperti,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[20523,20528,20524,20520,20529,65,20525,20526,20522,20521,20530,20527,13900,20531,20519],"class_list":{"0":"post-34713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-geneva","8":"tag-alcoholic-beverages","9":"tag-crops-originating-from-europe","10":"tag-fermented-drinks","11":"tag-finger-lakes-ava","12":"tag-fruit-drinks","13":"tag-geneva","14":"tag-grape","15":"tag-grape-drinks","16":"tag-hermann-j-wiemer","17":"tag-vineyard","18":"tag-viticulture","19":"tag-vitis","20":"tag-wine","21":"tag-winemaking","22":"tag-winery"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116252635635400338","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}