There’s so much to love about wine and, at Villa Verona Vineyard, plenty of love applied to the product as well.
“There’s so much love that goes into these wines,” Founder Mary Jo Beach says. “The producing, the checking, the measuring … we love the process.”
Even the labels get a personal touch as Beach writes all the descriptions for her cleverly named creations like Miss Sassy Pants, 50 Shades of Red, Diamond Diva and BFF.
“I pick them out, I write them and I drive the artist that’s creating the labels crazy because I’m very specific,” she says. “They’re all my children.”
They’re popular kids, as patrons who come for tastings typically leave with a bottle of wine, Beach says.
She opened her doors in 2014 as Oneida County’s first and only winery. Located just down the road from the Turning Stone Resort Casino, it’s stayed plenty busy since as the addition of a farm-to-table bistro and spa attest.
Beach, a former radio executive, admits she knew little about winemaking when she started out. But, the budding vintner had brought on a chemist and a consultant from the Finger Lakes region to get things started.
“I’m proud to be a New York state winery. I put our wines up against any other product in the country,” says Beach, who sources her juices from the Finger Lakes as well as the northern and western regions of the state.
Villa Verona is a proud partner of the Heart of New York Beverage Trail that includes all the Oneida County craft beverage producers, Saranac, Nail Creek Pub & Brewery and Copper City Brewing Co. among them.
The trail made up of the “Friends of Fermentation” facilitates collaboration as well. Recently, Villa Verona and Adirondack Distilling Co. made a swap, with wine fermenting in bourbon barrels and vice versa.
“We help each other all the time,” Beach says. “I talk to all of them on a regular basis.”
Fellow winery Prospect Falls along with Woodland Farm Brewery and 16 Stone Brewpub round out the trail.
“[Villa Verona] is my way to be a Central New Yorker and say, ‘look what we have here,'” Beach says. “There’s so much here for any one person.”
In other words, there’s so much to love about Brew Central.
