Mystery Man Behind the Finger Lakes’ Best Winery Website Reveals Plans for Boundary Breaks: Only Riesling
Some time around the first of the year, word started to spread in Finger Lakes wine circles about a remarkable new website for a winery most people had never heard of. Within hours, questions were flying:
Who did that amazing photography?
What is Boundary Breaks?
Who owns it?
With a little digging I was able to uncover some answers, but only after the owner secured a promise from me not to reveal his identity. It’s not that he’s a celebrity — you’ve almost certainly never heard of him — but he has business reasons to keep his name out of the proceedings, for now. I agreed, picked up the phone, and learned in half an hour that Boundary Breaks is on a fast track to success.
Before you read further, let me urge you: If you haven’t seen the website that has so many people talking, click here now. Do it. You’ll find yourself asking why most other wineries don’t simply scrap what they have and follow this model.
What is Boundary Breaks?
There is no tasting room (yet), and you have to work hard to find the wines (for now). But Boundary Breaks is a new Finger Lakes winery with its own vineyard acreage on the east side of Seneca Lake.
Boundary Breaks will only make riesling.
“This area has simply broken out with riesling,” the owner told me. “I can’t think of anything better than pursuing the best riesling we can grow and make.”
In 2008, the BB team started the groundwork on a 120-acre farm, planting six acres of riesling. Another six acres of the variety went down in 2010. The vines are situated on sloping land between two drop-offs, a kind of space between ravines, or boundary breaks.
The owner sought out help from longtime regional pros, including the Fox Run team of Peter Bell, Tricia Renshaw, and Kelby Russell. That trio made the 1000 cases of Boundary Breaks wines from the 2011 vintage. When Russell took a job at Red Newt Cellars, the Boundary Breaks owner turned to Ian Barry of Villa Bellangelo to help fill the gap in 2012.
“I’ve been a businessman,” the owner said. “I’m not used to the collegial atmosphere. Everything I had heard about collaboration was true. So I don’t want to disrupt anything. I just want to fit in.”
Boundary Breaks has started out with four rieslings: a dry bottling, two semi-dry bottlings, and a reserve riesling that resembles the late-harvest wines made at Hermann J. Wiemer across the lake. The reserve will sell for $30; the other three rieslings check in at $20.
But where to find them? The owner expects a third of the wines to be sold in the greater Finger Lakes region through restaurants and, eventually, retail outlets. The remaining two-thirds will be sold downstate, where the owner has connections and an eye toward higher-end Manhattan locations.
The website: Who did the photography?
Boundary Breaks hired Brooklyn-based photographer Noah Kalina. The result is a website focusing on images, with just enough language to convey the goals and details without ever sounding condescending or hyperbolic. Kalina’s photos set the tone.
“I want the entire team to be featured and celebrated,” the owner told me. “Noah captured what we’re all about. It’s people working in a special place.” A web designer in New Zealand laid out the simple, compelling structure for the site.
Website visitors will find a heavy emphasis on the land at Boundary Breaks. The owner hired a team to do “a lot of soil preparation, and we’ve been very focused on clone selection. We’re trying to discover whether single clones give unique, discernible character. We’ll see.”
While flowing with gorgeous imagery and helpful information, the website offers nothing about the owner. I tried to crack that mystery.
Who is the owner?
Staying within the boundary of our agreement, I can say the owner is new to the wine industry, but not new to wine. He had deep appreciation for wine from around the world, and has spent years in California. He grew up in Syracuse, has moved around, and wanted to return with a kind of passion project. It’s a project that could take him into retirement, but he’s not there yet.
He lives downstate but spends just about every weekend in the Finger Lakes. “I’m a seven-day-a-week guy,” he told me. “I love the work.”
It didn’t take long to uncover his business savvy. He hired strong, top winemakers. He’s not planting a melange of mediocre-performing varieties. He’s looking to Manhattan for sales success instead of being boxed into a tasting room model. And he’s humble.
“An area earns a reputation collectively,” he told me when I asked if he was hoping to make a loud splash with his first vintage. “Any one producer is not enough to lift the rest, whether it’s an established winery or someone new trying to make some noise. It’s better to simply work hard and try to fit in.”
Boundary Breaks appears to be the only Finger Lakes winery making only riesling. The owner doesn’t expect to change that.
In the coming weeks, the NYCR team will taste the Boundary Breaks wines. Lenn Thompson will offer his reviews. Regardless of how they show, there should be excitement about a new producer who has arrived with a laser focus. Springsteen has tried acoustic projects, but he knows his finest work is in good old rock-n-roll. The Finger Lakes has become known for its riesling, and Boundary Breaks will not be shifting the focus. And when this mystery owner finally feels comfortable introducing himself, he ought to find a region extending a hand of welcome to a man with an ambitious new take on how to make classic rock sound even better.
Did you get any indication of where and when the wines will be available in NYC? This sounds interesting indeed.
No specifics on that front yet.
Great website and design all round! A little bit of digging and the power of the internet, and I think I know who the owner is….
I think the big story here is why does the owner want to keep it a secret for now? It kind of seems like a very well thought out marketing strategy doesn’t it?
Either way the photography is gorgeous and the simplicity of what is probably a simple portfolio wordpress template is not lost on this reader. Cool stuff.
Bryan, I don’t think the owner wants to keep the WINERY or the WINES a secret. I think it is only his identity.
That’s kind of what i meant. Is the owner preparing a big reveal of himself? The fact that he’s a mystery man makes it fun to speculate.
No big reveal coming. Like I said in the article, he’s not someone you’ll know. Just a guy with a business background and a dream of great wine. I think his reasons for keeping his name out for now are legit; it’s also nice to see a guy who wants to heap credit on everyone else.
Bryan, as a web developer I had a quick peek at the code and the site certainly isn’t built on WordPress (or equivalent). If WordPress is “off-the-peg”, this site is Saville Row bespoke. I agree with your other comments though, just beautiful. Sam
Very nice looking site and the photography is wonderful. another reason to plan to head up the East side of Seneca on my next trip up to Auburn from Pittsburgh – unfortunately, probably not sooner than June for that.
A mystery man indeed…. With a beautiful website and wines no one has tasted yet can’t wait to buy for $20-$30. This is the power of developing a brand – hopefully the wines are on par with the website and mystery.
Can we play a game of guess who? With no more help than google, my guess is Bruce Murray – I have no idea who he is, though.
Are they planning on having a tasting room? Sounds like a great addition to the region!
Tasting room, yes, eventually. But not this year.
Mystery Solved-
Which I guess is the entire point.
I’ve tasted all four wines. They’re good–very clean and, for the most part, well-balanced. But it’s good to hear the owner has connections in Manhattan, because the $20/bottle retail price point is a tough sell around most of NYS. Again, they’re good, solid wines. However, I didn’t find the wines significantly better than standard releases from Wiemer, Ravines, or Bloomer Creek, which hover around $16 and have a proven track record. In reality, very few Finger Lakes rieslings sell for $20 or more, except HJ Wiemer’s single vineyard wines and those from Keuka Lake Vineyards. So, launching at $20/bottle (and $30 for the reserve) is a bold move for a brand new winery–it will be interesting to see the public/press’s response.
And I don’t know if Manhattan connections will help. A common gripe I hear around here (NYC area) is that FL wines aren’t worth the price being charged (they tend to be a few bucks more here than upstate). Some of these people regularly drink a variety of German or Austrian rieslings and one often hears things like ” the xxx $17 FL riesling is nice, but it isn’t quite as good as the similarly priced Donnhoff estate riesling.”
The locavore thing isn’t spreading to wines very quickly round here. And don’t get me started on the pricing of vineyard designated wines from the FL. I’ve more or less stopped buying CA wines for being poor value, and would hate to extend that to the FL.
Ac..i encourage you to taste Boundary Breaks side by side with those other wines you just listed. I noticed a pretty significant difference. But each person has there own opinion.
Kieth,
Are you saying you preferred the boundry brakes wines? If so what qualities did you like more?
AC, there are actually a number of $20+ rieslings these days. Single vineyards from Red Next, Silver Thread, Heart & Hands, Damiani and Lamoreaux are all $20+. Forge Riesling is $24 I think.
And many of the wines that were once $16 are more now too. Wiemer’s are $17+ now. So is Ravines.
Prices are creeping up a bit in the Finger Lakes.
Agreed, there’s a several more wines then I mentioned. But Boundary Breaks is banking on a series of $20+ wines in the open marketplace and restaurants, while the other wines mentioned are limited release and mostly sold in the tasting room (in my experience). However, I’d also argue the single-vineyard designation, complete with a premium price, is used too much in the Finger Lakes and often isn’t warranted. There are exceptions–I trust an Argetsinger grown riesling to be better than a standard riesling and the HJW vineyard is old vine, so I expect production is less and quality higher. But Sawmill Creek? It’s among largest vineyard in the Finger Lakes. What’s so special?
The single-clone thing is a bit gimmicky, but there’s real potential for something interesting to emerge. The growers are basically turning a vineyard experiment into a commerical enterprise. But if one clone produces superior wine or another, less so, will Boundary Breaks adjust the price up/down accordingly? Incidentially, I preferred the Ovid Line (the blended clone wine) to the others.
I think the single-vineyard marketing in the Finger Lakes HAS gotten a bit out of control. But, success breeds copycats. I know of at least one respected winemaker who flat out will not do single-vineyard labels because he doesn’t feel that he knows the terroir well enough in them. I respect that.
But, there are very few SV bottlings that I’ve had and thought to myself — this isn’t distinct.
Boundary Breaks is not a big producer. They are shooting for the ’boutique’ thing, clearly. And those are just their launch prices — we’ll see what happens over time.
Sad that there is not a local tasting room to be able to compare with the standard bearers as I would not purchase at that price point without tasting. Kind of snobbish to ignore the local scene and focus on the city folks….but it’s not my money. I’ll continue to purchase those at that price point that I can taste, as there are too many wonderful alternatives to rely on tasting notes/reviews to spend my wine bucks.
it’s easy(er) to bank on $20/btl when you only have to sell 1000 cases. plus it seems like a pretty safe way to start… no brick and mortar winery (and the debt that comes along with it), and they can always sell the fruit if wine sales don’t keep up… but they will. this is basically the same approach that forge took, only they planted their vineyards and are a bit more sophisticated in their marketing (no offense). don’t be surprised when you see more of this happening. i look forward to trying the wines when they become available locally.
kieth – quality difference or stylistic difference? based on his winemaking partners my guess would be that the wines were very acid-forward and pushing the balance scales toward the dry side. 1000 cases from 12 acres is very low… could be some nice concentration there or the vines are just not all online yet.
I think you nailed it with the 1000 case point here. Especially if they have connections in Manhattan restaurants and can move a chunk there.
Personally, I have no problem paying $20/bottle for a delicious Finger Lakes riesling. In fact, I rarely spend less than that.
They certainly could move a chuck of the wines in Manhattan but that would mean selling for under $13.33 (for $20 retail.) if they self-distribute.
It would also mean selling for under $10 per bottle to a distributor, if they wanted it to appear at $20 in the city.
At $20 this is a fine business, at $9.33 a hobby. Somewhere in-between maybe?
Daniel,
No offense taken..yes, we are fairly low tech in our marketing approach thus far and I have caught some grief but we have our reasons and I think ultimately it will all come into alignment..stay tuned. Boundary Breaks promo material, concept and web-site are very, very well done and I am glad to see such creativity in the Finger Lakes along with a focus on quality. Can’t wait to taste the wines and look forward to sharing a glass of wine with the mystery man…lol
I loved the wine itself. Its different than normal fingerlakes rieslings ..i could see how one would think the wines would be very acid foward because of the winemakers but there actually not. I agree that the single vineyard thing isnt original but noone has ever done the single clone like boundary breaks.
Kieth – Interesting stuff. What’s your background? How did you come across BB wine?
Finger Lakes Riesling is always a good topic. Obviously the 2010 vineyard block would not yet have been producing, so the yield would have been a little more than 4 T/A or probably about average for the region.
Kieth, could you elaborate a little on the wines? different from normal Finger Lakes Rieslings… I’m not sure what a normal FL Riesling is.
I have the go-ahead to let the cat out of the bag. Mystery Man is none other than Mr. Howard Hughes. Makes sense once you catch on.
Nice guess Peter. I was thinking it might be Orson Wells. He has a background in Wine.
The website doesn’t work well in Windows, which led me to believed that it was created on a Mac by someone who doesn’t understand Windows. I didn’t like the 917 phone number and the reference to coming up on the weekends. (That’s the Donald Trump lifestyle.) I’m a purist. I feel agriculture is a 24/7 job. It shows dedication to the soil, the crop and the terroir. You can’t do that from Manhattan. And I’m suspicious about the effect of selling most of your crop Downstate. What will that do for tourism? Will the people who are willing to pay $20-$30 a bottle come up here for the Finger Lakes experience? Nevertheless, as far as quality is concerned, the proof is in the pudding.
I’m on a Windows machine (have one for work) and haven’t had any problems with the website. Not sure what you’re looking at, Ronda.
And tourism isn’t necessarily part of a winery business plan. There are many routes to go.
Very Cool Website indeed. I am looking foward to tasting the Ovid Line North Bottling. I believe the Mystery Man is a relative of Frank Gorshin ??
We’ll see what the professionals say once they start reviewing the BB wines, but Weimer is Hi-C by comparison, and I start to experience competitive European wines (in respect of clarity, complexity and depth) at a $40-$50 price point (big box discount house pricing).
Sorry, but the Wiemer comment is more than a little hyperbolic and silly. And that is not to disparage the BB wines, at all.
Well it’s clear that BB already has some intense fans. Seems a bit silly to put down one of the top producers in the regions though. I doubt the owner or anyone involved in BB would think of doing the same.
With all due respect my flying friend, you have no idea what you are talking about. Wiemer has been working tirelessly for over 30 years to get to where they are in quality and “competitive European wines” are a product of generations of work. J.J. Prum Sonnenuhr spatleses and countless other top rieslings can be found for less than $40. It’s hard to fathom a first year FL wine from young vines that has comparable “clarity, complexity and depth” to say, a Willi Schaefer kabinett (around $20). BB may well do a fine job and I hope they do but the jury is and should be out for some time. The vines are only a few years old and nothing other than their ability to put together a slick website has been proven at this point. Hi-C? Sounds like you’ve been drinking Kool-aid.
Well Marketview advertised today thay have two of the wines for sale for 15.99 each. Seems like if i’m in the area, it is prolly worth a stop…I was gunning early on for Mr. Vaynerchuk as the mystery owner…..but now that more info has come out, it’s certainly not him.
I was able to try all four of their wines and was extremely impressed. These wines tended to have the acidity a little more muted than many of the FLX wines I’m used to, it was definitely present but very well balanced. Very impressive especially because the vines are so young, this is worth seeking out . I’ll be extremely eager to see their future offerings as well. Aside from the wines being excellent the owner and workers are great people who obviously take a lot of pride in their work and it shows with the quality. Great addition to the Finger Lakes!
I have tried (3) of the bottlings the 239, Ovid Line North and the 110. i really enjoyed the #239 and the 110 was pretty good as well.
You’re so cool! I don’t suppose I have read through anything like that before.
So wonderful to find somebody with a few genuine thoughts on this subject.
Seriously.. many thanks for starting this up.
This site is one thing that is required on the web, someone with a
bit of originality!