The reenvisioned High Tor Vineyards honors Everett S. Crosby’s legacy and pioneering spirit with organic farming practices and hybrid grapes. Read about the winery’s storied history and plans for the new tasting room.
The potential of co-ferments, like viere, to promote sustainable grape growing is just starting to heat up. Here’s where to try these tasty collaborations.
Meet Marquette, a genetically complex, sustainably-grown red hybrid that should be on your radar this summer. Its complex pedigree makes it a versatile grape to please just about every kind of wine drinker.
During the nineteenth century, the Mid-Hudson River Valley was one of the top three centers of American horticulture and fruit breeding, especially for grapes. At its height in 1890, the region was home to more than 13,000 acres of vineyards.
Baco Noir is a French-American hybrid grape that was bred by François (some say Maurice) Baco. Baco (1865 – 1947) was a teacher from the town of Belus, Landes, Armagnac Province, France (south of Bordeaux).
Seyval Blanc is a white French-American hybrid variety that is grown in the Hudson Valley. The grape is adaptable to different regions and climates, and is grown throughout the eastern United States, northern France, and England.
Vidal Blanc, also known as Vidal 256, is a versatile grape that can be made into a bone-dry, steely wine for fish, a barrel-aged wine reminiscent of a Fumé Blanc, or an ice wine that can rival the best dessert Rhine wines produced in Germany.
The insightful observation made by the famous wine writer Jancis Robinson in her 1986 book, Vines, Grapes and Wines best sums up many thoughts on this illusive grape variety.
ignoles, a white grape also known as Ravat 51, has become one of the mainstays of the Eastern North American wine industry. This adaptable grape can produce wines that are comparable to wines produced in the Rhine Valley in Germany.
Chardonnay is the noble grape variety that originally hails from Burgundy, France. It is believed by some to be an accidental or intentional hybrid that was propagated by local Burgundian growers, and is a cross of a Pinot Noir clone and the bulk wine/table grape known as Gouais.
Frontenac is one of the most widely planted of the Minnesota hybrids in the Hudson Valley, successfully bred by grape breeding pioneer Elmer Swenson (1913-2004).
The Hudson Valley’s beautiful river, shorelines, and mountains have led some to call the Valley, “America’s Rhineland.” Portions of the Valley have similar geological rock formations of shale, slate, and schist under well-drained clay soils that are similar to those found in the wine producing areas of the Rhine Valley.