Pleasant Valley Wine Company

Pleasant Valley Wine Company, also known as Great Western Winery, is a historic winery complex located in the Hamlet of Rheims in the Town of Urbana in Steuben County, New York. The complex consists of nine historic buildings constructed of fieldstone. The five oldest structures were built in the 1860s and are in the Italianate style.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]

Pleasant Valley Wine Company
Pleasant Valley Wine Company, April 2011
LocationSR 88, Rheims, New York
Coordinates42°24′4″N 77°15′15″W
Area5.2 acres (2.1 ha)
Built1860
Architectural styleItalianate
NRHP reference No.80002773[1]
Added to NRHPNovember 18, 1980

The winery has the largest plantings of Chardonnay and Riesling in New York.[3]

History

Established on March 15, 1860 by Charles Champlin and 12 other investors,[3] the winery is the first bonded winery in the United States; bonded winery #1.[4] The winery produced Isabella and Catawba initially, expanding into sparkling wine production in 1865, earning the Pleasant Valley the nickname "the Reims of America." The on-site post office used the postmark "Reims, NY" until 1945.

During Prohibition, the winery survived by making sacramental and medicinal wines. After Repeal, the winery was sold several times, including the Taylor Wine Company in 1961, and inclusion in the sale of Taylor to Coca-Cola in 1977. Coke sold the winery to Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in 1983, which sold the winery to Vintners International in 1987. In 1995, the winery was purchased by the Doyle family.[3]

  • Pleasant Valley Wine Company, April 2011
  • Brickstone Cellars, a second label of Pleasant Valley
  • Views inside the winery, 1899.
  • Great Western Champagne advertisement (1898)

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. M. Herschensohn and Roger Reed (April 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Pleasant Valley Wine Company". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2009-10-31. See also: "Accompanying 13 photos".
  3. "History". Pleasant Valley Wine Company. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  4. Tedeschi, Tony. "The Renaissance of the Finger Lakes Wine Region now on full display". Natural Traveler. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
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