Partly cloudy. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable..
Partly cloudy. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable.
Jim Cecere, owner of Vinifera, a wine bar on Linden Street in Geneva that is hosting a grand opening weekend starting Friday.
Geneva’s Jessica Lahr enjoys a beverage at 44 Linden, the speakeasy-style space in the basement of Vinifera wine bar.
Vinifera customers enjoy adult beverages at 44 Linden, the speakeasy-style space in the basement of the Geneva wine bar, which celebrates its grand opening this weekend.
A hanging wine bottle-style sign welcomes customers to Vinifera at 44 Linden St. in Geneva.
Vinifera wine bar owner Jim Cecere talks with customers at his new Linden Street busieness.
Jim Cecere, owner of Vinifera, a wine bar on Linden Street in Geneva that is hosting a grand opening weekend starting Friday.
Geneva’s Jessica Lahr enjoys a beverage at 44 Linden, the speakeasy-style space in the basement of Vinifera wine bar.
Vinifera customers enjoy adult beverages at 44 Linden, the speakeasy-style space in the basement of the Geneva wine bar, which celebrates its grand opening this weekend.
A hanging wine bottle-style sign welcomes customers to Vinifera at 44 Linden St. in Geneva.
Vinifera wine bar owner Jim Cecere talks with customers at his new Linden Street busieness.
GENEVA — “Fortune follows the brave” is a Latin proverb getting lots of play for a bitcoin company.
Jim Cecere could certainly be put in the category of “the brave.”
After all, his first Geneva business, Finger Lakes Goods, kicked off during the pandemic lockdown of 2020, starting as a web-based format before opening its doors to a new Linden Street store later that year.
He carried about 15 products made in the Finger Lakes that year. This year, it’s about 450.
Cecere is hardly satisfied with his accomplishments. Next door to Finger Lakes Goods in the former Printing Center store is his newest venture, Vinifera, a wine-tasting and wine-selling operation. It quietly launched last fall, but a weekend grand opening celebration is set to run Friday to Sunday.
Vinifera refers to the European grape variety that produces some of the world’s best wines. The successful introduction of the grape in the Finger Lakes played a major role in the region’s rise to wine prominence.
Cecere is showcasing those Finger Lakes wines at Vinifera, an impressive spot with wines from 20 regional wineries and a plan to add an additional five. They include some of the most fabled Finger Lakes wineries, such as Dr. Konstantin Frank, but also up-and-coming wines Cecere thinks people should sample.
Vinifera provides Finger Lakes winemakers another outlet for their products, he said.
“The Finger Lakes is home to just some amazing wines,” Cecere said.
The goal, he said, is to create an online buying experience at Vinifera that is similar to what he established at FLX Goods. However, there are some hoops to jump through when it comes to transporting wine across state lines, but Cecere is working on it. He has a goal of offering 100 different Finger Lakes wines on the web.
“I really want to be the biggest seller of Finger Lakes wines in the world,” he said.
As for his wine bar, it took six months of renovations, led by his business partner, creative director Kevin San Jose.
On one side of the storefront is a mural by Audra Linsner that depicts Finger Lakes terriors, the unique soils around the lakes that help give the region’s wines their distinctive flavors. Hung on the 12-foot walls that create an expansive feel in a not-so-expansive space: bottle after bottle of Finger Lakes wines patrons can sample and purchase.
However, there’s an additional space that harkens to the days of the Depression-era speakeasy, when folks took part in illegal libations in secretive places away from the eyes of local or federal authorities attempting to enforce Prohibition.
A secret door leads to a renovated basement space called 44 Linden and features two rooms where guests can drink Finger Lakes wines and cocktails made by New York distillers. They also can enjoy desserts and charcuterie boards with their beverages. Beer offerings will be added as well, Cecere said.
The cozy spot is a far cry from what it was when Cecere looked over the space with building owner Dave Linger. The walls were covered with coal dust when a coal-fired boiler was there. The basement was dirt.
“How fun would it be if we could get people down here to drink wine?” he asked Linger. His reply: “He loved it.”
The space’s imperfections provide some of 44 Linden’s appeal, said Cecere, pointing to some charred weight-bearing supports from a basement fire decades ago, as well as the patched brick walls in a building dating back to the 1800s.
Vinifera opened last fall at the end of the heavy tourism season, Cecere said. And like FLX Goods, it’s already a success — with plenty of room for growth.
“Sales have gone well beyond expectations at both,” Cecere said.
Linger loves Cecere’s vision for the spot.
“Vinifera is an exciting addition to downtown,” he said Wednesday. “When the Printing Center agreed to relocate to the DiDuro’s Building on Castle Street, we opened up four storefronts. Finger Lakes Goods and Vinifera are exactly the sort of businesses we were hoping would locate here. They will be a great addition to the Live From Linden group.”
Michael Mills, director of the Geneva Business Improvement District, which supports downtown merchants and building owners, said Cecere is making great contributions to the central business district.
“Jim is the ideal business owner for downtown Geneva,” Mills said. “He takes a thoughtful approach to each brand and its offerings, crafting the right environment to showcase the best of our Finger Lakes region. Vinifera offers a tremendous atmosphere for shoppers and wine tasters alike, and helps to further brighten Linden Street’s star.”
And Cecere’s not done yet. Three more FLX Goods locations are in the works in the Finger Lakes, he said.
Grand opening activities will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Vinifera, 44 Linden St. Geneva, with a host of activities that can be viewed on its Facebook page, https://bit.ly/33JCRN9. Vinifera is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. They can be reached at (315) 325-2349.
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