Our Story
Unplanned Trip Leads to Life-Changing, New York Wine Growing Opportunity
In the fall of 2020, my wife Kristy and I planned a trip to Florence, Italy to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. The global pandemic made that trip impossible, so Kristy suggested a regional trip to the Finger Lakes to visit wineries. For reasons neither one of us can explain, the winery we were most interested in visiting after reviewing many websites and pieces of social media content was Boundary Breaks, a beautiful winery that is slightly more secluded than many others we considered.
The winery was as stunning as the social media content we saw. After we were seated in Adirondack chairs with a spectacular view of Seneca Lake, Kristy spotted the title “Owner” on the nametag of the gentleman who seated and served us. We were so impressed that the owner of the winery would seat us and take our order that we began a fun and interesting conversation about his wines, life in the Finger Lakes and what it was like to be a winegrower and vineyard owner.
Although Kristy and I had never discussed retirement in any detail, over our wine we began contemplating that phase of our life knowing something felt special about where we were, and our conversation with Bruce revealed exciting possibilities. Perhaps swept up by the beauty of land, the outstanding wine and enlightening conversation, we asked Bruce if knew about any properties for sale in the area. Although he did not, he shared the name of a realtor, who led us to the next phase of this journey…
Assistance from the Finger Lakes Winegrowing and Business Communities
Taking a step back, the relationships I have formed in my personal life and in business mean everything to me. Finding the right spouse and making and maintaining close friends are key to success in life.
The same goes for work and surrounding yourself with driven, smart people. Career-wise, I feel fortunate to have formed meaningful and lasting relationships, first in motorsports and now as the Global President and CEO of NKBA | KBIS. But starting a business was the furthest thing from our minds during our first trip as well as a year later when we returned to the region to celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary.
After our conversation with Bruce and conducting a ton of research, our intention was to look for smaller properties for a possible retirement or second home, nothing more. But when we met with Allison from Warren Realty during our second trip, she had a property she knew didn’t quite fit the profile we were interested in, but wanted us to visit, anyway. The 35-acre parcel of farmland about one mile east of Seneca with a sweeping view of the lake she showed us was irresistible. After much deliberation, our instincts told us “to go for it” and like everything else we do in work and life, we have moved forward with purpose and haven’t turned back…
Turning Over a New (Grape) Leaf
What we didn’t realize is that we were actually turning into something. We closed on the property in January 2022 and started to imagine what life might be like here someday. And just as it started with our visit to Boundary Breaks and Kristy’s astute observation of Bruce’s nametag, this time she had a vision that transformed this “second home” into what we hope will become a premiere commercial winegrowing company in the Finger Lakes region.
“Wouldn’t it be cool to have grapevines growing as you pulled up to our future driveway?” Kristy said. We loved this idea, but despite the dozens of wineries in the Finger Lakes region that produce amazing wine, we needed to find out if our land could sustain something as simple as aesthetic grapevines leading to this imaginary driveway. After intensive research and a meeting with a consultant, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the property had “commercial vineyard” potential.
Pardon all the racing terms, but now our wheels were really turning. We stayed in touch with Bruce-who we called after we closed on the property-but our next conversations were more educational and complex as we learned about the best practices necessary to grow wine grapes for commercial distribution in the Finger Lakes. Another referral from Bruce led us to John Wagner of Wagner Vineyards, who generously made time for us by visiting our property and recommending we bury thousands of feet of perforated pipe, or drain tile, to remove unwanted groundwater since vines “don’t like wet feet.” This was expensive, but a necessary approach like installing engineered WASCOBS (Water and Sediment Control Basins) which we arranged for after discovering significant erosion on the property before we even purchased the land.
One of the other exciting things to come from these relationships is that Darcy Boys Winegrowers is already being considered as a “case study” for best practices in water conservation and erosion. Because of the drain tile and WASCOBS, it is estimated that we will prevent 45 tons of soil per year from entering Seneca Lake. In part, this was made possible by a grant from the Seneca County Soil and Water Conservation District. We have taken great care in every aspect of this business and our land once we decided to move ahead with a commercial grape growing operation. We won’t ever cut corners and the “Penske Way” motto still rings true to me almost 30 years after I started working for legendary businessman and racing tycoon, Roger Penske.
Now onto the exciting part… which grape to plant! After more research and conversations, we were advised that a hybrid variety would be best for people like us, which to us loosely translated as “for those who have no idea what they are doing.” While I understood the logic, my instincts told me this wasn’t what we should do. Ultimately, we decided to plant five acres of vinifera, grafted on North American rootstock as customary, to grow the region’s most renowned grape, Riesling.
Specifically, we had the vinifera grafted onto 3309 Rootstock, a choice steeped in history and quality, made possible by the incredible story of Dr. Konstantin Frank, a pioneer in Finger Lakes viticulture. Our diverse Riesling clones—12.1 (90), 17.1 (198), and 23.1 (239)—each will be blended to contribute to unique characteristics of what we expect to be an exceptional, boutique wine.
In May 2024 that planting process was complete thanks to our friend Bruce and his team at Boundary Breaks.
Why Darcy Boys Winegrowers?
It is debatable that there is nothing more important in marketing than a brand or organization’s name. But what isn’t debatable is the importance of family. There are many reasons we are moving forward with this spontaneous adventure-turned-serious-business-venture, but the main one is to leave a legacy for our boys, their families and their children. Kristy and I hope to enjoy the fruits of our labor, both literally and figuratively, but the true enjoyment won’t come in our generation, but those that lie ahead. In 2024, Billy will turn 17, Jake will turn 14 and Harrison will turn 10. They are too young to truly understand the impact of what mom and dad are doing. We hope they will someday. Vines last generations, and it is our goal that Darcy Boys Winegrowers will, too.
