Owners Herm and Wilma Young’s love of farming paired with their appreciation for wine set the wheels in motion several years ago. Herm is a fourth generation fruit farmer; Wilma’s home is in Rhine River valley in Germany. Her relatives have always made their own wine, and wine is an integral part of family traditions. “Wine is revered as much as beer in Germany. There isn’t a family occasion that isn’t celebrated without the warmth of a glass of wine. Even as a child I was included with a tiny glass of my own to celebrate with everyone else…it was an all-inclusive family kind of thing,” Wilma notes.

As they toured the wineries of the Finger Lakes region, their thoughts about starting a winery began to evolve. “We’d stop here and there and taste and listen to the winemaker and sales staff share how this wine tastes like cherries or apples…with a hint of pears. I thought if grape wines taste better because they have the spirit of another fruit, why don’t they make wine from these fruits. I was told people don’t want fruit wines…they are cheap and don’t compare to grape wines. H-m-m-m I thought…and I didn’t understand,” Wilma shared.