Established in 2005
Leslie Knipe and Joe Sheehy are not only co-owners of Azure Hill Winery, Inc., but also, are in the tasting room serving their wine and local craft beer to customers.
Azure Hill Winery began in Joe and Leslie’s basement/cellar of their home that was built in 2005. It started as a part-time adventure and became a full-time career in 2017 when they made it their permanent residence.
The Riesling vineyard was planted in 2006, later two more vineyards were added, Zweigelt and Saperavi. They offered wine tastings, bottle sales, and later craft beer made by a local brewery, in a speakeasy-type manner in the winery production and tasting room in their cellar for almost 10 years.
Wines range from white wines, both estate grown and produced to grapes purchased from local growers. Our wines available at the winery are on our standard tasting list: Riesling Dry 2022, Sweet Riesling 2021, Synthesis 2021 (red blend), and Sweet Chambourcin 2021. Our reserve, limited-release wine list includes our Sparkling Riesling Brut, Pinot Noir 2021, & Saperavi Rosé 2021 wines. All are available by the glass and by the bottle to take home and enjoy with your favorite meals.
The 2022 vintage releases will include some new and exciting reds, whites, and rosés.
In the spring /summer of 2021, a new building was attached to the existing home to expand its winery and a new tasting room with a large outdoor deck area for customers to enjoy the beautiful views of vineyard hillsides and Keuka Lake, NY.
Stop by for a truly unique wine-tasting experience served by the owners, winemakers, and vineyard managers, at Azure Hill Winery!
A TASTING ROOM WITH A BEAUTIFUL VIEW!
We've expanded our building to include a larger, ground-level tasting room. We have seating on the outdoor deck. Wine tastings, wine by the glass or bottle, beer flights, and pints in our new tasting room. Enjoy a beautiful view of Keuka Lake and our vineyards. The owners/winemakers will serve your beverages during your visit.
OUR STORY:
Azure Hill Winery was established in 2006, by Leslie Knipe and Joseph Sheehy, a farm winery, located on the west side of Keuka Lake, Hammondsport, NY. They purchased a parcel of vacant land in 2004, at the current site in South Pulteney where the home/winery was built in 2005. The tasting room was located in the basement of the home which was also the production room. At that time, tastings were scheduled by appointment only. In 2021 the building was expanded to include a larger production room, wine tasting area, and deck for outdoor seating.
THE JOURNEY:
Every available weekend, holiday, and vacation was spent at the winery, building the vineyards, handcrafting the wines on-site year-round while maintaining the home and grounds. The commute was approximately 6 hours each way, and sometimes considerably longer.
Leslie and Joe worked at their full-time jobs on Long Island, NY until 2017, and live permanently
at Azure Hill Winery.
Joe Sheehy is a former wine sales/specialist; this and his previous career as a chef he traveled to many parts of the U.S. and Europe. He began making fruit wines and then vinifera wines as a hobby in his parent's home with family and friends. At Azure Hill, he lets mother nature dictate what direction the wine as far as acidity, balance, and flavor each vintage. Joe is the chief vintner, vice president, tasting room sales expert, and everything in between.
Leslie worked as a manager/art director/graphic designer for many years at a SUNY college and had a previous career as an artist and interior designer. She is the President of Azure Hill Winery, Inc. in charge of handling all design, social media, and website as well as works in the vineyard, winery, and tasting room.
THE VINEYARDS:
Azure Hill Winery was established in 2006, by Leslie Knipe and Joseph Sheehy, a farm winery, located on the west side of Keuka Lake, Hammondsport, NY. Produced at the winery: Rieslings, blends, and red and sparkling wines; the first Riesling vintages were released in 2012. The site was chosen for the beautiful view of Keuka Lake and its bluff; the rolling hills, & excellent soil content. In 2006, Riesling vines were planted by hand; there are now a total of five acres of vinifera vines: Zweigelt (2010) and Saperavi (2017). At this time no oak is ever used in the making of the wine.
RIESLING:
Riesling (pronounced reece-ling), is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region, Germany. We chose to plant this varietal first for its cold climate heartiness and popularity. We produce three styles of Riesling annually; Riesling Dry, Sweet Riesling, and Sparkling Riesling Brut. All of our grapes are handpicked, usually around mid-October. The dry and sweet Rieslings are hand-harvested from estate-grown grapes and from our neighbors at Gilded Grapes. Azure Hill Sparkling Brut Riesling is made in the traditional méthode champenoise (a production method whereby wine undergoes a second fermentation process in the bottle). Several vintages of only estate-grown and produced on site. Riesling grapes are used to produce a dry wine with elegant bubbles.
SAPERAVI:
Saperavi is a dark-skinned, pink-fleshed grape variety originally from the Georgian Republic. Late ripening, cool climate variety. Saperavi's meaning is "dye" also described as an inky berry. In 2017, 1500 vines were panted. The growth rate was so rapid, that in 2019 we were able to release our first vintage of estate-grown and bottled, full-body, dry red, Saperavi wine. Handpicked by the owners who also sorted each grape at the winery production area to use only the best quality grapes. Although 2021 was a very wet year, more rows were picked but the overall yield was lower than expected. We have plans to release additional styles of our Saperavi wine in 2024
and 2025 including a Sparkling Saperavi Rosé 2021. Delicate bubbles, Using the traditional Méthode Champenoise, a Brut (dry) wine with delicate bubbles, notes of light red fruits, cranberry, raspberry, and bright acidity on the palate. All of the production and the grapes for our sparkling wines are created on-site from start to finish.
FRUIT WINES
COMING SOON
We have a special release fermenting in the winery that will be sweeter than some of our current sweet wines made from fruit from a local grower.
