About Us - History

Mark Wagner founded Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars and has consistently produced award-winnning wines with his own grapes since the 1990 vintage. Mark's family has been in the Seneca Lake grape business since the time of his great grandfather, and since the 1940s has produced vitis labrusca and French-American hybrid grapes for sale to big wine producers like Taylor and Widmer. As the giants began to stumble and estate wineries emerged in the wake of the Farm Winery Act of 1976, Mark took over the family business in 1978 and shifted the emphasis of the family farm to cultivating premium vitis vinifera grapes to supply the budding new wineries. Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars was the logical culmination of generations of grape-growing knowledge and decades of Mark's viticultural experience.

The soaring Greek Revival building, which was designed by Ithacan native Bruce Corson, opened on August 30, 1992, and offers visitors unparalleled views of more than 25 miles of water on Seneca Lake. Lamoreaux Landing is aptly named after a 19th century steamboat landing on Seneca Lake, and the pilings from this dock can still be seen below the vineyards down on the lake. However, this connection to the deep waters of Seneca Lake extends way beyond a geographical namesake or signature view. In the winter months, radiant heat from the lake insulates nearby vineyards, protecting the vines even on the coldest days when the air temperature in the region drops below zero degrees Farenheit, which is cold enough to kill delicate European vines like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Merlot.

The original vineyards are planted on lands recognized as far back as the 1800s as ideal for grape cultivation. Superior soil content, gently sloping hills, unusual prevailing wind patterns, ample sunlight, and proximity to the deep waters of Seneca Lake are all important ingredients that contribute to the production of Lamoreaux Landing's premium estate-bottled wines.