As the New Year approaches, we wanted to take a moment to look back at all of the highlights from 2025. It has been quite a year! We’ve been keeping busy, that’s for sure, and fortunately for us, we have a lot of fun doing it! This year was a big one for us, and we are so glad we got to share it with you. Join us as we reflect on all of the milestones, highlights, and celebrations of 2025.
- Early in the year, we launched our brand new website that now encompasses all of our Martin Family brands so you can find everything in one spot! We wanted to make it easier for visitors to discover all our tasting rooms, find upcoming events between all locations, shop for all of our wines online, discover new spirits from our distilleries, and more.
- In April, we celebrated the official Grand Opening of our tasting room expansion at Montezuma Winery & Hidden Marsh Distillery Finger Lakes. Our new tasting space includes a large tasting bar, indoor seating, expanded gift shop, courtyard, AND a new kitchen allowing us to serve light fare! Our naan pizzas, paninis, pretzels, and charcuterie have been a huge hit! The kitchen is closed for the winter after December, but we’ll be back open in 2026 for the same delicious food and new offerings!
- Just a month later, in May, the Martin Family acquired Swedish Hill Winery, a fellow winery on the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail. This was big and exciting addition for us and has been quite the learning curve as we’ve taken on an additional production facility, acres of vineyards, a new product line, and so much more. We’re very grateful for the amazing team that has been with us through the transition, along with everyone else’s support! We are looking forward to our continued growth at Swedish Hill in 2026!
- Later in the summer, we launched our new brand, Either Oar Wine, Whiskey, and Cheese Bar (previously Penguin Bay Winery)! We were very excited to share this new brand and location on Seneca Lake with you. It’s a new type of experience in our Martin Family lineup and we are happy that those who have visited us so far are loving it! What makes it even better is the meaning behind this location for us, as it’s based on Co-Owner George’s love for fishing and his stories growing up going fishing with his Pa. We hope to see you at Either Oar next year!
- This past fall was our very first harvest at our Idol Ridge Winery vineyard! You can look forward to 2025 vintage estate wines coming to Idol Ridge in 2026, including an Aromella, Saperavi, and a few others! Plus, stay tuned for some new additions and changes coming to the Ridge.
- Montezuma Winery & Hidden Marsh Distillery Finger Lakes was named 2025 Small Business of the Year by the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce. We are very proud and excited to receive this award and want to thank all of our wonderful customers, followers, and our amazing staff who helped make this possible.
2025 was a year of growth, innovation, and unforgettable memories! We’re truly grateful for everyone’s support throughout the year, and we want to sincerely thank all of our loyal followers and new visitors for being an important part of our journey. Whether you’ve visited us at any of our tasting rooms, shared a bottle at home with loved ones, shared our Facebook posts, or even stopped in to say hello during any of our off-site events, thank you!
With that being said, we have some exciting news to share in 2026, including the 25th Anniversary of Montezuma Winery Finger Lakes. Stay tuned for more details! And that won’t be all. If you know us, you know we have more exciting things up our sleeves. So buckle up, hold on tight, and join us for the crazy, fun, thrilling, adventurous ride coming in the new year.
Cheers to 2026 and to another year of great wine and spirits, amazing memories, and the best company!
