A brief history
Altamont Vineyard & Winery was established in 2006 by Louis DiCrescenzo. He purchased the vineyard from the children of Larry Grossi as they inherited the beautiful 26-acre picturesque property overlooking the Helderberg Escarpment. Larry Grossi, who passed in 1999, was the original pioneer and visionary to move forward with the vision of planting vines in Upstate New York. Some argued that his vision was bold and people would often say "it's too cold to grow grapes" or "the soil isn't right to grow grapes in Altamont”. Little did they know their effect, as there was no better way to challenge him then to tell him this wasn’t possible. Larry started planting a diverse range of grape varietals to see what would grow well and come to fruition. It was a pursuit indeed and years of trial and error.
From 1999 to 2006, the vineyard laid idle until Louis DiCrescenzo and his son decided to explore Larry’s treasure trove of varietals and the vines they inherited. In the transition from the Grossi family to the DiCrescenzo family it was realized that both Larry and Louis grew up in the same province of Italy, known as Latina. It brought an inherent comfort to Louis knowing they shared this commonality and love for wine making. He realized the synergy was a blessing. Louis grew up in Italy on a farm and he often at a young age worked with his grandfather at their family’s vineyard. When he came to America at the age of 22, he settled in Troy and started working within the construction industry. He married and had two children, and while raising his children shared his passion of wine making with his son, Michael. Michael, now a fourth-generation winemaker and works alongside his father.
