New York’s Hudson Valley has long been known as the birthplace of American viticulture, with roots dating to the 1600s. For centuries, the region’s terroir has tested both viticulturalist and wine maker alike, spawning advances in cold-weather breeding, grape growing, and winemaking techniques.
J. Stephen Casscles enthusiastically shares his first-hand knowledge both in the vineyard and in the cellar to appeal to vineyardists and wine drinkers everywhere who enjoy the cold-weather grape varietals that are gaining popularity today.
Category: Books. Tags: cold-hearty grapes, cool climate grapes, French-American hybrids, grape growing, grape varieties, grapes of the hudson valley, hudson valley book, hudson valley history, hybrid grapes, J. Stephen Casscles, new york grapes, new york wines, NY grape varieties, wine making, winemaking.
GRAPES OF THE HUDSON VALLEY is a practical guide for those who have an affinity for hybrid grapes and wines. Casscles enthusiastically shares his first-hand knowledge both in the vineyard and in the cellar to provide insight into the age-old vinifera vs. hybrid debate. His grape descriptions cover the common labrusca and French-American hybrids popular in northern America, as well as some forgotten varieties, and even vinifera, that can be successfully grown east of the Mississippi and north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
The book presents key information on winter hardiness, vigor, fruit productivity, and wine quality, and is a valuable companion for budding vineyardists, seasoned growers, and wine makers who share cool climates and short growing seasons. It will also appeal to wine drinkers everywhere who enjoy cold-weather grape varietals, properly fermented and in their glass.
Stephen Casscles comes from a fruit-growing family rooted in the Hudson Valley since the 1870s. Casscles’s own fruit-growing experience began in the 1970s, when he also produced his first wines. In 1990, he established a four-acre vineyard, Cedar Cliff, in Athens, NY, where he has concentrated on identifying, growing, evaluating, and propagating heirloom grape varieties that were first developed in New York in the mid-nineteenth century. Casscles has been the winemaker at Hudson-Chatham Winery since 2008.