Our visit to Hunt Country Vineyards  July, 2004

From our August, 2004 Newsletter

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Open Year 'Round
November - June: Monday - Saturday 10 - 5 Sunday 12 - 5
July - October: Monday - Saturday 10 - 6 Sunday 12 - 6

Hunt Country Vineyards - 4021 Italy Hill Road - Branchport, NY, USA 14418

1-800-WINE-BUY (1-800-946-3289) e-mail - info@huntcountryvineyards.com

 

Hunt Country Vineyards was one of the vineyards we toured in 2004.

The Hunt farm has been in the Hunt family since the land was first settled in the early 1800's. They are the 6th generation to farm the same land. There have been grapes grown in the Finger Lakes region since the 1840's. Some of the vines are over 100 years old. One ancestor, Josiah Wright Prentiss (born Dec. 10, 1804) spent his entire life developing new grape varieties in the area and was the first person to plant grapes on Keuka Lake.

Fast forward to the 1970's when they seized the opportunity to move to the family farm. They began planting grapes for the Taylor Wine Company. Experts told them that the farm was perfect for growing wine grapes.

The farm sits on a gentle hillside above Keuka Lake on glacially deposited gravelly loam soil ideally suited for grapevines. Being in the heart of the Finger Lakes, the area is protected from extreme cold winter temperatures by the mitigating effects of the Great Lakes. Also, the slope of our farm allows cold air to drain down to Keuka Lake, which doesn't freeze due to its depth. In early fall, the warm days and cool nights bring out intense fruit flavors in the grapes. Those exceptional flavors are captured in the wines by careful monitoring of ripeness and cool fermentation.

The Finger Lakes is gaining a reputation as the best wine region in the country for growing varieties such as Riesling and Cabernet Franc. It is also becoming known as the best region for the production of late harvest and ice wines. It has been truly gratifying to experience the growth in recognition of our wines from the early 1980's, when we started producing wine, to the new millennium.

 

We brought back many wine samples. Three similar ones were Foxy Lady White, Foxy Lady Blush, and Foxy Lady Red. The white was a blend of Niagara, Cayuga and Seyval, the blush was a blend of Delaware, Cayuga and Seyval and the Red is a blend of Concord, Baco, DeChaunac and Cayuga. These were very nice wines using the same grapes available for you to pick at our vineyard this fall.

As I am writing this I am sipping a "Classic Red" which is a blend of DeChaunac, Chancellor and Baco Noir.

Hunt Country Vineyard uses many of the grape that we grow such as Baco, Dechaunac, Concord, Deleware, Niagara, Cayuga, Seyval and Vignoles.

 

 

Click here for a list of Hunt Countries Wine List!