As any Upstate New Yorker knows, the weather in February is always a gamble. Nancy Tisch and Kit Kalfs, co-owners of Bet The Farm Winery, decided to roll the dice and host a ticketed event celebrating a small group of wineries without walls. 

“I was surprised anyone showed up,” laughed Tisch. It was a wintry Sunday afternoon on Cayuga Lake, and the weather brought snow and the continuation of a cold snap. “It was just one of those days, and our parking lot was covered in ice.”

She came up with the idea while on vacation with her husband, Kalfs, during the slower months. It’s their annual tradition to brainstorm new ideas for the upcoming season. “I kept seeing pop-ups for all of these independent winemakers and thought, wouldn’t it be cool to host a whole bunch of them together here.”

Bet The Farm Winery. Photo provided.

She and Kalfs got to planning. They invited five up-and-coming microwineries, including Little Clover Wine Company, Echelon Wine Farm, Vagabond Wines, Barry Family Cellars, and Entelecheia Wine Cellars. 

Despite the weather, ticket holders packed the space, with over 75 guests meeting the new producers, enjoying samples, and purchasing bottles. Initially planned as part of the Ithaca Loves Teachers weekend, the event grew into a fundraiser for the victims of the devastating Ovid Fire, which hit especially close to home for Tisch. They donated the majority of the proceeds.

“The energy was great – things just sort of clicked,” remembers Erin McMurrough of Little Clover. She called the event serendipitous. “We were all meeting new people and making sales, which is so important for small producers, especially in the slower months.” McMurrough released her first selection of méthode champenoise wines in 2023.

McMurrough pouring wines at a pop-up on Seneca Lake. Photo provided.

Matt Denci of Entelecheia agrees. “Doing something on your own can feel a little lonely,” he explains. As a new producer in a popular region with many flagship wineries at the forefront, pop-up experiences are key to Denci’s success. “The level of enthusiasm was really encouraging for a lot of us. It was nice to feel like people cared.”

McMurrough looked around the room and thought this event could expand beyond one snowy Sunday in February. She reached out to the group of microproducers and suggested a summer tasting. The response was a resounding ‘yes’. 

UPLIFTING COMMUNITY

There isn’t a sole organizer of Wineries Without Walls, but their efforts have become a shared lift between the microproducers involved, each bringing something unique. Their goal is to pop up at least monthly in different spaces across all the lakes, removing location as a barrier to entry. In July, they’ll pop up at Apollo’s Praise and the Finger Lakes Welcome Center. 

Denci harvesting Riesling. Photo provided.

“I think they found out they did better when they worked together,” smiles Tisch, who says this might be her favorite takeaway from the event. She’s experienced the collegiality of the Finger Lakes wine industry firsthand, calling Damiani Wine Cellars integral to the development of Bet The Farm. “It’s part of the Finger Lakes wine culture that people work together instead of against one another.”

Tisch is eager to pay it forward to other small businesses. She and Kalfs are especially excited about the future: “We’ve come full circle and will have a tenant winery of our own, which is how we got started.”

She’s in good company. Each Winery Without Walls is driven by an entrepreneur busy making ends meet while chasing their dreams. For example, Denci is cutting his teeth as the winemaker at Treleavan Wines. McMurrough worked for years at Lakewood Vineyards before jumping into Little Clover full-time. Dillon Buckley and Theresa Kelley of Echelon honed their skills at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard. And Ian Barry runs his namesake label, Barry Family Cellars, when he’s not crafting the wines at Six Eighty.

In the past, Barry served tastings out of a small historical house in Burdett, stocking wines from microproducers like Nine-Four and Osmote alongside his own. Barry may have been ahead of his time, but his work underscored the importance of collaboration in the industry.

“I think that there’s something to be said for the bigger and more established wineries supporting and making space for the little ones,” says Alex Bond of Vagabond Wines. 

Bond making her popular sparkling red wine. Photo provided.

Bond worked at Hector Wine Company and Forge Cellars for 10 years before starting her brand in 2022. She currently makes her wines at Damiani. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without them.” 

AN OPEN INVITATION

McMurrough says fostering community amongst each other is essential. “It speaks volumes to take the time to learn what your peers are making and what drives them,” she says. “If we can collaborate in a way that allows us to learn each other’s stories and support each other’s strengths, Wineries Without Walls could become so much more than just tastings.” 

John Monnier agrees. At Denci’s encouragement, Monnier became a recent addition to the group after launching John Albert Wines earlier this year. He is the Assistant Winemaker at Ravines Wine Cellars and uses his personal brand for creative exploration. “For little guys like us, it’s slightly harder to find where we fit in,” he explains. “This group is an invaluable opportunity as a microwinemaker.”

Since February, the group has expanded from five to nine microproducers, including what McMurrough calls a “cidery without ceilings” in the queer-owned Sylvan Farm & Cidery. 

Co-owners and husbands, Josh Jenkins and Charlie Treichler, aren’t strangers to popping up around the lakes. When not making cider, they’re slinging 100% NY organic beef smash burgers through their other company, Yummy Burger. This group of microproducers contains multitudes. 

McMurrough hopes Wineries Without Walls continues to expand. “I’m sure there’s even more that we don’t know about, and we would love to welcome them into the fold,” she says. “The more the merrier! There’s no walls here – come on in.”