Early History of Finger Lakes Wines
Since the mid 19th century the Finger Lakes has been a major wine and grape growing region. Winemakers took advantage of the unique growing conditions to make popular wines from native or hybrid grapes that gained national and international renown up to the early 20th century. That was until Prohibition wiped out most of wine makers in the state. A few held on making sacramental wines, juice, or home wine making kits. After repeal, the region began the rebuilding process but with the rise of California as a winemaking powerhouse and changes in consumer demand and taste in wines the region was forced into the production of cheap blends or mass market sweet wines from the native and hybrids that were grown there.
From the early colonial days until the 1950’s the history of production of quality European style wine grapes (vinifera) in the Eastern United States has been one of hope followed by heartbreak and failure. When the early colonists arrived they were encouraged by the abundance of wild grape varietals the found growing in the virgin forests. Often the pioneers would attempt to grow grapes they knew from home. The pattern was typically: initial success with the new vinifera vines appearing to thrive only to be followed up, usually just when the year would produce the first wine harvest, with fungus, disease, rot, or infestations of insects. The pattern was repeated again and again, with little variation from Georgia to New England and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains for centuries.
For central New York and further north the problems were compounded by brutal winters and late spring frosts which increased the difficulties with the fragile European grapes. Native grapes were resistant to the local fungus, disease, or bugs and could tolerate the cold of the winters. They had problems in that they seldom exhibited the complexity of their vinifera cousins and often exhibited a “foxy” flavor characteristic that was found to be objectionable in wines. Given no choice, growers turned to these local varietals and hybrids to produce wine. The Finger Lakes became a major wine and grape growing region in the United States. Farmers took advantage of the unique growing conditions to make popular wines and even some that gained national and international renown. That was, until Prohibition wiped out most of wine makers
in the state. After repeal, the region began the rebuilding process but progress was slow. Many of its native or hybrids grapes were generally used in cheap blends or mass market sweet wines. Legal constraints did not encourage the creation of an estate driven quality wine industry.
Dr. Frank and Vinefera Wines in the East
Vinifera grapes were only successfully introduced into the region in the 1960’s by two great pioneers in Eastern wine making: Dr. Konstantin Frank and Charles Fournier. Frank was a held a PhD in viticulture, spoke many languages, and had expertise in growing vinifera grapes in the brutally cold climates in the western Soviet Union. From this experience was convinced that vinifera grapes could survive and even thrive in the Finger Lakes. Unfortunately, Frank had notoriously poor interpersonal skills, was idealistic to a fault, and had a poor command of English; not the kind personality one would think to change deeply engrained practices over three centuries old. Fournier, a Frenchman, had extensive experience as Champagne master for the Veuve-Cliquot winery in France and was brought to the Finger Lakes to build the sparkling wine business for the Gold Seal Winery. His focus was to use French-American hybrids as the source for the wines, combining the disease resistance and winter hardiness of native American varieties with the taste and complexity characteristics of European grapes. He was reportedly a bit of a loaner and probably uncomfortable in a very agrarian backwater American area.
History loves accidents and for the history of the Finger Lakes the great accident was the meeting of Frank and Fournier. Fournier had great success producing fine sparklers which gained international recognition for Gold Seal. However, since the grapes were not vinifera, the wines were only seen as curiosities and not truly taken seriously. In 1953, to solve his hybrid marketing headache, Fournier took a gamble and hired Frank to see if he could really produce vinifera grapes for Gold Seal’s sparkling wines. Frank and Fournier were successful in growing European style grapes where all others had failed for centuries. The first Gold Seal wines produced from this effort were released in 1960 and achieved a measure of critical acclaim.
Unfortunately, even with the significant advances and success of Frank and Fournier the impact on the quality of wines produced in the Finger Lakes was limited. Most grape growers were farmers and did not see themselves as winemakers. They sold their produce to huge conglomerates such as Taylor and Constellation Brands whose primary focus was cheap and bulk wines, and were not interested in vinifera grapes. For a number of reasons, much of even this market dried up threatening the grape growing and winemaking business not only in the Finger Lakes but in the entire state of New York. In 1976, to address the threat to the grape and wine industries, the state of New York enacted the Farm Winery Act allowing grape growers to produce their own wines. Although there had been brave winemakers in the Finger Lakes, producing high quality product prior to that time, 1976 represents the beginning of the resurgence of the Finger Lakes as quality wine making region. At the time the act became law there were less than twenty vineyards in the entire state of New York, and only a handful in the Finger Lakes. It took a while before the region began to shift away from the French-American hybrids or natives and move more towards Vinifera varietals but the trend that Frank and Fournier started gradually found other like spirits. Today there are many winemakers producing internationally acclaimed quality wines from vinifera grapes.
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