York Historical Society Rewrites Wine History

YORK, NY (2008-10-27) The history of winemaking in New York needs to be rewritten, according to one group in Livingston County.

Gary Cox is President of the Town of York Historical Society, which
recently acquired the Samuel Warren homestead, site of a vineyard dating back to the early 19th century.

Cox says the accepted history shows the first commercial winemaking in the Finger Lakes region was done in the town of Hammondsport around 1860. But he says the historical society found new evidence of earlier wine production, in the form of an advertisement.

Cox says the group uncovered "an ad for Samuel Warren's wines, made from his own vineyard. And the date of that publication is April of 1836 - 24 years before the beginning of Finger Lakes commercial production in Hammondsport."

Cox says that Warren's commercial wine making in 1836 would predate even wine production in Blooming Grove in the Hudson Valley, where it's believed wine making first began in New York State.

Cox says the Warren family continued to make wine until 1882, when the DL&W Railroad was granted a right-of-way through their property, and destroyed the vineyards. Warren's son, Harlan Warren, committed suicide that same year.

Because of the new information from the homestead, Cox says wine historians are already rewriting the history of New York wine making.

And so far, no one has challenged the authenticity of the York Historical Society's claim that the town of York was home to the first commercial winery in New York.

A line of commercial wines featuring heirloom grape varieties is being marketed to help support the York Historical Society's efforts to maintain, restore and develop the Warren homestead site in York. The homestead has been transformed into a local museum, and will reopen in the spring.