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The
Finger Lakes Wines of New York – 150
Years in the Making
Bacchus,
God of Wine was attributed to stating that
"Great wine will be made in the Finger
Lakes Region of New York State." It
is no stretch to imagine Bacchus, surveying
the Finger Lakes Region and foreseeing that
wine making was a natural fit. Some things
just go together – and the two have
had a perfect fit for almost 150 years.
The
story of commercial winemaking in the Finger
Lakes Region of New York State dates to
the mid 1800s. An Episcopalian minister,
Mr. Bostwick, is credited with planting
a small vineyard for the purpose of producing
sacramental wines in Hammondsport, NY, located
at the southern end of Keuka Lake. The Finger
Lakes was made to grow grapes – possessing
the right soil, terrain and a favorable
climate for the crop – and Hammondsport
was perfectly situated to become the center
of the fledgling winemaking industry.
Innovation
and entrepreneurship were hallmarks of the
first 50 years of commercial wine making
in the Finger Lakes Region. In 1860 Pleasant
Valley Wine Company, the first United States
bonded winery, opened its doors in Hammondsport,
NY. The Urbana Wine Company followed in
1865 and Walter Taylor established Hammondsport's
third major winery in 1880. By the turn
of the century, forty wineries were operating
throughout the region.
The
heyday of the wine industry came to an abrupt
end in 1919 with the passage of the 18th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Only
six Finger Lakes wineries survived the era
of Prohibition, which ended in 1933.
One
of those wineries, Widmer Wine Cellars of
Naples, New York, is still making wine today.
Widmer's produced its first vintage in 1888,
five years after the arrival of its founder,
John Jacob Widmer, from Switzerland. Mr.
Widmer – quick to realize that the
soil and climate of his new home were compatible
to growing grapes – planted his first
vines in the spring of 1883. During Prohibition
the Widmers altered production to include
unfermented grape juice, fruits and wine
jellies, syrups, and a limited amount of
wine for sacramental and medicinal use.
The ability to adapt and change has held
the company in good stead. Widmer's product
line now contains more than 30 different
types of wines – including the traditional
ports and sherries as well as wines from
varietals such as Niagara, Chardonnay and
Riesling. Widmer Wine Cellars is located
at 1 Lake Niagara Lane, Naples, New York,
Up
to the Great Depression the wineries of
the Finger Lakes had relied entirely on
the grapes native to North America, especially
the Labrusca variety.
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