There are times when greatness is grown, cultivated, nurtured by the efforts of those who might not be around to witness when things finally come to fruition. People who may or may not find their own individual success, yet without whom the achievements of the larger body might not ever come to be.

We often acknowledge the fact that the first grapes were planted in Hammondsport in 1829. The first Finger Lakes winery was founded there in 1860. And nearly one hundred years later the Vinifera Revolution was also ignited there.

All are significant moments on the Finger Lakes Wine Region timeline. But there are other moments, and people, seldom mentioned, yet without whom the fate of the Finger Lakes Wine Region might have turned out quite differently.

“Nestled amidst bucolic farmland and the spindly glacial lakes for which the region is named, it’s home to some of the best cool-climate wines in America.”  — Anna Lee C. Iijima, Wine Enthusiast Magazine

Josiah Prentiss

A farmer, grape cultivator, inventor, and artist, Josiah Prentiss was the first person on Keuka Lake to turn grape growing into a successful venture by reaching the lips of folks in New York City.

It seems Josiah had the first foundry in Pulteney making farm implements, patented a harvester that is in the Smithsonian collection, and had a still where he made small batches of grape brandy.

Though he began growing rapes in the 1830s, it wasn’t until the mid-1850s that he sent the first large shipment of table grapes to New York City where they we gobbled up so ravenously another order was placed right away. After his success, it is said that “the people around Crooked Lake were ‘mad after the grape’” with many of them planting vineyards on “logged-out hillsides” around Keuka.

Prentiss had a direct impact on grape culture (by 1889 there were over 14,500 acres around Hammondsport devoted to grape growing). When the original boon from the sale of table grapes led to an over-saturation of the market, growers faced a dilemma. What else could grapes be used for? The answer . . . wine!

NOTE: Today, the great-great nephew of Josiah Prentiss runs a popular winery in Branchport, just outside of Steuben County, known as the longest, continuous producer of genuine ice wine in the United States.

Charles Fournier

“Until 1952 the most promising development in the region was the arrival of the Champagne-born and bred Charles Fournier at Gold Seal Vineyards at repeal of Prohibition in 1935.” — Craig Goldwyn, Washington Post

Born into a winemaking family in Reims (unofficial capital of France’s Champagne Region), Charles Fournier was groomed from birth to succeed his uncle as winemaker at Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (which he did).

Fournier’s life was dedicated to producing the best traditional Champagnes and, despite the very different conditions (soil, climate, and grapes), he pursued nothing less after his arrival in Hammondsport in 1934 when was hired to help revive Gold Seal Winery (formerly the Urbana Wine Company) one of six wineries in the region to have survived Prohibition.

In the 1940s, Fournier recognized the potential of hybrids and planted Baco Noir, “one of the earliest plantings of the French hybrids in the United States.”

In 1950, the California State Fair opened its wine competition to wineries outside California for the first time since Prohibition. Of the five medals given for “Bottle Fermented Champagne,” Fournier and Gold Seal won two—a Gold Medal and a Bronze. The next year, the competition went back to only California wines.

NOTE: If you have ever heard of Fournier, it is most likely as a footnote in any allusion to Dr. Konstantin Frank. For it was Fournier who gave Frank a chance to prove Vinifera grapes could be grown in the Finger Lakes. After his death, a 1983 article in the New York Times claimed famed California winemaker Louis Martini called Fournier “one of the greatest wine makers we’ve had in this country.’’

Greyton Hoyt Taylor and Walter Taylor

Today, Walter Taylor might be called a “disruptor,” as someone unwilling to accept the status quo. As someone who pushed back. Especially if the practice of using tank car juice allowed for a disingenuous representation of New York wine.

At the time, industry laws allowed wineries to bring in juice via railroad tank cars from other parts of the country. Sure, it may have been cheaper to import the juice, but Walter Taylor saw it as a travesty on multiple levels. For one, how could a winery pretend it was making New York wine, let alone wine from the Finger Lakes, if they brought in juice from elsewhere? And the practice of doing so also threatened the very livelihood of neighbors and friends, the people who had helped establish the region in the first place.

Walter didn’t hesitate to speak out about these things and, as a result, found himself removed from the family business. You can read more about that fascinating aspect of his story here. An advocate for local growers and for NY wineries to use NY grapes, Walter Taylor with his father, Greyton H. Taylor, also impacted the Finger Lakes grape culture as champions of French-American hybrids.

In 1958, the two men bought back the original Taylor Winery property on Bully Hill and began building their own experimental vineyard (and eventual winery) converting many of their native vines to French hybrids. Even as the Vinifera Revolution opened the way for growers and winemakers to finally work with vinifera grapes, the Taylors saw value in hybrids which talented winemakers today are proving can make for exceptional wines.

Walter was a savvy thorn in the side of wine industry and he, along with others advocated for laws enabling those independent growers more power. In 1976, with the blank act, things began to change. Today, while there are a few larger the region is mostly made up of small boutique wineries.

NOTE: To learn more about Walter Taylor’s fascinating history and his impact, check out “An Irreverent Genius: The Story of Bully Hill.” When you visit the winery, make sure you stop by the Greyton H. Taylor Wine Museum—which focuses on cooperage (the family’s legacy as barrel-makers), as well as antique winemaking equipment and memorabilia—and the Walter S. Taylor Art Gallery which displays many of Walter’s paintings.

Today, one of the attributes that truly sets the Finger Lakes apart from other wine regions is the diversity of grapes grown here (including native, hybrid, and vinifera) and the wide range of wine styles that can be made.

Though not always called out, the impact these often unsung pioneers have had in establishing and developing the Finger Lakes as one of the world’s premiere wine regions cannot be ignored.