This is Bill Bower’s first year at Harborfest, and also his first year making wine.

Bower, one of the owners of Mayer’s Lake Ontario Winery & Vineyards of Webster and Hilton, said the company was founded in 1869 and his father purchased the business about 50 years ago from the Mayer family. For the past five decades, Bower’s family has been selling grape juice to other wineries.

“We finally said to ourselves, ‘let’s open up a winery,’” Bower said. For a year now, Lake Ontario Winery has been selling wine, but the process to actually create the wine began roughly five years ago.    

Bower said the company began growing grapes in 2003 and two years ago added the tanks to the Hilton winery-vineyards. Webster is home to the business’ main office and tasting room. Currently, the Hilton winery has storage tanks that can hold 48,000 gallons.

Lake Ontario Winery & Vineyards offers its customers 48 different types of wine. The business also created a special line of wines called “Pirates Lagoon.” “We thought because of the lakes, and well, with Lake Ontario Winery” to choose a pirate-themed wine line, Bower said. The line also fits in perfectly with this year’s Harborfest Caribbean theme.

The owner’s personal favorite is the Black Pearl, a semi-dry full-bodied red table wine with a blackberry finish. Bower noted that many men are fond of the Wenches wine, just simply because of the name. Pirate’s Lagoon also features other wines, some include Schooner, Calypso, Pirate’s Blush and Pieces of Eight.

Currently, Lake Ontario Winery’s product is offered in 15 or 16 different restaurants and in five to six liquor stores. Bower noted that his wine is not yet offered in Oswego on a regular basis, saying the company does their own distributing. At the Hilton winery, the business plans on expanding by 18,000 square feet and upping their storage tanks to 200,000 gallons.

“We’re doing pretty good for our first year,” Bower said.

With the new making and selling of the wine, the company has begun going to festivals in the larger central New York area. Last week Lake Ontario Winery was at Walkin’s Glen selling its product.

This is Bower’s first time coming to Oswego’s annual Harborfest. He said he definitely plans on returning in the coming years.

Lake Ontario Winery & Vineyards is just one of 11 winery tables set up at Washington Square Park on East Bridge Street. The wineries will be set up through the remainder of Harborfest, which ends Sunday.