The Pleasant Valley Wine Company, located near the village of Hammondsport, New York, is the oldest winery in the Finger Lakes region.
On March 15, 1860, Charles Davenport Champlin and 12 local businessmen consolidated their holdings under “Articles of Association for the Manufacture of Native Wine” and, with $10,000 capitalization, built the first winery in this region. Pleasant Valley Wine Company was designated as Bonded Winery No. 1 in its State and Federal districts.
The original winery was constructed on land whose price had soared from $10 to $100 an acre in one decade! It was built on a slope owned by Mr. Champlin overlooking Pleasant Valley, two miles south of Hammondsport. All winemaking operations were carried out by Jules and Joseph Masson, noted French-born winemakers of the time, in still-used wooden and stone structures, with adjacent cellars carved deep into the hillside. Eight of these Great Western Winery buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
