Greetings from the Finger Lakes by Michael Turback

Author:Michael Turback [Turback, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-76223-8
Publisher: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Published: 2005-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

8830 Upper Lake Road

Lodi, NY 14860

(607) 582–6774

Hours: By appointment

Venture Vineyards

He grew up on the streets of Brooklyn, then became a systems engineer for IBM. But perhaps it was his memories of summers in the Catskills where he tended a garden at his grandmother’s side that eventually lured Melvin Nass to a farm on Seneca Lake.

Well into a successful career at Big Blue, Mel began contemplating the idea of life on the land. Along with his wife, Phyllis, he began an engineer’s methodical exploration of the possibilities. They started out by volunteering weekend labor on Long Island potato and poultry farms. They milked cows at an upstate dairy, then picked grapes on a Hudson Valley vineyard. By the time they made their way to the Finger Lakes, Mel and Phyllis had found what they were looking for.

A Lodi farmer by the name of Frank Halsey was getting ready to retire, and his thirteen acres of fruit trees and thirteen acres of grapes were up for sale. Mel and Phyllis struck a deal with Frank. In the fall of 1973, they settled on the beautiful lakeside slope perfumed by Concord, Niagara, and Catawba grapes, and, as they embraced a new way to earn a living, they called it “Venture Vineyards.”

Native Concords that thrive throughout the Northeast were first cultivated by botanist Ephraim Wales Bull in the village of Concord, Massachusetts, in 1843. The vigorous Concord vine made its way to the Finger Lakes, where it has been a reliable source of wine, juice, jelly, and table grapes ever since.

Mel was particularly fascinated by the Concords in his vineyard, even if they didn’t get the respect afforded other varieties. He admired the aromatic clusters of robust, blue-black, slip-skin berries with the musky, refreshing, sweet-tart pulp, and he began peddling baskets of the grapes to farm stands and regional groceries. Unlike many of his neighbors, who were ripping out labrusca vines and replanting with higher-end wine grapes, Mel focused his attention on the table grape market.

Fresh-market grapes are hand-harvested by grasping the cluster by its stem and clipping the stem where it attaches to the cane. Long-cane pruning has helped to grow healthy clusters with bigger berries, and because of his minimal reliance on chemicals, Mel’s grapes have little or no spray residue. Careful handling is essential to avoid separation from the cluster as mature, plump grapes are packed into individual containers. As his business grew and distribution widened, Mel developed corrugated, cushioned, one-quart retail containers that were not only market-ready but protected the grapes from damage during shipping.

Good-eating Concords begin to ripen in the Finger Lakes by the second week of September, and the season continues until the first freeze, usually the last week in October. To lengthen the limited season, Venture purchases early ripening, Concord-family grapes from growers in Arkansas, whose harvest begins in mid-August. And, working with Cornell researchers, Mel developed sulfur dioxide pads for each master box of picked grapes in cold storage. The atmosphere preserves the freshness of grapes

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