There are some places around Keuka Lake that become more than businesses.
They become landmarks in our memories.
They are woven into family traditions, Sunday drives, school field trips, wedding toasts, and stories shared around kitchen tables. They become part of the landscape of our lives.
For more than 165 years, the stone buildings nestled into the hillside just outside of Hammondsport did exactly that.
To many of us, it wasn't simply called the Pleasant Valley Wine Company.
It was—and always will be—Great Western.
And when its doors quietly closed in 2025, it felt as though a chapter of Keuka Lake's story had come to an end.
Where an Industry Was Born
At a time when the Finger Lakes had yet to earn its place among the world's celebrated wine regions, a handful of local visionaries looked across the rolling hills surrounding Keuka Lake and saw something extraordinary. They saw possibility in the fertile soil, promise in the gentle slopes, and a future rooted in the hardworking hands of grape growers who called this place home.
What they built was more than a winery. They helped shape the identity of a region and planted the seeds of a story that continues to unfold along the shores of our crooked lake.
In 1860, businessman Charles Davenport Champlin and a group of investors founded what would become the Pleasant Valley Wine Company in the valley just south of Hammondsport. Their goal was ambitious: to prove that world-class wine could be produced right here in the Finger Lakes.
The location was ideal. The hillsides provided natural protection, the deep soils nurtured thriving vineyards, and Keuka Lake's unique microclimate created conditions perfect for growing grapes.
French-born winemakers Jules and Joseph Masson brought generations of European expertise to the young winery, introducing traditional methods that helped define the region's earliest success. Their craftsmanship established a standard that later generations of Finger Lakes winemakers would continue to build upon.
Pleasant Valley soon became known as U.S. Bonded Winery No. 1, a distinction that reflected its place as a true pioneer in American winemaking.
The Rise of Great Western
Using native Catawba grapes, Pleasant Valley began producing sparkling wines that challenged the long-held belief that exceptional wine could only come from Europe.
Then, in 1873, Great Western Champagne won a gold medal at the Vienna World's Fair—the first American sparkling wine to receive such prestigious international recognition.
Suddenly, the name Great Western was being poured in grand hotels, served at elegant celebrations, and shipped across the country.
Its greatest achievement, however, wasn't the medals.
It was introducing the world to Hammondsport and Keuka Lake.
Every vineyard that dots our hillsides today owes something to those early pioneers who dared to believe the Finger Lakes could become one of the world's great wine regions.
A Legacy Renewed
Nearly a century after Pleasant Valley's founding, another Frenchman would forever change the future of Finger Lakes wine.
In 1934, Charles Fournier arrived in Hammondsport from the renowned Champagne house Veuve Clicquot in France to lead winemaking at Gold Seal Winery. He brought with him generations of European knowledge, modern sparkling wine techniques, and an unwavering belief that the Finger Lakes possessed extraordinary potential.
Although Fournier made his name at Gold Seal rather than Pleasant Valley, his influence reached far beyond a single winery.
Perhaps his greatest contribution came when he listened to the ideas of Dr. Konstantin Frank. At a time when many dismissed Dr. Frank's belief that European Vitis vinifera grapes could thrive in the Finger Lakes if grafted onto hardy rootstock, Fournier understood the science—and the promise. Speaking the same language, the two men found common ground, and together they helped launch one of the most significant revolutions in American wine history.
The vineyards surrounding Keuka Lake would never be the same.
As the decades passed and the region's wineries became increasingly connected through changing ownership and collaboration, Fournier's innovations influenced not only Gold Seal but the entire Finger Lakes wine community. When the Taylor Wine Company acquired Pleasant Valley in 1961, the exchange of expertise among the region's historic wineries further strengthened the quality and reputation of Finger Lakes wines.
His vision helped ensure that Pleasant Valley's pioneering spirit did not remain frozen in history—it evolved alongside a new generation of winemakers who continued to build upon the foundation laid in 1860.
Weathering History
Pleasant Valley endured challenges that would have closed lesser businesses.
It survived economic downturns, changing tastes, and perhaps most remarkably, Prohibition.
By producing sacramental and medicinal wines, the winery kept its doors open during those difficult years while many others disappeared forever.
Over the decades, ownership changed hands several times, passing through local families and major corporations before eventually returning to local stewardship.
Through it all, the stone buildings remained.
Steady.
Familiar.
Timeless.
For generations of residents and visitors alike, a trip to Pleasant Valley meant descending into cool underground cellars, hearing stories that stretched back to the Civil War, and leaving with a bottle of Great Western Champagne tucked carefully beneath an arm.
Those quiet stone tunnels held more than barrels and bottles.
They held generations of craftsmanship, innovation, and dreams.
More Than a Winery
Pleasant Valley was never just about wine.
It was about place.
The eight historic stone buildings became some of the most recognizable landmarks in the Finger Lakes.
Just down the road, Glenn Curtiss launched America's aviation dreams into the sky. Along the shores of Keuka Lake, generations of grape growers tended the vineyards that supplied the winery.
Later, visionaries like Charles Fournier and Dr. Konstantin Frank helped usher in a new era that transformed the Finger Lakes from a respected grape-growing region into one of the world's premier cool-climate wine destinations.
The stories of Pleasant Valley, Gold Seal, aviation, agriculture, innovation, and Keuka Lake have always been intertwined.
Together, they shaped the identity of our region.
A Keuka Roots Reflection
Today, the cellars are quiet.
The tasting room no longer welcomes visitors through its doors, and another beloved landmark has become part of our history instead of our present.
Yet its story is far from over.
It lives on in every vineyard that blankets our hillsides, every bottle uncorked in celebration, every visitor who discovers the Finger Lakes for the first time, and every family whose roots are intertwined with this remarkable place.
Pleasant Valley gave the Finger Lakes its first international acclaim.
Charles Fournier helped carry that reputation into the modern era.
And each generation since has added another chapter to the story.
At Keuka Roots™, we believe places like Pleasant Valley deserve to be remembered not simply because of the wine they produced, but because of the dreams they inspired.
Because the quietest places often echo with the greatest stories.
Stay Rooted. Stay Keuka.™
