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​Fruit for our wine

We make our white wines and rose from our grapes. Our apple wine is made from fruit from our neighbors at Lost Acres Orchard. Our red wine is made from grapes grown in California.  We currently have 5 acres of vines planted, all white varieties. ​

Our Grapes

Cayuga White is a semisweet white wine which brings out the fruit aromas, or, using oak aging, into a dry, less fruity wine. It has medium body and good balance and has been highly rated. When harvested early, it may produce a very attractive sparkling wine with good acidity, good structure, and pleasant aromas. The grape’s acidity, fruit character and floral bouquet are similar to Riesling. Cayuga has proven to be a versatile varietal, capable of producing off-dry white wines, sparklers and, on occasion, even oak-aged table wines.

Named at Geneva in 1972, it was specifically designed at Cornell University for the cold-climate conditions of New York State's Finger Lakes region, Cayuga is extensively grown there.  This hybrid – a cross between the Seyval Blanc and Schuyler cultivars -- has been embraced by winemakers in eastern states and other frost-susceptible parts of North America. It is hardy, disease-resistant and produces quality fruit.  It is known for its very large, high-yielding clusters. Early picking is important to maintain the grape’s acidity and fruit character.
Riesling  gives wine lovers the finest example of the important complementary role that sugar and acid play in a wine’s overall balance. Indeed, a great Riesling is exactly that, a stunningly graceful contrast between the two. Rounding out the package are the signature floral fruit characteristics that combine perfectly with the grape's natural sugar-acid balance. 
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Riesling was a popular grape variety in the U.S. at the beginning of the varietal revolution, when American consumer preferences leaned toward off-dry whites. However, the Chardonnay bandwagon of the 1980s and 1990s dramatically changed Riesling’s fortunes. Fortunately, this noblest of varieties is recently on the rebound and worldwide interest is again growing for Riesling wines from a wide range of appellations, Old World and New, Northern and Southern hemisphere.

In cold-climate regions of the New World, Riesling has been of obvious interest, most particularly in Washington State, where early on it was considered their best vinifera prospect. Riesling is also performing exceptionally well in New York’s Finger Lakes region, and Michigan’s northern appellations of Old Mission and Leelanau, as well as in Canada’s Niagara and Okanagan regions.
Seyval Blanc  is made into crisp white wines, with no foxy flavor, or sometimes into off-dry versions where the tart nature of the variety is balanced with residual sugar. Some producers have employed such enhancing techniques as barrel fermentation and/or aging, and malolactic fermentation to improve the quality of its sometimes neutral character and lack of intensity.   This is a French –American hybrid grape.  Well suited to cool climates, this is the second most planted vine in England, behind Müller-Thurgau. The variety is also popular in Canada and the eastern U.S., particularly New York State. This fruit is reliably productive and early ripening (usually mid to late September).
Traminette  produces excellent quality wine with distinct Gewurztraminer characteristics, including a similar aroma. Traminette is suited to several different wine styles, including dry and sweet versions, with the former displaying good viscosity.  Aging well, wine produced from this grape develops honey and apricot flavors in two to five years. The grape’s fairly high acidity and low pH levels harmonize with its typically fresh fruit aromas and floral-spicy flavors.   

Traminette is a white wine-producing hybrid, a cross of Gewurztraminer and Joannes Seyve 23-416.  Released at Geneva, New York, in 1996, Traminette has been successful in NY, Michigan and Pennsylvania ever since. More winter hardy than Gewurztraminer, Traminette is suitable for cool climates, and matures in late mid-season, usually early to mid-October.  Bearing large clusters, the grape has good yields in the vineyard, delivers excellent fruit quality, and has good disease resistance to disease.
Vidal Blanc  is fruity, with grapefruit and pineapple notes.  Vidal’s high, natural acidity makes it suitable for a wide range of styles, from light and crisp with racy acid, to slightly off-dry, to Ice Wine.  Due to its high acidity and fruitiness it is particularly suited to late-harvest sweeter, dessert wines.  When it's used to make ice wines, Vidal often has an apricot and tangerine flavor.  

Vidal is one of the commercially-successful hybrid products of prolific French (Bordeaux) hybridizer Albert Seibel (1844-1936). Its parents are the ubiquitous vinifera Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano), and early French American hybrid Rayon d’Or. Vidal Blanc has proven to be amongst the versatile varietals in North American viticulture. The grape is well suited to cold climates, due to its mid-season ripening and its ability to produce good crops from secondary buds, in the event of late spring frosts. This makes Vidal tough enough to withstand the cold of regions like the Finger Lakes of New York State, many Mid-Western states and the Niagara Peninsula. The grape produces large clusters of thick-skinned berries, and ultimately, wines with fruity floral characteristics.