Lenny & Meg Cecere
Owners

Lenny and Meg Cecere, with their three children have always been a part of the Geneva community until they decided to relocate to south Florida in 1980. In Florida, they own a general contracting business but they have since spent their summers in Geneva, on the lake. After Vinifera was introduced to the area, they wanted to fulfill their dreams and desires of growing the best possible fruit and making the best possible wine in the Finger Lakes area. Their children Michael, Jackie and Alex all play important parts in the family winery.
Winemaking and culinary activities have been a family tradition for centuries. It felt right for the Cecere’s to continue that tradition with Ventosa Vineyards with the winery, café, and banquet facility. Keeping in the family tradition, all of the Cecere children have been a part of the Ventosa Vineyards business.
Ventosa comes from the Italian word “vento” which means windy. “Ventoso” means “lots of it”. They tweaked it because Ventosa sounded more romantic. Being a winery on the East side of Seneca Lake, Ventosa does get windy conditions that make it true to its Italian name. The design at Ventosa is Tuscan-themed. Lenny and Meg traveled to Italy several times and made sure that the interior design and exterior of Ventosa’s building was true to the Tuscan style. Lenny designed and built Ventosa himself with the help of several family members including his niece, Katie Dizillo who was the architect that designed Ventosa. The building of Ventosa Vineyards started in the fall of 2004 and the completed facility opened its doors September 25, 2005. The vineyard was planted in 2000 and the first estate harvest was in 2003.
Lenny, Meg, and their family always strive to follow Ventosa’s mission of “Excellence”. This means cultivating the best fruit, producing the best wine, creating the best food and providing the best customer service. The wine itself has won numerous awards, many of them Gold medals in competitions internationally, nationally and state wide. Ventosa’s ’11 Lemberger won the NY State Governors Cup, which was the first red varietal to win the award. Lenny and Meg have often told staff, “If we maintain our mission of excellence, they will all come.”
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