Romulus, N.Y. — They began a little more than 25 years ago with a honeybee farm making mead (honey wine) near the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge in northern Seneca County.
Now the Martin family has grown into a sizable player in the Finger Lakes wine region, with the Montezuma and Idol Ridge wineries, plus distilleries and tasting rooms across the state.
Their latest expansion came this month with the purchase of Swedish Hill Winery, a large, established business on Route 414 in Romulus. Last fall, the Martins bought the Penguin Bay Winery in Hector.
The Martins bought both Swedish Hill and Penguin Bay from Dave and Jean Peterson. Dave Peterson’s family has operated a vineyard on the Swedish Hill site since 1969, when they primarily sold grapes to big operations like Taylor Wine Co.
Then the Petersons joined the early Finger Lakes pioneers who expanded wine production and sales for themselves, with dedicated on-site tasting rooms, in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Dave and Jean Peterson are staying in the business as they still own Goose Watch Winery on Route 89 overlooking Cayuga Lake.
Swedish Hill, at 4565 Route 414 in Romulus, is one of the larger wineries in the region. It is a multiple winner of awards at the annual New York Wine Classic competition, which includes the Governor’s Cup for state’s best wine. Its wines include the popular Svenska Red and Svenska White, among many others.
“We’ve always looked up to Swedish Hill and watched what they were doing,” said Bill Martin, explaining the family’s decision to pursue the winery when it became available. “The way they operate and serve their customers. I think we’re up to challenge and there’s obviously great bones and structure that we’re taking on.”
Swedish Hill and Penguin Bay now join the Martin family’s portfolio. It includes the Montezuma Winery and Hidden Marsh Distillery on Route 20 just northeast of Seneca Falls; Montezuma Winery tasting rooms in Old Forge and Cooperstown; and Idol Ridge Winery and Alder Creek Distillery on Route 414 in Lodi.
The Swedish Hill production capacity is about three times as large as the one at Montezuma, Martin said. The purchase also adds about 30 acres of grape vineyards to the family holdings, bringing them up to about 90 in total.
“We’ll make some adjustments there of course,” Martin said. “But overall we want to continue what has made Swedish Hill successful over all these years.
Finger Lakes restaurateur and writer Michael Turback, whose most recent book is 2024’s “The Finger Lakes Drinking Guide,” called the Martins takeover at Swedish Hill “a good fit.”
“Both operations do a wide variety of things,” he said. “They make wines for people who don’t know much about wine and for people with more sophisticated wine knowledge and tastes.”
He also recognizes the trend of “consolidations” in Finger Lakes winery ownership, “especially as those early pioneers are getting up there in years and in some cases don’t have heirs who want to take all that on.”
Dave Peterson said he’s sad to leave Swedish Hill but is satisfied that he found the right buyer.
“You feel better about turning it over to people that have a good track record in the region,” he said. “His family (the Martins), we feel will do the (Swedish Hill) brand justice.”
As for Goose Watch, Dave Peterson said he’s looking forward to working with its lineup of wines he calls “the path less travelled.”
“It’s always been a place for more innovation,” Peterson said. “We make Riesling of course, but we don’t do Chardonnay and Cab Franc. We do things like Pinot Grigio and Cabernet Sauvignon, and we were among the first to do Viognier and Lemberger and things like that.”
It also has an on-site craft beer tasting room, called Lake House Brewing.
His daughter, Amanda Fitzgerald, who will take over when her parents retire, looks forward to modernizing its offering in other ways.
“She’s adding pickleball courts on the site,” he said, “and we might be the first winery around here to have that.”
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