Welcome to Billsboro.

I’m delighted to introduce you to this month’s featured producer, Billsboro Winery. Named for a nearby long-shuttered train station on the old Seneca Lake railway, Billsboro is situated in a gorgeous century-old barn surrounded by thick walnut trees, terraced fields, and bountiful views just a few miles south of Geneva.

Owned and operated by Kim and Vinny Aliperti since 2006, Billsboro is much-admired for its super small lot production and precise winemaking of white and red wines. Vinny has a long history of winemaking in NYS; after several vintages at Wölffer Estate (Long Island) and Hermann J. Wiemer (Finger Lakes), he settled in at nearby Atwater Estate on Seneca lake where he continues to be the head winemaker twenty years later.

Billsboro was an opportunity that he and Kim couldn’t let pass by… and since 2007 they have been producing – and consistently selling out each year – under their own beautiful label. Speaking of, the image on the label is that of a cross-section of a Cabernet Sauvignon grape.

With Vinny running the back of the house and Kim running the front, together they make a wonderful assemblage in life and in business.

In addition to the typical Riesling and Cabernet Franc expressions, they are one of the few Finger Lakes producers of aromatic white varietals such Albariño, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio… and they also craft some really beautiful and serious reds… including a Syrah, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Incidentally, they usually release fewer than 200 cases of each of these wines in a good year.

The fruit is sourced mostly from the acclaimed Sawmill Creek Vineyards - all the way down on the opposite end of Seneca Lake - and for now the wines are physically made at Atwater Estate Vineyards, where Vinny is also the winemaker. In the near future the production facility will be moved closer to home.

My first Billsboro discovery occurred several years ago when I tasted the Pinot Grigio… thinking to myself hey this is pretty interesting, I wonder if this varietal can do well here. The answer? Absolutely yes. Then I went a little further down the rabbit hole and with each new wine I tried I realized how well-made, how precise, and how pretty they all were. There is a textural signature that they all share, almost like a rich high fidelity sound.

In short, I’m a big fan. I’m so excited for you to discover their wines, and their story, and I hope you enjoy this stop on our journey.

— Cheers, RP

ps - due to the tiny amount of wines produced, they often reserve many of their limited wines to direct sales within their own wine club. To learn more about what else is available besides the three featured expressions in this month’s wine club, I invite you to visit them here.