ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Bringing a taste of Italy to the Rochester community, Casa Larga Vineyards has been producing and serving wine for over 40 years.

“We started back in 1974,” the president of Casa Larga Andrea Colaruotolo O'Neill said. “It was actually a hobby. My dad was from Italy. Growing up in Italy, he learned to farm grapes with his grandparents. So when he came here, he actually became a home builder and he had this area of land that was originally to build homes on, but instead he decided to put a small vineyard on and the hobby grew into a business and is still here today.”

O'Neill is now continuing the family tradition.

“It's been great to grow up to know that you're always part of the community,” O'Neill said. “A lot of people know Casa Larga. So we love that we're part of a family. And we love that people come here to celebrate their very important family celebrations.”

They are also working to preserve the Italian heritage within upstate New York.

“This is a great growing climate,” O'Neill said. “It's on par with some of the great growing climates of France as well. So a takeaway is I want people to come to the winery, kind of to change their mindset.”

And with the growing climate comes many challenges.

“There are challenges just about every step of the way, which I think is part of the reason I enjoy it,” head winemaker at Casa Larga Paige Vinson said. “But, you know, we're at the mercy of Mother Nature from the very beginning of the process, during the entire growing season.”

As the warmer weather during the season affects its wine production.

“We would typically have expected to reach freezing temperatures to be able to harvest our ice wine,” Vinson said. “This is actually the first year in 25 years where we've needed to shift gears and try to refocus on the wine that we're going to be making with the fruit that we've left on the vine to freeze. Because we've had a lot of erratic planning and on freezing temperatures, the vines really, really didn't hold on to the fruit we would like for ice wine.”

They are adapting and developing a new wine style for its customers.

 “We actually decided to pull them in style, which is not quite as simple as an ice wine, but I think also is a beautiful style and a right,” Vinson said.

It comes just in time to prepare for its annual Ice Wine Festival, and they’re celebrating the 25th year of its award-winning ice wine.

“This is our 2020 adult ice wine,” Vinson said. “So here at Casa Larga, we choose to use the Dall Blanc as our grape of choice for our ice wine production.”

Having these challenges showcases a variety of unique wine styles and carries on its family legacy.

“It's an amazing vineyard that has the capability of really producing a huge range of wine styles, our hospitality here at Casa Larga make for a really amazing experience close to home,” Vinson said.