Medina will review plan for downtown winery

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 July 2014 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – The Village Planning Board will review a proposal for the first winery in downtown Medina.

The proposal for 810 Meadworks is actually a meadery, which uses honey in producing wine.

Larissa and Bryan DeGraw and their friend Morris Babcock are working to establish 810 Meadworks at 113 West Center St., Suite 1. That spot was most recently used for barbershop next to the Shirt Factory Café in the R.H. Newell building.

The Village Planning Board accepted the site plan as complete for the project during its meeting last week. Now the plan will go before the Orleans County Planning Board at 7 p.m. on July 24 and will be back before the Village Planning Board for a public hearing at 7:05 p.m. on Aug. 5.

The board will take residents’ comments on the proposal and could vote that night whether to approve the site plan and a certificate of appropriateness for the project in the downtown historic district.

The Village Board last month voted to update the zoning in the downtown and business districts, making it easier for wineries to open in Medina.

The DeGraws and Babcock want to have 810 Meadworks open in late November, in time for Medina’s holiday events.

“We really appreciate a small town that embraces its history,” Mr. DeGraw told Orleans Hub in May. “And from a business standpoint, Medina is in the center of the Niagara Wine Trail. That is an absolutely great place to be.”