Looking at the grapevines. (well, posing near the grapevines.)

Wines that Glorie Farm sells/ offers for their tastings. I checked off the wines I had personally tasted. So if ever you venture there, you can see some suggestions for a tasting.

       Over the Spring Break, I had taken a trip to Beacon New York and had visited Glorie Farm Winery and Vineyard located on 40 Mountian Road, Marlboro NY located in the Hudson Valley area, prized for their Cabernet Franc and concord grapes, since they are similar to that of Germany’s climate, which I believe is a special attribute for a NY winemaking area that specializes in grape varietals that take to a climate with maritime (Certified Specialist of Wine: Study Guide 2018.) influences

This is a grapevine that is going through the Bud Break Process.

 Glorie was about a 20-minute drive North of Beacon. Upon arrival, I was dazzled by the sprawling acres of grapevines that I had seen, with no hesitation, I approached them to see exactly what stage of the vine cycle they were in. Usually, in the spring months ranging from April and May, the grapevines begin their Bud Break, which means the sap rises up and the buds or green shoots on the vines begin to grow or “break” as pictured below. Some Grapevines even experience the Spring Flowering stage around this time as well, in which vines grow “Perfect Flowers” ones that do not require any pollination in order to grow said flowers (“Lifecycle of a Wine Grapevine.”.)                    

This is one of the Grapevines that happens to be experiencing Spring flowering.

Entrance to the Tasting Room

Inside the Tasting Room

                                                       In terms of Glorie Farms viticultural methods, they undergo a grapevine training method of Double Guyots, which are Canes are gowning on a wire instead of Cordons holding the canes up, it also restains the growth for quality instead of quantity, I had even observed some grapevines that were being grown in a goblet or head shape (J. Robinson (ed) “The Oxford Companion to Wine”.)  After taking in the grapevines, I had headed to the tasting room to talk to Stephen, one of the four men who operate and maintain the Gloire Farm Winery, who is both a farmer and apart of the tasting room personnel at the winery/vineyard. The tasting room was quaint and rustic, very fitting for such a small winery with a production rate of fewer than 5,000 cases yearly. Glorie Vineyards offers wine tastings for $8.00, giving you a tasting of six different wines that they produce along with a stemless glass serving as a parting gift and as well as a loyal companion to a bottle of wine if you happen to purchase one that you loved from you tasting (which I did.) Stephen had greeted me, knowing that I was coming from our earlier correspondence on the phone, informing him of my assignment.

The 1,000 Gallon inert vessels used in some of their production.

The Oak and Canton American wood barrels used for fermentation.

           I had gotten down to business first, knowing that I’d eventually want to do a tasting. I asked Glorie Farms dominant grape varieties grown and he had replied “Cabernet Franc  is our dominant red variety, it grows great in the climate of The Hudson Valley AVA, when it comes to white grape varieties, we grow a great Valvin Muscat (hybrid grape) and Seyval Blanc (also another hybrid grape.) But we grow fifteen different grape varieties in total, making a majority of our wines produced estate grown, growing 90% of our wine.”  This includes but is not limited to Chardonnay and Reisling, Stephen had told me, however, that although Glorie Farms grows these kinds of white grape varieties, they do not fare well in this mesoclimate. Saying, “it does not take very well to their Terroir, it is a wet mesoclimate that is prone to a lot of rain in inopportune times.” I had then inquired about their viticulture and vinification practices, Stephen said “when we talk about viticulture, it all depends on the luck of the year, if we see a variety isn’t doing well in the winter, then we take measures for pruning and see how many canes we need for that harvest. Weather is everything.” He then spoke of their vinification methods saying that they deal with canton American wood barrels, they do about four vintages per year for their Cabernet Franc signature red. and 1000 gallon inert vessels for other varieties grown. They also grow another variety called Marquette, another hybrid grape that they age in oak barrels. “We deal with a lot of Hybrid grapes, so we learn processes along the way and we learn their vinification processes along the way since these hybrids have only been known for about 15 to 20 years. It’s not like we are dealing with established grapes such as a pinot noir or sauvignon blanc where we all know their growing and fermentation processes.” They do their fair share of Chaptalization with a specific brand of red wine they sell named Blackjack. As well as Racking some wines from one vessel they are working with to another, using small amounts of sulfites. They hand pick their grapes, as well as harvesting other fruits to incorporate in their wine. For example, Glorie Vineyards produces a Peach wine made from fermented peach juice and a small percentage of one of the white varieties grown.

This is a dessert wine I tasted made from fermented Black currants that ix rounded out with some of Glorie Farm’s estate brandy! Delicious.

Glorie Farms is a small town wine production vineyard, not trying to produce the most wine, they are trying to produce some of the best quality wine that they can within the climate of their AVA, striving for low canopy protection, due to the mist and elevation of their vineyard. They are a great place to visit to try some tasty and well made small batches of wine for a cheaper tasting price. It was certainly a fun day out, and I would suggest it to anyone who happened to be visiting the Hudson Valley area. And if you happen to go to Glorie Farm PLEASE make a note to try both the Peach wines (white) during your 6 wine tasting as well as Jumping Jazz (white.) If you happen to like red wine more the 2016 vintage of Synergy was dry but amazing.

Work Cited

“Lifecycle of a Wine Grapevine.” Wine Folly. March 31, 2017. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://winefolly.com/review/lifecycle-of-a-wine-grapevine/.

J. Robinson (ed) “The Oxford Companion to Wine” Third Edition pg 134-230, 300-341, 399-413, 551-553, 617-634, 661-692, 706-733 Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN 0-19-860990-6

(For all vocabulary words bolded)- Certified Specialist of Wine: Study Guide 2018. Washington, DC: Society of Wine Educators, 2018.