The family team at Swedish Hill continues to grow with Dave’s wife, Jean, who joined the team as Director of Operations in 2010 overseeing all of the tasting rooms, marketing, and human resources; their daughter, Amanda Fitzgerald has joined as Finance Manager in 2010; and their son, Kyle, worked in the winery in high school stocking the tasting room, and worked in the tasting room and in the wine cellar throughout college during breaks and in the summer. He currently works for an investment bank in the Washington DC area. Amanda, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from St. John Fisher College and previously worked as an Auditor for Birds Eye Foods in Rochester, NY, has become a vital asset to the winery. With a broad range of experience in agricultural accounting and auditing she assists with cost analysis and all aspects of the business at Swedish Hill.
The Peterson’s success has not been limited to the Swedish Hill Winery. In 1997 they opened a second winery, Goose Watch, in a beautifully restored century-old barn right on Cayuga Lake. Then in 2005 the Peterson’s transformed the former Finger Lakes Champagne House and established its third winery, Penguin Bay located on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail. The Peterson’s have also have a tasting room in Goose Watch Lake Placid store in Lake Placid, NY.
Now in business for three generations, Swedish Hill is proud to produce some of the most award-winning wines in the region. Amongst their accolades they are most honored to have received 3 “Governor’s Cups” (the highest award given to a New York State wine) in 1994, 2008, and 2010. The winery continues to rack in top honors year after year at international wine competitions across the country. In 2015 the winery won 65 gold medals for 22 different wines, including eight “Best of” category awards and “Winery of the Year” for the Eastern United States at two acclaimed California competitions, the Winemaker Challenge and the Critics Challenge. These honors have given Swedish Hill a total of five “Winery of the Year” awards in the past four years including the 2013 & 2014 New York State Fair competitions and the 2012 Riverside International. These awards are attestation of Swedish Hill’s dedication to consistently produce award-winning Finger Lakes wines.
