The Finger Lakes wine region has long been an underdog, but lately it seems the tides are turning. While unpredictable climate hurdles are no surprise anymore, heat and the threat of fire on the West coast is becoming something winemakers can almost set a watch by. What does this mean for the industry — both in this country and beyond — and are Finger Lakes winemakers ready to pave the way for the future?
The electric storm Ben Riccardi | Osmote, Seneca Lake
Sitting down with Ben Riccardi is like sitting in the eye of a storm. His pull is like a gravitational force. He’s ‘the guy,’ but he’s completely unaware. He’s too busy; too deep in the work. As he almost collapses into a folding chair and takes gulps of water out of stemware, it seems maybe this is the first time he’s taken a seat since July.
Riccardi studied vineyard management at Cornell University, then proceeded to crack the world wide open, harvest hopping from Chile and New Zealand to France, Australia and California. He made stops at Craggy Range and Williams Selyem before finally landing at City Winery; each stop pivotal in shaping his winemaking style. Riccardi finally boomeranged back home to the Finger Lakes and founded the Osmote label in 2016, seeing the potential for entrepreneurship and attracted to the grassroots nature of the region.
Out of the gate, he started cranking out some of the most beautiful Chardonnay the region has ever produced. This past summer, Riccardi planted his first vines — all hybrids. “I mean, honestly, it’s the future of wine,” he said.
Osmote is building something bigger, something wilder. Riccardi is singlehandedly running a winery, yes, but he’s also running pigs through his land. “I’m a big fan of high-quality pork,” he said with a grin. “One day, I get this call from this guy, Tank Jackson, who raises pigs for Sean Brock and Tom Colicchio. He’s like, ‘Hey, I heard you’re raising pigs. You’ve gotta come to Charleston and get some of mine.’”
Riccardi went to Tank’s farm — Valhalla — and came back with gorgeous Iberico-Duroc piglets, transplanting them into an abandoned vineyardclick to enlarge
to see how they’d forage. Take a closer look, and it becomes obvious that Riccardi is circling in on biodynamics in the Finger Lakes.
“Undoubtedly, hybrids are going to be varieties I can grow more easily with fewer sprays,” he said. “And while I'm taking this sincere interest in pigs, if I can maintain vineyards with far fewer sprays and much less chemical input, it could very well create a mixed system in the future where the pigs are in the vineyard.”
By mixing wine, food and agro-tourism, Riccardi’s turning his land into a space where people can come and get lost in the experience. "Wine, pork, venue—it’s the whole package," he says, laughing like it’s some crazy idea.
Ricardi is a live wire. Deep in the trenches, hands stained from grape skins, brain running miles ahead — yet somehow, making it all work. He might be blithely unaware of the storm he’s stirring up, but make no mistake: Riccardi isn’t just shaping the future of the Finger Lakes. He’s tearing up the playbook and writing his own. It’s his world, we’re just living in it. osmotewine.com
Roots in earth, eyes on the future Nathan Kendall | Nathan K. Wines, Seneca Lake
Nathan Kendall is the kind of winemaker who isn’t quick to boast. Instead, he speaks with gratitude for the region he calls home. There's a deliberate stillness in how he takes stock of the land, the sky, the rhythm of it all. But don’t mistake that calm for complacency — Kendall is hungry, and his wines speak for themselves.
Kendall grew up with dirt under his nails, tying vines on a neighbor’s farm before he was old enough to have a say. After college he bolted, doubling down on harvests across the globe. Circling back in 2011, he wasn’t interested in what everyone else was doing.
“People were trying to make these big, structured reds,” Kendall said, “but they didn’t fit here.”
Instead of setting his sights on a knockoff Napa, he started making lighter, more honest wines: barrel-aged whites and whole-cluster reds that had texture and nuance; wines that reflected the land’s potential. In 2016, he launched his first label, Chepika, and began experimenting with grapes most people wouldn’t touch.
“If you’d told me 10 years ago I’d be making dry Concord wine, I’d have laughed,” he said. “Nobody wants to drink that shit, but here we are.”
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And people are drinking it. Chepika’s wines have become a quiet phenomenon — organic, lower alcohol and crafted with respect for the region. Kendall’s current collaboration work with master sommelier and wine wizard of the Loire, Pascaline Lepeltier, is proof enough. Together, they make three wines produced without additives to showcase Finger Lakes terroir in its truest form.
Kendall is the kind of winemaker who’s not afraid to let the land lead him. He’s betting on hybrids, not because they’re trendy, but because they make sense for sustainability.
“You can farm them more responsibly, with fewer sprays,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we want that?”
Kendall doesn’t see it as a compromise, he sees it as progress.
“What works today might not work tomorrow,” he said. His trust in the land and the unknown is what makes Kendall quietly — yet unmistakably — remarkable. nkendallwines.com
All-in on hybrids Julia & Alex Alvarez-Perez | Usonia, Cayuga Lake
Julia and Alex Alvarez-Perez didn't come to the Finger Lakes to blend in. Burned out from the San Francisco restaurant grind, they packed up and headed east to blaze their own trail.
“We didn’t want to be the thousandth producer on the West Coast making low-alcohol, minimal-intervention wines,” Alex said.
So in 2018, they chose the Finger Lakes, a place where they could actually make a dent. The pair is focused on farming first. Insistent on as little intervention as possible, they are sourcing from small, like-minded growers and turning out wines that defy expectations.
“We’re firm believers in hybrids,” said Alex. “First and foremost, they just make sense. Why fight the land? Grow what works and figure out how to make great wine from it.”
This isn’t typical Finger Lakes wine making. Riesling? Sure, they’ll still make it, but don’t expect them to lose sleep over the process.
“There’s plenty of great Riesling around here, but that’s not what gets us up in the morning,” Alex said.
And the people are starting to get it. At a recent tasting in Texas, Julia pushed Cayuga White, a grape most had never heard of, without issue.
“I was worried they wouldn’t know what to do with it,” she said. “But they didn’t care. Crisp acid, low alcohol — they were in. That’s what we’re after. It doesn’t matter what it’s called. If it’s good, it’s good.”
This year, Usonia is going all-in. They’ve planted hybrids like Noiret and Marquette right alongside vinifera; a move that’s either bold or batshit, depending on who you ask. But Julia and Alex aren’t asking for permission.
Organic is the priority, biodynamic is the goal. Realistically, this means fostering grapes that don’t necessarily have a legacy or fit neatly into the narrative. So instead, they’re embracing varietals that survive and thrive in this climate, blending them creatively and bottling some seriously delicious wine. Prioritizing that just might reshape what defines Finger Lakes viticulture. usoniawine.com
Redefining a regionKelby James Russell & Julia Hoyle | Apollo’s Praise, Seneca Lake
A conversation with Kelby James Russell and Julia Hoyle feels a bit like they’ve been stopped mid-sprint. There’s no denying the brilliance of this pair, and they’re running at a pace that feels both deliberate and urgent. They’re not just winemakers — they’re catalysts, driving the Finger Lakes forward and rewriting the story of what the region can be.
The story of Apollo’s Praise kicked off in 2023 when they closed on Lahoma Vineyard in Rock Stream, just off the western shore of Seneca Lake. The ink was barely dry on the deal when the worst spring frost in 50 years wiped out half their crop. Most people would buckle, but not these two.
“We did some quick math,” Russell said, “and realized we had to start sooner than expected. No customers, no distribution — just survival.”
They’re not complaining. If anything, there’s a sense they live for the challenge.
“The universe was telling us to run faster,” Hoyle said. Lahoma’s sandstone-rich soil was the match they had been waiting for.
“That site — it’s not just capable of producing the crisp Finger Lakes Riesling people expect,” said Russell. “The fruit lends itself to opulence, to more textured, layered wines.”
Beyond Riesling, their age-worthy Cabernet Franc Rosé has the kind of depth that makes imbibers rethink what a pink drink can be. They’re not trying to fit a mold. Instead, they’re chasing dimension, and bottling vibrancy. What’s most striking about the pair isn’t their adaptability, but their vision. It’s not enough to make killer wine; they want the world to take notice.
Enter FLXcursion, the riotous, biannual Riesling conference and brainchild of Russell and Oscar Bynke of Hermann J. Wiemer. Designed to bring the world’s top winemakers to their backyard,the festival is really about proving that Finger Lakes wines deserve a place in the global conversation.
Together, Russell and Hoyle are building a future for Finger Lakes wine that’s bold, inclusive and impossible to ignore.
“It’s about elevating the region, pushing it forward,” Hoyle said.
Not only are they making serious wine, they’re making sure the world knows the Finger Lakes isn’t playing catch-up anymore. apollospraise.com