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Upon
the Bishop's death, the Diocese of Rochester briefly ran the
winery before luring the Society of the Divine Word, a Dutch
Catholic Missionary order, to the Conesus hills about 1924. In
finding a place of bucolic tranquility and beauty, the SVD, as
they were called, commenced the construction of a seminary to
train novitiates for work abroad. With the onset of Prohibition,
it was decided to cease 
operations, although, with restrictions,
altar wine producers were permitted to continue to make wine. Not
until 1934, after Repeal, did the winery reopen and was
refurbished and revitalized with an influx of seminarians. A
German born winemaker was brought in from Chicago and began the
work of replanting the vineyards and restoring the wine cellar. O意eh嵯a
thrived to become the respected brand it is today but
unfortunately by the late 1960's, it was no longer viable for
the SVD's to maintain the winery and vineyards and it passed
through a series of private owners to today, doing business
under the name Eagle Crest Vineyards L.L.C. Although the
vineyards are reduced, we now share the hillside with land owned
by the Nature Conservancy and two pairs of nesting bald eagles. O意eh嵯a
still following the creed of Bishop McQuaid remains totally
dedicated to producing a valid  and licit altar wine that is
absolutely pure and "of the grape". O意eh嵯a remains
one of the last sacramental wine suppliers producing its own
wine. With a winemaking staff that been together for over 20
years, each wine is individually handcrafted rather than bulk
process. Selected Finger Lakes grape growers are visited each
season to insure quality, creating wines that are fashioned as a
reflection of that particular vintage. Art and science are
blended to give an all natural communion wine. "Wine that
is wine". |
O意eh嵯a
Vineyard and the surrounding hills have a long and
hallowed history dating back to when the
Seneca Indians hunted and fished here. To acknowledge
that history, Bishop McQuaid chose the
As he
directed the planting of the grapes, Bishop McQuaid made O意eh嵯a
his second home, taking the steamboat down the lake to
his cottage before the City of Rochester acquired the
lake and nearby hills for a reservoir and water supply.