
In observance of Valentine’s Day, let’s toast to the love that fuels so many iconic, ground-breaking wineries in New York State.
While the phrase “family business” may connote scenes of couples squabbling over power, or siblings fighting over their inheritance (thanks at least in part to the addictive juiciness of Succession,) the fact is, family-run businesses are some of the most important drivers of the world economy.
Not only are families behind juggernauts like Levi Strauss and Porsche, but they control about 30% of all companies worldwide with sales of $1 billion or more, according to the Boston Consulting Group. Not only that, but family-run companies represent more than 70% of the global GDP and together, generate between $60 trillion and $70 trillion every year, according to an analysis from McKinsey.

Economists theorize that family-owned businesses don’t just survive, but thrive, over decades because they are more adaptable and resilient by thinking generationally instead of quarterly.
Bruce Murray, who co-owns Boundary Breaks in Lodi with his wife Diana Lyttle, sees the consistent success of enterprises run by a couple, with or without the help of their children or other relatives, as an inevitable part of life—especially in the country.
“Rural agricultural life has probably always been like this,” Murray says, noting that he could tick off a list of other couples in wine that he knew. “At a very elemental level, we work together the way we do, because the demands of keeping the business successful requires it. This is our only source of income, and we are not sitting on a large nest egg that we can dig into.”
Every couple is going to have a slightly different approach to mixing business and pleasure in the process of making a happy life and living. But, certain themes emerge in successful enterprises.
There Is a High Level of Trust and Respect
A business cannot succeed if the founders don’t trust or respect each other.
Kim Wagner and Steve Osborn were already life partners, when they ended up stumbling into an unexpected business partnership in 2000. They fell head over heels in love with an abandoned farm and vineyard in Marlboro. Today, Stoutridge Distillery and Winery is thriving, but the route from A to B was hardly linear.
“A high level of trust and respect” between them has been foundational as they found their way, Wagner explains.
“Especially when evaluating options to change business models, make additional investments or enter into agreements,” she says. “And when you are making sacrifices or working crazy hours to operate the business it’s nice to have to justify these choices to your life partner.”
In a way, owning and operating a winery together became more than a business—it became their lifestyle.

Cameron Hosmer, who alongside his wife Maren planted five acres of vines on his family’s land on Cayuga Lake in 1973, concurs.
“Maren and I are partners in life and business,” Cameron says. “We’ve been running it for 52 years. Except when you are involved in agriculture, you are not the boss. Mother Nature runs the show and we both understand that.”
Today, they are proud to watch as their son Tim, and his wife Brooke, manage Hosmer Wines, which is now officially not just a family business, but a multi-generational family business.

Opposites Attract, and Compliment, Each Other
Partners have to love and respect each other—but often that means they love and respect the ways they differ from each other.
Michael Migliore and Yancey Stanforth-Migliore met over a shared passion: rock climbing. At that point, Migliore had already founded Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery, but Stanforth-Migliore soon joined him, and Whitecliff.
“Opposites attract, and Michael and I cover a range of skills between us,” she says. “Michael has a background in science and mine is in marketing and communications.”
While they’ve divided their duties for more than 25 years in business—broadly speaking, he manages the viticulture and she manages the tasting room and operational side—they are united in their passion for wine.

When Kim and Vinny Aliperti met as Peace Corps volunteers in Tunisia in 1992, viticulture was not top of mind for either one of them. But after a whirlwind romance and a honeymoon in wine country, Vinny jumped at the chance to work as a winemaker’s apprentice in Long Island.
They both embraced the pace of life in wine country. When they had the opportunity to purchase Billsboro Winery in 2007, it seemed like a no-brainer. It hasn’t been easy, but a his-and-hers approach to their business has kept their business healthy and their lives together happy.
“For us, it has been important for us to respect each other’s various roles and trust each other’s opinions,” Kim says. “He is the winemaker and I oversee the business side, and while each offers opinions and feedback, over the years we have come to an understanding of who has the final word in our separate arenas.”

Kelby James Russell and Julia Rose Hoyle were a little less gung-ho about joining forces. Both acclaimed vintners in their own right—Russell as head winemaker at Red Newt Cellars and Hoyle as head winemaker at Hosmer—were nervous that they would both bring too much boss-grape energy to any joint enterprise.
“Julia and I were very hesitant,” Russell says. “But circumstances pushed the opportunity onto us, and we had to go for it. The wariness has served us well, however, as it means we have intentionally made sure we have our own ‘lanes’ in the operation, and our own wines in the cellar.”
The pair bought a roughly 20-acre set on Seneca Lake from Ken Fulkerson in 2023, a famous source for Red Newt’s The Knoll Riesling.
Their goal at Apollo’s Praise Winery, Russell explains, “is to complement one another by complimenting each other. What can I say, we both have too strong of personalities to want to become a portmanteau!”

Common Goals and Values
In life and business, these couples generally want the same thing, which is what helped attract each other in the first place.
Duncan and Robin Ross planted their vineyard in the Niagara Escarpment in 2006. They both knew where they wanted to eventually get their business, so navigating the path they took became easier.
“We shared common goals and ethics already,” says Robin. “Duncan and I are very concerned about environmental issues, which means we strive to run our business in an environmentally friendly way, through good land stewardship and good use of natural energy systems like wind, solar and geothermal.”
They have also been credited with pushing the region of Niagara in general toward a more sustainably minded approach, producing a range of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and other wines at Arrowhead Spring Vineyards that respect and reflect the land.
At Boundary Breaks, Murray says that he and Lyttle always sought—and received—the same things from their joined labor of love.
“As long as the business makes a small profit, we are satisfied,” Murray says. “We like living in a beautiful environment. We are both engaged in civic life in the small communities. We are involved in wine industry activities, and that community is very collaborative and open. Our neighbors help us. We help them. It may sound corny, but it is what it is.”
A job well done with your chosen partner, and appreciated by many people around the world. Doesn’t sound corny over here! Cheers to love and labor on this Valentine’s Day.