Finger Lakes winery guide

Usonia Wine

Usonia is a Finger Lakes vineyard and winery founded in 2020 by Julia and Alex Alvarez-Perez, a wife-and-husband team who came to winemaking by way of…

Usonia Wine

About Usonia Wine

Usonia is a Finger Lakes vineyard and winery founded in 2020 by Julia and Alex Alvarez-Perez, a wife-and-husband team who came to winemaking by way of restaurants and sommelier work in New York City, followed by cellar seasons in the Adelaide Hills of Australia and Burgenland in Austria. They settled on the west side of Cayuga Lake in 2019 and now produce low-intervention wines from organic, biodynamic, and otherwise sustainably farmed fruit, working with both classic European varieties and newer American hybrids. Their stated aim is to explore what New York State winemaking can be rather than to repeat what the region is already known for.

The heart of the operation is New Suns, their home vineyard less than half a mile from Cayuga Lake. Planted to Cabernet Franc and Riesling in 2005 by Kelley and Angela O'Neill, it was taken over by Usonia in 2021. Herbicides and insecticides were eliminated immediately, organic farming and biodynamic preparations were introduced across part of the site in 2024, and as of 2025 the entire vineyard is farmed organically. Rather than pulling out healthy vines, Usonia replaces dead or dying ones with inter-specific hybrids such as Aravelle, Helios, Marquette, and Noiret, leaving the site roughly 80 percent vinifera and 20 percent hybrid as of 2024. Alongside estate fruit, they buy from a small circle of like-minded Finger Lakes growers, and most ferments are spontaneous, single-vineyard, and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Visits are deliberately small in scale. Tastings are hosted on the working farm by appointment, led by Julia or Alex themselves, and run about an hour with at least five wines poured at a communal table. The fee is $15 per person, payable afterward. No food is served with tastings. Kids and leashed dogs are welcome, and guests should expect a functioning farm rather than a polished hospitality campus. Usonia also runs a wine club called Broadacre, offered in six-bottle and twelve-bottle tiers with shipping or pickup twice a year.

Plan your visit

Address
6963 State Route 89, Ovid, NY 14521
Phone
(607) 260-1272
Hours
Thursday - Friday: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Saturday: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM Sunday: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM Monday - Wednesday: Closed

Visitor amenities

  • Pet-friendly
  • Family-friendly
  • Reservations available

Wines to explore

  • Cabernet Franc 'New Suns' — Dark-fruited, full-bodied, structured
  • Cabernet Franc — Bright, juicy, softly tannic
  • Riesling 'New Suns' — Estate-grown, partially carbonic
  • Riesling 'Standing Stone Vineyard' — Biodynamic, dry, spontaneously fermented
  • Blaufrankisch — Whole-cluster, unfined, unfiltered
  • Tocai Friulano — Skin-fermented, rich, herbal
  • Cayuga White 'Cayuga Cayuga' — Dry, refreshing, textured white
  • Soon Different (Rose) — Juicy hybrid-based rose
  • Pompliano Pink (Rose) — Steuben rose, zero sulfur
  • Something Celestial — Smoky strawberry, black pepper
  • Pompliano Purple — Semi-carbonic Sabrevois red
  • Good Spirit (Red Blend) — Whole-cluster hybrid red blend
  • Member When? (White Blend) — Carbonic hybrid white blend
  • West! West!! West!!! (Sparkling Red) — Crackling rifermentato-style sparkling red
  • Schmeritage (Red Blend) — Bordeaux-style New York blend
  • Who, Whom? (White Blend) — Skin-contact hybrid white blend

More at this winery

New Suns Vineyard

Usonia's home vineyard on the west side of Cayuga Lake, less than half a mile from the water. Originally planted to Cabernet Franc and Riesling in 2005 and taken over by Usonia in 2021, the site has been farmed without herbicides or insecticides since, and fully organically since 2025. Dead and dying vines are progressively replaced with inter-specific hybrids including Aravelle, Helios, Marquette, and Noiret, making it a vineyard the owners describe as permanently in transition.

Broadacre Wine Club

Usonia's membership program, offered as a six-bottle or twelve-bottle club with shipments or pickups twice a year. Members receive 10 to 15 percent off all purchases, discounted or free shipping depending on tier, free tastings, and access to pickup parties and dinners. Six-pack shipments run roughly $150 to $200 and twelve-pack shipments roughly $300 to $350.

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