November 19, 2025 • 47 mins
Founded in 1962, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery's namesake founder planted the first vinifera vines in the Eastern United States, forever changing the course of winemaking in New York. In 1985, Dr. Konstantin Frank became the first winery in the eastern U.S. to release a traditional method sparkling wine made from classic Champagne grapes, setting a new quality standard for the region. Meaghan Frank discusses her family winery, its milestones and what sets the Finger Lakes wine region apart.
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Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello and welcome to the Connected Table Live. We're your hosts,
Melanie Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple.
We love to bring you the amazing people that we
meet around the world and what we eat, drink and
hope to explore and expire with you as we travel.
And today we're in a New.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
York State of Wine.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yes we are.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
How about this backdrop right, We're in New York's Finger Lakes,
which is one of the most historical and significant wine
regions of New York and the East Coast and the
United States. For those of you who may not know,
New York State ranks third and US wine production. After
California and Washington, I think we have visited almost all
(01:26):
of New York's keyavas, and we were so lucky to
spend I think two or three really amazing weeks up
in the finger Lakes after we sold our house and
visiting different wineries, and one of them, of course we
made a bee line two is the winery were spotlighting today,
which is one of the most historic and cific significant
in the Finger Lakes and frankly the East Coast wine production.
(01:48):
We're talking about Doctor Constantine Fronk. It's really a significant
for so many reasons. It was founded by an immigrant
who from the Ukraine, doctor Constant teen Frank, who came
over and hit a PhD in did a culture and
he was the first to successively plant the Nifera grapes
(02:08):
here in New York State and on the East Coast,
which you're going to talk about. There's been many other
major milestones since the nineteen sixty two when the winery
is founded and Doctor Constantine Frank is still family run
as our many Fingerlakes wineries in joining us our return
guest with more to talk about because it's a big
(02:29):
celebration this year is Megan Frank, who is a family member.
I think she's fourth generation and we're so excited to
have her as we lead up to Thanksgiving to have
a wonderful New York State winery on our show. So,
Megan Frank, welcome to the Connected Table Live.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Thanks so much, Melanie and David. What a pleasure it
is to be with you and to be with everyone
on the Connected Table. It's an honor, So thank you.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Well, we're happy to have you back, Meghan.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
It's been a few years since we've seen you in person,
but you have a lot of great things going on
right now with the winery, and we thought it was
a great time to have you back.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, so here we are great.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well, you know, we started with location. I think it's
really important just so you know, we have a lot
of global listeners and viewers as well, So let's talk
about what is important about the location of the Finger
Lakes and how many lakes are and where doctor Costantine
Fronk is in the Finger Lake wine region and why
it's such an important ava.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Absolutely, yeah, the finger Lakes. My husband always chokes with
me because anytime we travel to Europe or you know,
outside of America. Everyone asks where are you from, and
I always say the Finger Lakes. I don't say Western
New York. I don't say upstate New York. I'm trying
to draw as much attention to the name finger Lakes.
And he's always like, no one knows where that is.
(03:49):
I was like, well, now they will. So the Finger
Lakes were this eleven collection of eleven lakes in western
New York. We're about five hours or so from New
York City, so we're not terribly close to any major city.
We're pretty isolated out here. But these eleven lakes were
carved out during the last Ice Age. Glaciers receded about
(04:12):
ten thousand years ago, and they carved out these very deep,
deep lakes and also pulled when the glaciers receeded, they
pulled a myriad of different soil types around the lakes.
So that's making up really interesting soil types, especially for
aromatic varieties, which are really beautifully done here in the
(04:33):
Finger Lakes. So there's about four lakes that are home
to the majority of the wine production. So Seneca Lake
probably has the most wineries. I think there's over one
hundred wineries now on Seneca Lake, which is also the
deepest of the Finger Lakes, so at its deepest point
it's over six hundred feet deep, so really helping trap
(04:55):
that heat ex as a moderating sort of effect. We
get very winters here in the Finger Lakes. If anyone's
been to our area, it's sort of where yea our
Achilles Shiel. You know, we don't have wildfires, thankfully, but
we do have very cold winters on occasion. So these
deep lakes really trap that heat and help moderate the
(05:17):
area nearby the lake, helping us to survive these cold winters.
So Seneca Lake that middle Finger Lake. We also have
vineyards there. There's Cayuga Lake on one side, which you
know is home to many vineyards. You also have Cornell University. There,
you have Ithaca, so that's a nice global draw. And
then on the other side of Seneca we have Cuca
(05:40):
Lake and that's where we're located. So we're on the
west side of Cuca Lake. It's a fork shaped lake,
so it's a very unique look. And so where you
are Melanie and David, you can see the bluff point
behind from your photo and that's sort of that middle
point where the two forks connect. So Kukas around two
(06:01):
hundred feet deep, so still having that moderating effect at
very deep slopes, high content of shale. So a lot
of people in the Finger Lakes are talking about their
soil types because of this glacial till that was left
behind sort of during those glaciers receding. So really really interesting.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
David took that photo.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
I did.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I visited. It was harvest was underway or just underway,
and it was just a beautiful time. And you know,
I need to tell you, I don't. I try to
live with no regrets, but if I have one regret
is that we didn't visit the Finger Lakes more frequently
when we lived in New York City. So many people
who live in New York City never go anywhere other
(06:41):
than the Hamptons or the Hudson Valley or Pennsylvania or
Jersey Shore or whatever. But this is a stunning area
for recreation, a lot of boating, a lot of hiking.
I think it's a last count I picked up on
the one one hundred and fifty wineries, most family owned,
also craftwies and distilleries, restaurants, you know, small everything, you know,
(07:04):
and just unbelievably.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Beautiful rolling countryside.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, so you're talking about a world away from Manhattan
and a great vacation spot everybody needs to.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Go, absolutely completely agree. Yeah, very outdoorsy, everything centered around
the lakes, you know, bating, fishing even in the summer,
excre me in the winter, ice fishing, sailing, there's just
there's there's something for everyone, truly.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
We drove up, but I think it's the closest airport
right Rochester in Rochester, Rochester doubt Yeah, yeah, but that's
you know, it takes the best places take time to
get to.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
So you mentioned how cold it gets in the winter time,
and I think that's a great place to kind of
bring people who haven't heard the story up to date
on how Constantine Fronk helped create the the Niffera movement
in New York because he had been growing vinifera grapes
in Europe in a cold environment as well, but in
(08:08):
New York nobody thought it could be done. So he
actually he's the one that actually changed people's minds in thinking.
So why don't you tell us quickly that story before
we go to start talking about why we're here today?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Sure, David, Yeah, it's a great story and it is
a great connection with those cold winters that Constantine was
used to. So he was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and
spent you know, most of his life there. At an
early age, became interested in grape growing and wine making.
Actually made his first wine by the age of fifteen,
(08:37):
so set himself on a path to earn a PhD
in viticulture from the Polytechnic University of Odessa. And he
was working with a multitude of different Vanifita varieties, so
vanifera meaning the European species of grape. You know, griestling, kebrine, salvillone,
you know, tons of different Eastern European arrieties, some of
(08:58):
which we grow here like our Katsatelli and seppar abb
quite a few that we don't you know, have here.
But he worked with a multitude of different varieties, and
he was really a researcher and a scientist. So it
was World War two that brought the family to America.
It was Constantine, his wife, Hugenya, and three children, and
(09:19):
they came through New York City, settled in a very
small one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, very much not American
dream story, and basically had to start over. So Constantine
was washing dishes, you know, in New York, trying to
learn English. He spoke six languages, but not a word
of English. So you know this this researcher and professor
(09:43):
who spoke all these languages. He was very, very enthusiastic
about growing grapes. He needed to find that location where
they were growing grapes, planting vines, and that was the
Finger Lakes. So he made a trip up here, and
what perplexed Constantine was that there was no vinifera here.
There were no European grapes here in this area booming
wine industry. But what was grown were conquered Cataba, Niagara,
(10:08):
the Vintae Nebraska. So the American varieties, French American hybrids
were becoming popular as well as this was the early
nineteen fifties. But he was really really not understanding where
was the reestling, where was the chardonnay, where was the
pino noir? And researchers told him it's too cold, and
that to your point, David, this totally connects the story.
(10:30):
He was like, I come from a very cold place,
and I know how to you know, plant venifita in
cold places. This is not due to the cold, and
he had a theory that it was actually due to
a tiny little bug with a very long name called Philaxra,
So filaxtra being from North America, it's sort of our
(10:50):
gift to world of viticulture. If gift made its way
over to Europe with vented the steamship in the mid
eighteen hundreds, devastated vineyards throughout Europe. So Constantine ironically had
dealt with this North American pest in Europe. And it
(11:11):
was a group of European scientists that came up with
this method, completely natural method, whereby you graft American rootstock
with European vine and that avoids the pest. The filaxtra
root louse doesn't it's not interested in eating the American
root stock. So that was widely planted where he was
widely practiced where he was in Odessa, and he essentially
(11:35):
brought that technique here to the eastern United States. So
he became the first person to successfully plant the European
varieties east of the Mississippi. And that's what we continue today.
So we work with about seventeen different European varieties. Today.
We have about one hundred and forty acres of vineyards
(11:56):
and we continue Constantine's legacy, which is really exciting.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
It's so interesting because that grafting saved the European wine
industry also, I mean it was it was a phenomenal
turning point in global wine production, really significant. And in
the United States it really kind of opened up the
East Coast slowly to wine production. I know in Virginia
(12:24):
they had a lot of trial and era to get
it right because of the humidity. Same in Pennsylvania. But
you know, New York has thrived as a wine We've
been to Buffalo, We've been to Long Island, We've been
to the Hudson Valley and of course the Finger Lakes
and it's been very successful there. And you know, the
lake effect is also critically important to all of us,
(12:45):
whether you're in the Niagara Wine region or Finger Lakes
because of that moderating effect.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Absolutely, no, it's you can really tell, you know, it's
it's the same locations that are beautiful for having kind
of second homes or it was sorts are the best
places to have vineyards because you're going to have that
moderating effect with that lake view. So it's not really
an issue in the current day of developers fighting, you know,
(13:13):
people who want to develop vineyards. But I do anticipate
that becoming a bit of friction point in the future.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Interesting, well, you know those developers. So you know the winery,
So he purchased, I think he purchases his vineyards in
nineteen fifty eight, came over fifty one, purchased, He worked
for Cornell for a while and then the winery established
in nineteen sixty two. Back then, how many wineries were there.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, they're about fifteen and they were all around Cuca Lake,
so very large wineries. Almost none of them are in
existence today. So just very large, kind of sweeter kind
of grapy and flavor wines were being produced. But we
do have that strong history, that strong backbone. Unfortunately, Prohibition
(14:05):
was very damaging, you know, to so many American wineries,
but particularly cuculate wineries. So there were plenty of others
prior to prohibition, and then that really dwindled during that time.
But so Constantine was kind of fighting against the grain.
You know, there was already an established industry and he
was sort of seen as racking a boat that didn't
(14:27):
need to be racked, Like you know, people were making
plenty of money they were selling their wine, and you know,
he was fighting against it. He would say, you Americans
deserve only excellent and we need to be making the
most excellent wine for customers, for guests. And he believed
it to his core. You know that that was something
(14:47):
that was really important. So after a short stint of
working at another winery that's no longer in business, called
gold Seal Vineyards, he basically started his own experimental winery.
He had over sixty six different benefit varieties on the property,
some of which obviously we've kept, like Reestling and Gilberte
(15:08):
Striner and Pinut Green and others that we no longer
have like mits Fani and Fermont and Pedro Hivenez, like
so really interesting grapes that you know, he was just
trying to test the waters. He was looking at what
worked and what didn't, and he was very giving with
his knowledge. Like you mentioned wineries in Pennsylvania and Virginia,
(15:30):
New Jersey, he would have viticulturalists, vineyard managers, winemakers come
from all of these states, particularly in the easter the Northeast,
and they would come, they would get cuttings from his nursery.
They would learn the grafting technique and then they would
go back to their home state and plan a vineyard.
So really igniting this quality revolution, particularly in East Coast winemaking,
(15:52):
is very much a legacy that that Constantine helped ignite.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
You know, Melanie, we when we owned Driven back in
the day, we actually bought Shardonnay grapes from the gold
Seal Vineyard, which was planted by Constantine Fronc.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yeah, and that was that I believe.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
I don't know if they still have the original vines
in the vineyard, but it was the oldest.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Shardnay plantings in New York City.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Amazing.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
We got some of that fruit for one of our
couves of chardenay that we did.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
I love the connection, that's why.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Yeah, that's right. That's a fabulous vineyard.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So another milestone of many is that doctor Constantine Frank
really kind of put forth the first method traditional sparkling
wines using the traditional three champagne grapes. And you're celebrating
a fortieth anniversary this year. It was nineteen eighty five,
(16:44):
and now you're launching your fortieth Hoova Vintage, right.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
That's right. Yeah, And it was actually It's interesting it
was Constantine's son, Willie that started the sparkling program. He
started a full sparkling winery right next door to our
main wine and Constantine famously he enjoyed sparkling wine, but
he wasn't really passionate about producing it.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
He actually was quoted as saying, the only reason the
French make champagne is because they can't make a decent
table line that far north. So it's like, oh my gosh,
how could you have said that. You know, I love
I'm a personal huge fan of champagne. But his son
Willie felt very differently about champagne and sparkling wine in
(17:28):
the traditional method and basically built on his father's success
of planting benefit successfully utilizing chardonnay, pino noir and pinaminie.
He basically started that operation in late seventies and had
his first vintage in nineteen eighty five. And to your point, Melanie,
we are celebrating our fortieth anniversary this year. It's been
(17:50):
really fun to produce an anniversary edition wine, which would
it's been a really fun project to work on. And
our sparkling wine maker, Eric Bauman, he's in his twentieth
work anniversary with us. So he's worked with the family
for a long time on these sparkling lines and they
are truly something special. So I'm not sure if you
(18:11):
guys had a chance to try this Kube eighty five,
but it's.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Our empty bottle right here. I set on a photo,
but I don't know if we can get up on
a screen. But tell us about it because it's very
special and it's limited edition and there's still I went
online there it is. I went online and it's still
available if you go to the Doctor Constantine front website
because there's only one hundred cases.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
May that's right. Yeah, So we our sparkling program is,
you know, pretty robust. We produce between seven to ten
different bottlings in a in a typical year. But our
kind of cornerstone of the portfolio is our Brute, which
is a blend of fifty five percent Shardenay forty five permine.
(18:58):
And for this special anniversary bottling, we basically did the dossage,
which is a little bit of reserve wine added at
the end after the yeast is removed, after the wine's
been riddled, after the wine's been disgorged. The dustage stage
is a really important time to add a little bit
(19:21):
of reserve wine, and so we did our first vintage
nineteen eighty five. The reserve wine is from that year,
so you have a current twenty twenty one brewt like
those grapes were harvested in twenty twenty one, disgorged in
you know, twenty twenty four or so, and then we
(19:42):
use the dusage the reserve wine from nineteen eighty five.
So it's a very unique sort of culmination of all
the years. You have primary notes like you know, lots
of green apple, lemon freshness from that current release, and
you have these tertiary notes like honeycomb and stewed stone
(20:04):
fruits and things like that from that nineteen eighty five
dosage portion. So I just really thrilled about it. We
used pretty much all of the nineteen eighty five original vintage,
so it sort of lives on in this bottling, if
you will, which it's really special.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
That's awesome.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Yeah, I remember when you first came, when Willie, who
I remember meeting a number of times at tastings around
when we were in the trenches together, and a lovely guy.
It was originally called Chateau Fronk, which was how he
differentiated it from Doctor Constantine Front Wines. But I think
you've removed that now from the Sparkling Wine program name, right,
(20:47):
that's correct.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Yeah, that's a great point, David. Yeah, it used to
be called Chateau Frank and that was really a sense
of pride. I think for my grandfather, he wanted to
have his own kind of twist on this program. But
what we were finding is just so many people did
not connect the two, which is very understandable. The labels
were completely different. You know, they're in different sections of
(21:11):
the store, you know, and for us, you know, these
wines tend to get really great accolades, great scores. They
help build sort of the brand identity and the portfolio
that we think of them as like the jewel of
the portfolio, if you will. So connecting them makes a
lot of sense because it is still the same family,
(21:33):
you know, that's managing both programs. So we did a
few years ago switch to the Doctor Constanine Frank label,
which has really helped sort of connect the two. But
that's a great point.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Well, it's also a good branding point because there's a
Frank family vineyards in Calistoga, so it's really important to differentiate.
They're completely different families and wines and regions. Also important,
you know, is we visited the riddling room and at
do you still hand riddler? Do you machinemo?
Speaker 3 (22:05):
We have both, Yeah, so we do hand. We have
some hand riddling ranks for kind of smaller volume wines
and also dosage wines. But we have four gyropillettes in
sort of our back production area, which has been really
helpful and uh, it's really helped us keep up with demand.
And there's really no quality difference, you know between the two.
(22:28):
One is just maybe a little bit more romantic, you know,
the handwriddling a.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
Lot less carpal tunnel syndrome.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
One of the reasons. One of the reasons I asked,
and I have not read the article, but shanea flark
because a terrific wine writer did an article on the
disappearing in Champagne. There are very few riddlers hand and
riddlers left, and I going, I think she I don't
know who she wrote it for. I think it's one
of the wine magazines, but I'm looking forward to reading that.
But because it sounds like a it's like shoe cobblers,
(22:56):
you know, the disappearing breed, and it's really special when
you know that you still have people who are doing
that very laborious, time consuming tradition. It's really really nice.
You make a variety of sparkling wines using traditional but
the three main champagne grapes, and of course of Blanc
(23:17):
de blanc and rose Blanc de noir. You also make
a sparkling reasoning and reasoning is the well the I
think you said you tip over forgot how many forty
You have many many grapes you work with. Reasling is
the star variety in the finger legs area. Tell us
about that wine. You have a reasoning neture and probably
(23:39):
a reasoning broot.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yes, that absolutely, yeah, reestling, I mean it's a very
natural progression, you know, the finger legs. That's the grape
that we can compete on a world stage like by far,
that is our strongest sort of wine and grape that
we can lead with and for us it makes up
over sixty percent of our production, so it's huge for us.
(24:03):
We make a multitude of different styles. As you point out,
the sparkling reselings, we have two different ones. We have
a zero dosage sparkling reseling resignature. And then we have
our Celeb, which is our most popular bottling. It has
a touch higher dosage, touch of sweetness, but again a
really bright acidity, and those are the Celeb in particular,
(24:26):
is meant to be kind of consumed, you know, quickly.
It's like a very fresh, fruit forward style. So not
a ton of time aging on the lease, just making
sure that that wine is still very fresh. It is
still produced in the traditional method, but just not looking
for that sort of extended time to those really fresh,
(24:46):
fresh auralmas and flavors.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
That's interesting.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
So that.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Bottle of Celebro from Chateau Front that I have in
the refrigerator we should probably drink.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Yeah, you need to, But honestly, it develops beautifully like recently,
as you know, ages so well, and so you're just
going to pick up some really interesting tertiary notes as
it ages. But yeah, we it really depends what you like.
David and Melanie, what I.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Was digging through trying to find some bottles of Fronk
wines today to kind of display with us on the show,
and I couldn't find anybody.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
I found a I found two.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
I found a bottle of celebrit and then I also
found a twenty ten Brute Rose.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Nice. Well, it sounds like we got to hook you
up because.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
I know you.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Ship nationwide for all the folks who are going to
make it to New York as there.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
It's correct where well we're low that's correct. Yeah, yeah,
ship to a handful of states, but most states we
do ship to.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
We'll both say, so don't know what they're missing. That's
what I have to say, you know. I mean, for
anyone who's still pledging, you know, their holidays, they want
an American wine. This is a fun way to have
a great, uh and special experience New York State. And
I think it's important because I think a lot of people,
particularly people who were not familiar with wine production and
(26:08):
the avas. There's an AVA in every state in the
United States, they don't understand how amazing New York State
wines are. And we're not paid to say that we
were true believers in this and what I was taken
with when we finally got to go, because we've been
to many New York wine tastings, you know, over the years.
When we finally visited Doctor Constantine Frank, it was such
(26:28):
an extraordinary experience. It was in twenty twenty, so we
were all masks and everything, but there's a whole beautiful
tasting room dedicated to the history of wine making and
doctor Constantine Frank's impact. And you actually at the time
when we were there, you had a whole history on
the women in your family who were very much involved
(26:49):
in developing the winery. Is that still up or was
that a special exhibit? No?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
That is yeah, and we actually produce we have a
series of four wines called their Helm Series and a HTLM.
It's you know, sort of at the helm behind every
great man, there stands a great woman that sort of
the whole idea. And we have one Hilda, Eugenya, Lena
and Margaret, so my two great aunts, my grandmother and
(27:15):
my great grandmother, and so two single vineyard Greastlings, a
single minyard sardiney, and a red blend makes up that series.
So they're really great tangible ways to tell their story
to you know, patribute to their impact and also highlight
some of our best vineyard sites and our best barrels.
So that's been a really fun project that we're looking
(27:38):
forward to continuing and building upon.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
So we know that this year twenty twenty five has
been focused on the big fortieth anniversary couve and there
was a big party, which we obviously missed because we
were here not there. But what what are y'all working on?
What a y'all a fam my southern what is the
family working on for the future? Where do you want
(28:03):
to go with doctor Constantine Fronck and help, you know,
obviously elevate the awareness of Finger Lakes in New York
State as well.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Absolutely, yeah, that's always top of mind, you know, you know,
we are we think of ourselves as sort of stewarts
right of this business and making sure we're developing it.
Sort of increasing the credibility, the loyalty, the positivity and
passing it on to the next generation has always kind
of been the motto. So, you know, we're really excited
(28:35):
about the twenty twenty five harvest that we just completed
where we're able to fill our tanks and barrels and
it was a very solid year for quality and quantity,
which we don't always get in the Finger Lakes and
a lot of concentration there. So we had a bit
of drought like conditions, you know, in August, so smaller
berry sizes, a little bit more intensity and concentration. So
(28:59):
we're really really excited. We still have lots of different
ferments going and our y making team is working hard
with some blending options and things like that. But it's
going to be a really good year. So you know,
for us, we're looking to expand our vineyard acreage. We
have vineyards on the west side of Cuca Lake and
also the east side of Seneca Lake. We're looking at
(29:21):
also some unique varieties to plant, you know, continuing that
work from Constantine of you know, what is going to
make the most sense. You know, we've become very much
pioneers and with gruner Velt Leaner and Bluff Frankish and
sort of varieties that Constantine hadn't planted originally.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
You know.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Cabnet franc is another one we're really excited about. We
just there's a lot of things to be excited about.
But I would say just this slow growth model, you know,
that's what we've we've kind of always done, is slowly
incrementally growing, putting all of the profits back into the
business year, developing more hospitality experiences. As you mentioned, Melanie,
(30:05):
we have a variety of things to do when when
folks visit us, but one that we're really proud of
is our eighteen eighty six Food and Wine Experience, which
we just closed out on our tenth year of It's
been voted four times the last four years as the
top wine tour in America by USA TOK So that's
(30:25):
been really great national recognition for a very educational, very
creative sort of tasting experience that it's kind of hard
to find elsewhere. So we're looking forward to hopefully we
can get a street going into a fifth year next year,
But lots of exciting things in the future, but kind
(30:46):
of continuing on that momentum.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Describe the experience for people who are curious about doing it,
because we're really trying to put a big emphasis now
on wine travel and getting people out to go and experience.
What is the experience?
Speaker 3 (31:00):
So it was inspired by my time I did my
graduate degree in Australia in Adelaide and there you have,
you know, four wine regions that you can get to
within an hour to two hours, like it's there. There
was just for me it was a great education in
wine tourism and wine hospitality and doing all of these
(31:20):
more sort of food and wine pairing experiences, having a
winemaker take you through the cellar, so you know, coming back.
It was really important to think of something where we
could get people behind the scenes, and that's what we did.
It's gone through a few iterations over the years, but
it's remained pretty much the same kind of format. We
start with a tour, so it could be a tour
(31:43):
of the sparkling cellar, the vineyard or the winery, sort
of the barrel cellar and the winery. It depends on
the day you book, so guests can come some We
have some folks that come multiple times through a vacation
just to make sure they hit all the tours. And
then after the tour portion, you taste a few wines.
You know, through the tour you get a lot of history,
(32:05):
very much behind the scenes, look at how the wines
are made and how the grapes are grown, and then
you come back into a beautiful space and the why
we call it eighteen eighty six, which I do think
was probably a mistake because it's really hard to remember
the number. So all the time I get people, oh,
I did your eighteen twenty three tasting or your eighteen
(32:27):
forty five, and I'm like, yeah, I know which one
you're talking about. We only have yeah one that starts
with eighteen. But the building dates back to eighteen eighty six.
It was one of New York's posed wineries back way
back before our before our family arrived in this country,
but it was called the Western New York Wine Company,
and the building is built with all local fieldstones. So
(32:49):
it's just this beautiful, very European kind of feel. So
you head back into that space. You have a seated
flight of wines paired with different foods from a local chef,
and the foods, wines, and the art change monthly, so
it's also mirroring what's going on in the vineyard. So
our first kind of month we think of bud Burst,
(33:10):
So it's like this feeling of excitement. There's a lot
of green, there's you know things. So the plate is
really going to match with what's going on in the vineyard,
you know, going into flowering and deforasion, all the colors,
like the feelings, things like that. So it's a really
great creative outlet for our team to get into and
we run those experiences May through October. We have two
(33:33):
seatings a day eleven and two thirty, so Thursday through
through Sunday. I know that was a lot of details,
but please check out our website if you'd like to
do that experience, because it is sup it's very special.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
I'm curious. I'm sure you get lots of visitors in
the summer in the fall, but what happens in the
winter do you do you still get visitors or is it?
Are you open for visits year round if somebody wants to.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Yeah, we are open for visits hereund we just close
for a handful of holidays, but we are open you around,
and the winter, honestly is the best time to come.
You know, you probably in an empty tasting room, you're
going to get tons of attention. And that's you know,
from us, but also other local wineries. Plenty of them
are open you around. So it's my personal favorite season
(34:22):
because it's quiet. You can see all the way down
to the lake, like from where you two are sitting,
that view behind you. It is gorgeous in the winter
because you have the backdrop of the snow. The lake
is so beautiful. There's lots of skiing, there's ice fishing.
As I mentioned, we just get less people because it's
(34:42):
a little more challenging I think to drive in the snow.
But if you can brave that, it's a great, awesome
time to visit the Finger Lakes.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
It's such a beautiful place anytime of year.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, you know, I say it goes if you're into
cross country skiing, and it's probably like great.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
We had tons of trails for crush bet.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Do you have you noticed I hate to bring up
climate change, but you know it is getting somewhat warmer
in places around the world. Are you seeing that in
the Finger Lakes Because it's a very cold region in
the wintertime historically, and you get a lot of lake
effects weather that comes off the off of the Great
Lakes down to the Finger Lakes at times as well,
(35:26):
so you do get snow cover. Are you seeing longer
growing seasons though, or are you seeing shorter growing seasons?
What's changing for you up in the Finger Lakes.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Yeah, it's a great question. We basically are seeing more
extreme weather events, so it's not really a trend of
like warming at a constant amount. Unfortunately, we sort of
wish it was that way, but it seems like it's
difficult to just sort of predict what is going to happen.
Like to give you an example, in twenty twenty two,
(35:57):
we had a very cold winter reduce the butt count,
so we had a small harvest. And then in twenty
twenty three, for the first time ever in sixty five years,
we had a spring frost. So we didn't have anything
on record prior to us, you know, the sixty five years,
but it's just not a common thing in the Finger
(36:18):
Lakes to have a spring frost because of the moderating
influence of the lakes. We just saw this intense warming
happening in early May, which was very not typical, and
then the buds began to emerge on some of those
early budding varieties. For example, Shardonay was a big one
(36:38):
and it was disastrous for a lot of producers. So
we are investing in wind machines, so that's something We're
going to have three wind machines hopefully this year put in,
so we're trying to mitigate things where we can. The
other thing that's kind of interesting in the Finger Lakes
(36:59):
is most vineyards are dry farmed, so we don't regularly
use irrigation. We personally don't have any irrigation that's really
used in our vineyards. There are a handful that that
do use them, but it's it's not typically necessary. But
we are seeing more vintages where you're having drought stress.
So that's another challenge that we foresee maybe needing some
(37:21):
investment in. But it's you know, we're having flooding, hail,
spring frost. It's like, what is going on here?
Speaker 4 (37:31):
Volatility that you weren't expected.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
We're saying that all over you know, we go to
Europe a lot and there's been just so much volatility
over there and a lot of spring frost. I mean,
it's a challenge and you have to, you know, invest
in equipment and make adjustments. You reference that you're experimenting
with different varieties are there. Do you think in the
felix there will be certain varieties that will be better
(37:54):
acclimated to addressing these climatic long term climatic changes is
I don't think it's going to be revers I think
it's gonna keep just going that way.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Yeah, it's a great point, I definitely think. I mean,
reestling is one of our hardiest varieties that can withstand
quite a bit, so I think continuing with reestling. We've
you know, sort of unified as a state with Cabernet
franc that's become sort of the red grape of New
York State. And we're part of this movement called Capronc
(38:23):
Forward that's doing lots of events in New York and
in other places. So that's definitely something to watch. But yeah,
reestling Caberne franc, I mean also separate avi. That's a
grape that's really growing in popularity. It's a george and variety.
You know, Constantine pioneered to to America. It was why
(38:43):
they plant it still is today in Ukraine. And that
grape is really interesting because it holds thecidity and yet
it has that colored juice, so it's a tentery variety.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
So even in these very very difficult vintages, you're able
to make a very bold, deep hued red, which is
not guaranteed in any other vintage for any other grape.
So I think it's it's looking at these cold, hardy, resilient,
you know varieties. I think that's that's going to be
the key to our success. It makes sense.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
I know when we were in the Niagara wine region,
we had some very good Saparavi as well. It just
seems like those Georgian varietals, those hardier varietals from with
the northernmost regions of eastern and western Europe, would be
a good fit here. You know, for people who are
familiar with reaslings from France, for example, in Europe, how
(39:40):
would you if they are not familiar with the reaslings
from New York Satan, specifically the finger legs, how would
you describe and define and differentiate based on the terewah?
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Great, great point. Yeah, I would say, you know, we're
probably looking more like Germanic Austrian and kind of depending
on if you're really trying to generalize, right, you don't
typically have like the power and the oaf that a
lot of the Alsatian racelings gets. It's just so sunny there.
We just don't have those sunshine, those same sunshine hours.
(40:15):
But definitely you have a full gamut within the finger lakes,
you know, depending on where you are, if you're on
Cucu Lake or Sonic Lake or Cuga, also depending on
the white maker's style, but just generally I would say
mosal like very very similar, that floral note, that very fresh,
that fruity tone, you get a lot of Mosil raslings
(40:37):
would be probably quite similar. Also, Ryan Goau vaults for
some more powerful expressions, which we definitely have here as
well in the finger Lakes. And then you know a
lot of Austrian raslings as well could go in that
same vein, you know, especially with our very rocky soils here.
So there's lots of connections and you can find that.
(41:00):
The other similarity I would say, particularly with Germany, is
you know, like for us, we'll produce in a typical
year seven to nine different reslings. You know, you have
producers producing fifteen to twenty different reslings, and that you see,
you know commonly in parts of Germany in other areas.
So just embracing the versatility of reesling is something that's
(41:23):
really exciting in the finger Lakes and celebrating that diversity.
So I would say that's another really big, really big
interesting connection between being us in other parts of Europe.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
You know. I you know, when we were living in
New York, you know, we went to a lot of
reasling tastings. But I think it'd be you know, I
like it'st of walk arounds. I'd love to do a
side by side, even blind tasting of the New York
State reasonings by Ava with German, Austria and France. I
think that would be such a great palette exercise.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
I love it. Thank you, that's great. I'll come. We'll
be there for me.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
That's the way I like to learn about wine versus
those big giant tasting It's to sit down and thoughtfully
do it. And when you taste flin you know, you
have no preconceived notion and it's it can be really
it's kind of like judgment of Paris. But I think
that would be so interesting. Yes, do that.
Speaker 4 (42:24):
We'll call it the judgment of.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Being where you're located at the town and Hammondsport is beautiful,
that there's a charming town is well, it really is gorgeous.
M hm, it really is. Well, that's kind of interesting.
I do have another question. Do you still have any
family in the Ukraine or is everybody gone? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (42:50):
We do, Yeah, we have. Basically it's the equivalent of
Constantine's sisters sort of great grandchildren are still there. And
my great aunt Lena was you know, she went back
and forth many times throughout her life to Odessa, kept
in touch with the family she's recently passed away, but
(43:12):
her daughter sort of continued. She has like been pasted
the baton. She's our kind of family historian, the family connector,
and so we do have relatives there that we keep
in touch with who we've been in regular contact with,
the kind of equivalent in the generational line. Her name's Irena.
She's a pediatric cortiologist and she's still working there. She's
(43:35):
in the working in Odessa, and she's a son there.
So we are, you know, keeping our family in our
thoughts and prayers. And it's a very challenging time as
you know in Ukraine, and we're praying for a positive
end to the war. And we also do quite a
bit with some local organizations that benefit Ukraine, the war
(43:58):
in Ukraine, the relief effort. So there's a great organization
called Rock Madeon we've worked closely with doing Ukrainian benefit
for and also a flight in our garden, our wine
garden that the proceeds are going towards relief efforts. So
(44:19):
we're trying to do what we can and that connection
is so important to us, you know, to keep that
connection strong in this difficult time.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Well, we're all hoping that everything will move forward in
a positive way. But I had a feeling I remember
reading about some of the efforts you're doing, and it's
so important to hold on to that connection and hopefully
your family will be okay.
Speaker 3 (44:43):
Yeah, absolutely, Well, thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
Gosh, we've enjoyed talking with you. I'm we've got to
take out those wines that we still have. We're staying
in New Orleans for the holidays now, and I think
it's time to have some little special dinners and wines
and make every day.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
A day be thankful, right, Absolutely, that sounds great. Yeah,
especially coming to Thanksgiving. It's a great time to open
some American wines, open win finger legs.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
And always American win Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Yeah. I'm a big believer in me the American wine istry.
It has its challenges, but this is a great reason
to go out and support it and drink American for
the holidays.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
Well, Megan, it's always great to see you. Hope we
will see you and raise the glass together with you.
If you're not coming to New Orleans, hopefully we will
be up in New York. We miss New York. We
love New York. It's always a state of mind and
in our hearts wherever we go. So thank you for
joining us and sharing your story, and we love, we
(45:42):
love the special coufe. It's really special and as I've said,
it's available www. Dot Doctor frank Wines dot com and
it's as I saw, it's still available because you do
have some sold out wines, but this one is available
and with one hundred cases, go and get it now.
Great gift.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
Thank you so much Melanie and David, and happy Thanksgiving,
Happy holidays to you both, and thank you for having me.
And we'd love to see you back in the finger
Legs anytime, I hope so.
Speaker 5 (46:11):
So it was our pleasure to see you again and
we look forward to coming and visiting.
Speaker 4 (46:16):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
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(46:39):
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Speaker 3 (47:00):
Still
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Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello and welcome to the Connected Table Live. We're your hosts,
Melanie Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple.
We love to bring you the amazing people that we
meet around the world and what we eat, drink and
hope to explore and expire with you as we travel.
And today we're in a New.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
York State of Wine.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yes we are.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
How about this backdrop right, We're in New York's Finger Lakes,
which is one of the most historical and significant wine
regions of New York and the East Coast and the
United States. For those of you who may not know,
New York State ranks third and US wine production. After
California and Washington, I think we have visited almost all
(01:26):
of New York's keyavas, and we were so lucky to
spend I think two or three really amazing weeks up
in the finger Lakes after we sold our house and
visiting different wineries, and one of them, of course we
made a bee line two is the winery were spotlighting today,
which is one of the most historic and cific significant
in the Finger Lakes and frankly the East Coast wine production.
(01:48):
We're talking about Doctor Constantine Fronk. It's really a significant
for so many reasons. It was founded by an immigrant
who from the Ukraine, doctor Constant teen Frank, who came
over and hit a PhD in did a culture and
he was the first to successively plant the Nifera grapes
(02:08):
here in New York State and on the East Coast,
which you're going to talk about. There's been many other
major milestones since the nineteen sixty two when the winery
is founded and Doctor Constantine Frank is still family run
as our many Fingerlakes wineries in joining us our return
guest with more to talk about because it's a big
(02:29):
celebration this year is Megan Frank, who is a family member.
I think she's fourth generation and we're so excited to
have her as we lead up to Thanksgiving to have
a wonderful New York State winery on our show. So,
Megan Frank, welcome to the Connected Table Live.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Thanks so much, Melanie and David. What a pleasure it
is to be with you and to be with everyone
on the Connected Table. It's an honor, So thank you.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Well, we're happy to have you back, Meghan.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
It's been a few years since we've seen you in person,
but you have a lot of great things going on
right now with the winery, and we thought it was
a great time to have you back.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, so here we are great.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well, you know, we started with location. I think it's
really important just so you know, we have a lot
of global listeners and viewers as well, So let's talk
about what is important about the location of the Finger
Lakes and how many lakes are and where doctor Costantine
Fronk is in the Finger Lake wine region and why
it's such an important ava.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Absolutely, yeah, the finger Lakes. My husband always chokes with
me because anytime we travel to Europe or you know,
outside of America. Everyone asks where are you from, and
I always say the Finger Lakes. I don't say Western
New York. I don't say upstate New York. I'm trying
to draw as much attention to the name finger Lakes.
And he's always like, no one knows where that is.
(03:49):
I was like, well, now they will. So the Finger
Lakes were this eleven collection of eleven lakes in western
New York. We're about five hours or so from New
York City, so we're not terribly close to any major city.
We're pretty isolated out here. But these eleven lakes were
carved out during the last Ice Age. Glaciers receded about
(04:12):
ten thousand years ago, and they carved out these very deep,
deep lakes and also pulled when the glaciers receeded, they
pulled a myriad of different soil types around the lakes.
So that's making up really interesting soil types, especially for
aromatic varieties, which are really beautifully done here in the
(04:33):
Finger Lakes. So there's about four lakes that are home
to the majority of the wine production. So Seneca Lake
probably has the most wineries. I think there's over one
hundred wineries now on Seneca Lake, which is also the
deepest of the Finger Lakes, so at its deepest point
it's over six hundred feet deep, so really helping trap
(04:55):
that heat ex as a moderating sort of effect. We
get very winters here in the Finger Lakes. If anyone's
been to our area, it's sort of where yea our
Achilles Shiel. You know, we don't have wildfires, thankfully, but
we do have very cold winters on occasion. So these
deep lakes really trap that heat and help moderate the
(05:17):
area nearby the lake, helping us to survive these cold winters.
So Seneca Lake that middle Finger Lake. We also have
vineyards there. There's Cayuga Lake on one side, which you
know is home to many vineyards. You also have Cornell University. There,
you have Ithaca, so that's a nice global draw. And
then on the other side of Seneca we have Cuca
(05:40):
Lake and that's where we're located. So we're on the
west side of Cuca Lake. It's a fork shaped lake,
so it's a very unique look. And so where you
are Melanie and David, you can see the bluff point
behind from your photo and that's sort of that middle
point where the two forks connect. So Kukas around two
(06:01):
hundred feet deep, so still having that moderating effect at
very deep slopes, high content of shale. So a lot
of people in the Finger Lakes are talking about their
soil types because of this glacial till that was left
behind sort of during those glaciers receding. So really really interesting.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
David took that photo.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
I did.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I visited. It was harvest was underway or just underway,
and it was just a beautiful time. And you know,
I need to tell you, I don't. I try to
live with no regrets, but if I have one regret
is that we didn't visit the Finger Lakes more frequently
when we lived in New York City. So many people
who live in New York City never go anywhere other
(06:41):
than the Hamptons or the Hudson Valley or Pennsylvania or
Jersey Shore or whatever. But this is a stunning area
for recreation, a lot of boating, a lot of hiking.
I think it's a last count I picked up on
the one one hundred and fifty wineries, most family owned,
also craftwies and distilleries, restaurants, you know, small everything, you know,
(07:04):
and just unbelievably.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Beautiful rolling countryside.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, so you're talking about a world away from Manhattan
and a great vacation spot everybody needs to.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Go, absolutely completely agree. Yeah, very outdoorsy, everything centered around
the lakes, you know, bating, fishing even in the summer,
excre me in the winter, ice fishing, sailing, there's just
there's there's something for everyone, truly.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
We drove up, but I think it's the closest airport
right Rochester in Rochester, Rochester doubt Yeah, yeah, but that's
you know, it takes the best places take time to
get to.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
So you mentioned how cold it gets in the winter time,
and I think that's a great place to kind of
bring people who haven't heard the story up to date
on how Constantine Fronk helped create the the Niffera movement
in New York because he had been growing vinifera grapes
in Europe in a cold environment as well, but in
(08:08):
New York nobody thought it could be done. So he
actually he's the one that actually changed people's minds in thinking.
So why don't you tell us quickly that story before
we go to start talking about why we're here today?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Sure, David, Yeah, it's a great story and it is
a great connection with those cold winters that Constantine was
used to. So he was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and
spent you know, most of his life there. At an
early age, became interested in grape growing and wine making.
Actually made his first wine by the age of fifteen,
(08:37):
so set himself on a path to earn a PhD
in viticulture from the Polytechnic University of Odessa. And he
was working with a multitude of different Vanifita varieties, so
vanifera meaning the European species of grape. You know, griestling, kebrine, salvillone,
you know, tons of different Eastern European arrieties, some of
(08:58):
which we grow here like our Katsatelli and seppar abb
quite a few that we don't you know, have here.
But he worked with a multitude of different varieties, and
he was really a researcher and a scientist. So it
was World War two that brought the family to America.
It was Constantine, his wife, Hugenya, and three children, and
(09:19):
they came through New York City, settled in a very
small one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, very much not American
dream story, and basically had to start over. So Constantine
was washing dishes, you know, in New York, trying to
learn English. He spoke six languages, but not a word
of English. So you know this this researcher and professor
(09:43):
who spoke all these languages. He was very, very enthusiastic
about growing grapes. He needed to find that location where
they were growing grapes, planting vines, and that was the
Finger Lakes. So he made a trip up here, and
what perplexed Constantine was that there was no vinifera here.
There were no European grapes here in this area booming
wine industry. But what was grown were conquered Cataba, Niagara,
(10:08):
the Vintae Nebraska. So the American varieties, French American hybrids
were becoming popular as well as this was the early
nineteen fifties. But he was really really not understanding where
was the reestling, where was the chardonnay, where was the
pino noir? And researchers told him it's too cold, and
that to your point, David, this totally connects the story.
(10:30):
He was like, I come from a very cold place,
and I know how to you know, plant venifita in
cold places. This is not due to the cold, and
he had a theory that it was actually due to
a tiny little bug with a very long name called Philaxra,
So filaxtra being from North America, it's sort of our
(10:50):
gift to world of viticulture. If gift made its way
over to Europe with vented the steamship in the mid
eighteen hundreds, devastated vineyards throughout Europe. So Constantine ironically had
dealt with this North American pest in Europe. And it
(11:11):
was a group of European scientists that came up with
this method, completely natural method, whereby you graft American rootstock
with European vine and that avoids the pest. The filaxtra
root louse doesn't it's not interested in eating the American
root stock. So that was widely planted where he was
widely practiced where he was in Odessa, and he essentially
(11:35):
brought that technique here to the eastern United States. So
he became the first person to successfully plant the European
varieties east of the Mississippi. And that's what we continue today.
So we work with about seventeen different European varieties. Today.
We have about one hundred and forty acres of vineyards
(11:56):
and we continue Constantine's legacy, which is really exciting.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
It's so interesting because that grafting saved the European wine
industry also, I mean it was it was a phenomenal
turning point in global wine production, really significant. And in
the United States it really kind of opened up the
East Coast slowly to wine production. I know in Virginia
(12:24):
they had a lot of trial and era to get
it right because of the humidity. Same in Pennsylvania. But
you know, New York has thrived as a wine We've
been to Buffalo, We've been to Long Island, We've been
to the Hudson Valley and of course the Finger Lakes
and it's been very successful there. And you know, the
lake effect is also critically important to all of us,
(12:45):
whether you're in the Niagara Wine region or Finger Lakes
because of that moderating effect.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Absolutely, no, it's you can really tell, you know, it's
it's the same locations that are beautiful for having kind
of second homes or it was sorts are the best
places to have vineyards because you're going to have that
moderating effect with that lake view. So it's not really
an issue in the current day of developers fighting, you know,
(13:13):
people who want to develop vineyards. But I do anticipate
that becoming a bit of friction point in the future.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Interesting, well, you know those developers. So you know the winery,
So he purchased, I think he purchases his vineyards in
nineteen fifty eight, came over fifty one, purchased, He worked
for Cornell for a while and then the winery established
in nineteen sixty two. Back then, how many wineries were there.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, they're about fifteen and they were all around Cuca Lake,
so very large wineries. Almost none of them are in
existence today. So just very large, kind of sweeter kind
of grapy and flavor wines were being produced. But we
do have that strong history, that strong backbone. Unfortunately, Prohibition
(14:05):
was very damaging, you know, to so many American wineries,
but particularly cuculate wineries. So there were plenty of others
prior to prohibition, and then that really dwindled during that time.
But so Constantine was kind of fighting against the grain.
You know, there was already an established industry and he
was sort of seen as racking a boat that didn't
(14:27):
need to be racked, Like you know, people were making
plenty of money they were selling their wine, and you know,
he was fighting against it. He would say, you Americans
deserve only excellent and we need to be making the
most excellent wine for customers, for guests. And he believed
it to his core. You know that that was something
(14:47):
that was really important. So after a short stint of
working at another winery that's no longer in business, called
gold Seal Vineyards, he basically started his own experimental winery.
He had over sixty six different benefit varieties on the property,
some of which obviously we've kept, like Reestling and Gilberte
(15:08):
Striner and Pinut Green and others that we no longer
have like mits Fani and Fermont and Pedro Hivenez, like
so really interesting grapes that you know, he was just
trying to test the waters. He was looking at what
worked and what didn't, and he was very giving with
his knowledge. Like you mentioned wineries in Pennsylvania and Virginia,
(15:30):
New Jersey, he would have viticulturalists, vineyard managers, winemakers come
from all of these states, particularly in the easter the Northeast,
and they would come, they would get cuttings from his nursery.
They would learn the grafting technique and then they would
go back to their home state and plan a vineyard.
So really igniting this quality revolution, particularly in East Coast winemaking,
(15:52):
is very much a legacy that that Constantine helped ignite.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
You know, Melanie, we when we owned Driven back in
the day, we actually bought Shardonnay grapes from the gold
Seal Vineyard, which was planted by Constantine Fronc.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yeah, and that was that I believe.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
I don't know if they still have the original vines
in the vineyard, but it was the oldest.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Shardnay plantings in New York City.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Amazing.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
We got some of that fruit for one of our
couves of chardenay that we did.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
I love the connection, that's why.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Yeah, that's right. That's a fabulous vineyard.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So another milestone of many is that doctor Constantine Frank
really kind of put forth the first method traditional sparkling
wines using the traditional three champagne grapes. And you're celebrating
a fortieth anniversary this year. It was nineteen eighty five,
(16:44):
and now you're launching your fortieth Hoova Vintage, right.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
That's right. Yeah, And it was actually It's interesting it
was Constantine's son, Willie that started the sparkling program. He
started a full sparkling winery right next door to our
main wine and Constantine famously he enjoyed sparkling wine, but
he wasn't really passionate about producing it.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
He actually was quoted as saying, the only reason the
French make champagne is because they can't make a decent
table line that far north. So it's like, oh my gosh,
how could you have said that. You know, I love
I'm a personal huge fan of champagne. But his son
Willie felt very differently about champagne and sparkling wine in
(17:28):
the traditional method and basically built on his father's success
of planting benefit successfully utilizing chardonnay, pino noir and pinaminie.
He basically started that operation in late seventies and had
his first vintage in nineteen eighty five. And to your point, Melanie,
we are celebrating our fortieth anniversary this year. It's been
(17:50):
really fun to produce an anniversary edition wine, which would
it's been a really fun project to work on. And
our sparkling wine maker, Eric Bauman, he's in his twentieth
work anniversary with us. So he's worked with the family
for a long time on these sparkling lines and they
are truly something special. So I'm not sure if you
(18:11):
guys had a chance to try this Kube eighty five,
but it's.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Our empty bottle right here. I set on a photo,
but I don't know if we can get up on
a screen. But tell us about it because it's very
special and it's limited edition and there's still I went
online there it is. I went online and it's still
available if you go to the Doctor Constantine front website
because there's only one hundred cases.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
May that's right. Yeah, So we our sparkling program is,
you know, pretty robust. We produce between seven to ten
different bottlings in a in a typical year. But our
kind of cornerstone of the portfolio is our Brute, which
is a blend of fifty five percent Shardenay forty five permine.
(18:58):
And for this special anniversary bottling, we basically did the dossage,
which is a little bit of reserve wine added at
the end after the yeast is removed, after the wine's
been riddled, after the wine's been disgorged. The dustage stage
is a really important time to add a little bit
(19:21):
of reserve wine, and so we did our first vintage
nineteen eighty five. The reserve wine is from that year,
so you have a current twenty twenty one brewt like
those grapes were harvested in twenty twenty one, disgorged in
you know, twenty twenty four or so, and then we
(19:42):
use the dusage the reserve wine from nineteen eighty five.
So it's a very unique sort of culmination of all
the years. You have primary notes like you know, lots
of green apple, lemon freshness from that current release, and
you have these tertiary notes like honeycomb and stewed stone
(20:04):
fruits and things like that from that nineteen eighty five
dosage portion. So I just really thrilled about it. We
used pretty much all of the nineteen eighty five original vintage,
so it sort of lives on in this bottling, if
you will, which it's really special.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
That's awesome.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Yeah, I remember when you first came, when Willie, who
I remember meeting a number of times at tastings around
when we were in the trenches together, and a lovely guy.
It was originally called Chateau Fronk, which was how he
differentiated it from Doctor Constantine Front Wines. But I think
you've removed that now from the Sparkling Wine program name, right,
(20:47):
that's correct.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Yeah, that's a great point, David. Yeah, it used to
be called Chateau Frank and that was really a sense
of pride. I think for my grandfather, he wanted to
have his own kind of twist on this program. But
what we were finding is just so many people did
not connect the two, which is very understandable. The labels
were completely different. You know, they're in different sections of
(21:11):
the store, you know, and for us, you know, these
wines tend to get really great accolades, great scores. They
help build sort of the brand identity and the portfolio
that we think of them as like the jewel of
the portfolio, if you will. So connecting them makes a
lot of sense because it is still the same family,
(21:33):
you know, that's managing both programs. So we did a
few years ago switch to the Doctor Constanine Frank label,
which has really helped sort of connect the two. But
that's a great point.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Well, it's also a good branding point because there's a
Frank family vineyards in Calistoga, so it's really important to differentiate.
They're completely different families and wines and regions. Also important,
you know, is we visited the riddling room and at
do you still hand riddler? Do you machinemo?
Speaker 3 (22:05):
We have both, Yeah, so we do hand. We have
some hand riddling ranks for kind of smaller volume wines
and also dosage wines. But we have four gyropillettes in
sort of our back production area, which has been really
helpful and uh, it's really helped us keep up with demand.
And there's really no quality difference, you know between the two.
(22:28):
One is just maybe a little bit more romantic, you know,
the handwriddling a.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
Lot less carpal tunnel syndrome.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
One of the reasons. One of the reasons I asked,
and I have not read the article, but shanea flark
because a terrific wine writer did an article on the
disappearing in Champagne. There are very few riddlers hand and
riddlers left, and I going, I think she I don't
know who she wrote it for. I think it's one
of the wine magazines, but I'm looking forward to reading that.
But because it sounds like a it's like shoe cobblers,
(22:56):
you know, the disappearing breed, and it's really special when
you know that you still have people who are doing
that very laborious, time consuming tradition. It's really really nice.
You make a variety of sparkling wines using traditional but
the three main champagne grapes, and of course of Blanc
(23:17):
de blanc and rose Blanc de noir. You also make
a sparkling reasoning and reasoning is the well the I
think you said you tip over forgot how many forty
You have many many grapes you work with. Reasling is
the star variety in the finger legs area. Tell us
about that wine. You have a reasoning neture and probably
(23:39):
a reasoning broot.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yes, that absolutely, yeah, reestling, I mean it's a very
natural progression, you know, the finger legs. That's the grape
that we can compete on a world stage like by far,
that is our strongest sort of wine and grape that
we can lead with and for us it makes up
over sixty percent of our production, so it's huge for us.
(24:03):
We make a multitude of different styles. As you point out,
the sparkling reselings, we have two different ones. We have
a zero dosage sparkling reseling resignature. And then we have
our Celeb, which is our most popular bottling. It has
a touch higher dosage, touch of sweetness, but again a
really bright acidity, and those are the Celeb in particular,
(24:26):
is meant to be kind of consumed, you know, quickly.
It's like a very fresh, fruit forward style. So not
a ton of time aging on the lease, just making
sure that that wine is still very fresh. It is
still produced in the traditional method, but just not looking
for that sort of extended time to those really fresh,
(24:46):
fresh auralmas and flavors.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
That's interesting.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
So that.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Bottle of Celebro from Chateau Front that I have in
the refrigerator we should probably drink.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Yeah, you need to, But honestly, it develops beautifully like recently,
as you know, ages so well, and so you're just
going to pick up some really interesting tertiary notes as
it ages. But yeah, we it really depends what you like.
David and Melanie, what I.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Was digging through trying to find some bottles of Fronk
wines today to kind of display with us on the show,
and I couldn't find anybody.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
I found a I found two.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
I found a bottle of celebrit and then I also
found a twenty ten Brute Rose.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Nice. Well, it sounds like we got to hook you
up because.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
I know you.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Ship nationwide for all the folks who are going to
make it to New York as there.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
It's correct where well we're low that's correct. Yeah, yeah,
ship to a handful of states, but most states we
do ship to.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
We'll both say, so don't know what they're missing. That's
what I have to say, you know. I mean, for
anyone who's still pledging, you know, their holidays, they want
an American wine. This is a fun way to have
a great, uh and special experience New York State. And
I think it's important because I think a lot of people,
particularly people who were not familiar with wine production and
(26:08):
the avas. There's an AVA in every state in the
United States, they don't understand how amazing New York State
wines are. And we're not paid to say that we
were true believers in this and what I was taken
with when we finally got to go, because we've been
to many New York wine tastings, you know, over the years.
When we finally visited Doctor Constantine Frank, it was such
(26:28):
an extraordinary experience. It was in twenty twenty, so we
were all masks and everything, but there's a whole beautiful
tasting room dedicated to the history of wine making and
doctor Constantine Frank's impact. And you actually at the time
when we were there, you had a whole history on
the women in your family who were very much involved
(26:49):
in developing the winery. Is that still up or was
that a special exhibit? No?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
That is yeah, and we actually produce we have a
series of four wines called their Helm Series and a HTLM.
It's you know, sort of at the helm behind every
great man, there stands a great woman that sort of
the whole idea. And we have one Hilda, Eugenya, Lena
and Margaret, so my two great aunts, my grandmother and
(27:15):
my great grandmother, and so two single vineyard Greastlings, a
single minyard sardiney, and a red blend makes up that series.
So they're really great tangible ways to tell their story
to you know, patribute to their impact and also highlight
some of our best vineyard sites and our best barrels.
So that's been a really fun project that we're looking
(27:38):
forward to continuing and building upon.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
So we know that this year twenty twenty five has
been focused on the big fortieth anniversary couve and there
was a big party, which we obviously missed because we
were here not there. But what what are y'all working on?
What a y'all a fam my southern what is the
family working on for the future? Where do you want
(28:03):
to go with doctor Constantine Fronck and help, you know,
obviously elevate the awareness of Finger Lakes in New York
State as well.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Absolutely, yeah, that's always top of mind, you know, you know,
we are we think of ourselves as sort of stewarts
right of this business and making sure we're developing it.
Sort of increasing the credibility, the loyalty, the positivity and
passing it on to the next generation has always kind
of been the motto. So, you know, we're really excited
(28:35):
about the twenty twenty five harvest that we just completed
where we're able to fill our tanks and barrels and
it was a very solid year for quality and quantity,
which we don't always get in the Finger Lakes and
a lot of concentration there. So we had a bit
of drought like conditions, you know, in August, so smaller
berry sizes, a little bit more intensity and concentration. So
(28:59):
we're really really excited. We still have lots of different
ferments going and our y making team is working hard
with some blending options and things like that. But it's
going to be a really good year. So you know,
for us, we're looking to expand our vineyard acreage. We
have vineyards on the west side of Cuca Lake and
also the east side of Seneca Lake. We're looking at
(29:21):
also some unique varieties to plant, you know, continuing that
work from Constantine of you know, what is going to
make the most sense. You know, we've become very much
pioneers and with gruner Velt Leaner and Bluff Frankish and
sort of varieties that Constantine hadn't planted originally.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
You know.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Cabnet franc is another one we're really excited about. We
just there's a lot of things to be excited about.
But I would say just this slow growth model, you know,
that's what we've we've kind of always done, is slowly
incrementally growing, putting all of the profits back into the
business year, developing more hospitality experiences. As you mentioned, Melanie,
(30:05):
we have a variety of things to do when when
folks visit us, but one that we're really proud of
is our eighteen eighty six Food and Wine Experience, which
we just closed out on our tenth year of It's
been voted four times the last four years as the
top wine tour in America by USA TOK So that's
(30:25):
been really great national recognition for a very educational, very
creative sort of tasting experience that it's kind of hard
to find elsewhere. So we're looking forward to hopefully we
can get a street going into a fifth year next year,
But lots of exciting things in the future, but kind
(30:46):
of continuing on that momentum.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Describe the experience for people who are curious about doing it,
because we're really trying to put a big emphasis now
on wine travel and getting people out to go and experience.
What is the experience?
Speaker 3 (31:00):
So it was inspired by my time I did my
graduate degree in Australia in Adelaide and there you have,
you know, four wine regions that you can get to
within an hour to two hours, like it's there. There
was just for me it was a great education in
wine tourism and wine hospitality and doing all of these
(31:20):
more sort of food and wine pairing experiences, having a
winemaker take you through the cellar, so you know, coming back.
It was really important to think of something where we
could get people behind the scenes, and that's what we did.
It's gone through a few iterations over the years, but
it's remained pretty much the same kind of format. We
start with a tour, so it could be a tour
(31:43):
of the sparkling cellar, the vineyard or the winery, sort
of the barrel cellar and the winery. It depends on
the day you book, so guests can come some We
have some folks that come multiple times through a vacation
just to make sure they hit all the tours. And
then after the tour portion, you taste a few wines.
You know, through the tour you get a lot of history,
(32:05):
very much behind the scenes, look at how the wines
are made and how the grapes are grown, and then
you come back into a beautiful space and the why
we call it eighteen eighty six, which I do think
was probably a mistake because it's really hard to remember
the number. So all the time I get people, oh,
I did your eighteen twenty three tasting or your eighteen
(32:27):
forty five, and I'm like, yeah, I know which one
you're talking about. We only have yeah one that starts
with eighteen. But the building dates back to eighteen eighty six.
It was one of New York's posed wineries back way
back before our before our family arrived in this country,
but it was called the Western New York Wine Company,
and the building is built with all local fieldstones. So
(32:49):
it's just this beautiful, very European kind of feel. So
you head back into that space. You have a seated
flight of wines paired with different foods from a local chef,
and the foods, wines, and the art change monthly, so
it's also mirroring what's going on in the vineyard. So
our first kind of month we think of bud Burst,
(33:10):
So it's like this feeling of excitement. There's a lot
of green, there's you know things. So the plate is
really going to match with what's going on in the vineyard,
you know, going into flowering and deforasion, all the colors,
like the feelings, things like that. So it's a really
great creative outlet for our team to get into and
we run those experiences May through October. We have two
(33:33):
seatings a day eleven and two thirty, so Thursday through
through Sunday. I know that was a lot of details,
but please check out our website if you'd like to
do that experience, because it is sup it's very special.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
I'm curious. I'm sure you get lots of visitors in
the summer in the fall, but what happens in the
winter do you do you still get visitors or is it?
Are you open for visits year round if somebody wants to.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Yeah, we are open for visits hereund we just close
for a handful of holidays, but we are open you around,
and the winter, honestly is the best time to come.
You know, you probably in an empty tasting room, you're
going to get tons of attention. And that's you know,
from us, but also other local wineries. Plenty of them
are open you around. So it's my personal favorite season
(34:22):
because it's quiet. You can see all the way down
to the lake, like from where you two are sitting,
that view behind you. It is gorgeous in the winter
because you have the backdrop of the snow. The lake
is so beautiful. There's lots of skiing, there's ice fishing.
As I mentioned, we just get less people because it's
(34:42):
a little more challenging I think to drive in the snow.
But if you can brave that, it's a great, awesome
time to visit the Finger Lakes.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
It's such a beautiful place anytime of year.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, you know, I say it goes if you're into
cross country skiing, and it's probably like great.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
We had tons of trails for crush bet.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Do you have you noticed I hate to bring up
climate change, but you know it is getting somewhat warmer
in places around the world. Are you seeing that in
the Finger Lakes Because it's a very cold region in
the wintertime historically, and you get a lot of lake
effects weather that comes off the off of the Great
Lakes down to the Finger Lakes at times as well,
(35:26):
so you do get snow cover. Are you seeing longer
growing seasons though, or are you seeing shorter growing seasons?
What's changing for you up in the Finger Lakes.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Yeah, it's a great question. We basically are seeing more
extreme weather events, so it's not really a trend of
like warming at a constant amount. Unfortunately, we sort of
wish it was that way, but it seems like it's
difficult to just sort of predict what is going to happen.
Like to give you an example, in twenty twenty two,
(35:57):
we had a very cold winter reduce the butt count,
so we had a small harvest. And then in twenty
twenty three, for the first time ever in sixty five years,
we had a spring frost. So we didn't have anything
on record prior to us, you know, the sixty five years,
but it's just not a common thing in the Finger
(36:18):
Lakes to have a spring frost because of the moderating
influence of the lakes. We just saw this intense warming
happening in early May, which was very not typical, and
then the buds began to emerge on some of those
early budding varieties. For example, Shardonay was a big one
(36:38):
and it was disastrous for a lot of producers. So
we are investing in wind machines, so that's something We're
going to have three wind machines hopefully this year put in,
so we're trying to mitigate things where we can. The
other thing that's kind of interesting in the Finger Lakes
(36:59):
is most vineyards are dry farmed, so we don't regularly
use irrigation. We personally don't have any irrigation that's really
used in our vineyards. There are a handful that that
do use them, but it's it's not typically necessary. But
we are seeing more vintages where you're having drought stress.
So that's another challenge that we foresee maybe needing some
(37:21):
investment in. But it's you know, we're having flooding, hail,
spring frost. It's like, what is going on here?
Speaker 4 (37:31):
Volatility that you weren't expected.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
We're saying that all over you know, we go to
Europe a lot and there's been just so much volatility
over there and a lot of spring frost. I mean,
it's a challenge and you have to, you know, invest
in equipment and make adjustments. You reference that you're experimenting
with different varieties are there. Do you think in the
felix there will be certain varieties that will be better
(37:54):
acclimated to addressing these climatic long term climatic changes is
I don't think it's going to be revers I think
it's gonna keep just going that way.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Yeah, it's a great point, I definitely think. I mean,
reestling is one of our hardiest varieties that can withstand
quite a bit, so I think continuing with reestling. We've
you know, sort of unified as a state with Cabernet
franc that's become sort of the red grape of New
York State. And we're part of this movement called Capronc
(38:23):
Forward that's doing lots of events in New York and
in other places. So that's definitely something to watch. But yeah,
reestling Caberne franc, I mean also separate avi. That's a
grape that's really growing in popularity. It's a george and variety.
You know, Constantine pioneered to to America. It was why
(38:43):
they plant it still is today in Ukraine. And that
grape is really interesting because it holds thecidity and yet
it has that colored juice, so it's a tentery variety.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
So even in these very very difficult vintages, you're able
to make a very bold, deep hued red, which is
not guaranteed in any other vintage for any other grape.
So I think it's it's looking at these cold, hardy, resilient,
you know varieties. I think that's that's going to be
the key to our success. It makes sense.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
I know when we were in the Niagara wine region,
we had some very good Saparavi as well. It just
seems like those Georgian varietals, those hardier varietals from with
the northernmost regions of eastern and western Europe, would be
a good fit here. You know, for people who are
familiar with reaslings from France, for example, in Europe, how
(39:40):
would you if they are not familiar with the reaslings
from New York Satan, specifically the finger legs, how would
you describe and define and differentiate based on the terewah?
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Great, great point. Yeah, I would say, you know, we're
probably looking more like Germanic Austrian and kind of depending
on if you're really trying to generalize, right, you don't
typically have like the power and the oaf that a
lot of the Alsatian racelings gets. It's just so sunny there.
We just don't have those sunshine, those same sunshine hours.
(40:15):
But definitely you have a full gamut within the finger lakes,
you know, depending on where you are, if you're on
Cucu Lake or Sonic Lake or Cuga, also depending on
the white maker's style, but just generally I would say
mosal like very very similar, that floral note, that very fresh,
that fruity tone, you get a lot of Mosil raslings
(40:37):
would be probably quite similar. Also, Ryan Goau vaults for
some more powerful expressions, which we definitely have here as
well in the finger Lakes. And then you know a
lot of Austrian raslings as well could go in that
same vein, you know, especially with our very rocky soils here.
So there's lots of connections and you can find that.
(41:00):
The other similarity I would say, particularly with Germany, is
you know, like for us, we'll produce in a typical
year seven to nine different reslings. You know, you have
producers producing fifteen to twenty different reslings, and that you see,
you know commonly in parts of Germany in other areas.
So just embracing the versatility of reesling is something that's
(41:23):
really exciting in the finger Lakes and celebrating that diversity.
So I would say that's another really big, really big
interesting connection between being us in other parts of Europe.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
You know. I you know, when we were living in
New York, you know, we went to a lot of
reasling tastings. But I think it'd be you know, I
like it'st of walk arounds. I'd love to do a
side by side, even blind tasting of the New York
State reasonings by Ava with German, Austria and France. I
think that would be such a great palette exercise.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
I love it. Thank you, that's great. I'll come. We'll
be there for me.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
That's the way I like to learn about wine versus
those big giant tasting It's to sit down and thoughtfully
do it. And when you taste flin you know, you
have no preconceived notion and it's it can be really
it's kind of like judgment of Paris. But I think
that would be so interesting. Yes, do that.
Speaker 4 (42:24):
We'll call it the judgment of.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Being where you're located at the town and Hammondsport is beautiful,
that there's a charming town is well, it really is gorgeous.
M hm, it really is. Well, that's kind of interesting.
I do have another question. Do you still have any
family in the Ukraine or is everybody gone? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (42:50):
We do, Yeah, we have. Basically it's the equivalent of
Constantine's sisters sort of great grandchildren are still there. And
my great aunt Lena was you know, she went back
and forth many times throughout her life to Odessa, kept
in touch with the family she's recently passed away, but
(43:12):
her daughter sort of continued. She has like been pasted
the baton. She's our kind of family historian, the family connector,
and so we do have relatives there that we keep
in touch with who we've been in regular contact with,
the kind of equivalent in the generational line. Her name's Irena.
She's a pediatric cortiologist and she's still working there. She's
(43:35):
in the working in Odessa, and she's a son there.
So we are, you know, keeping our family in our
thoughts and prayers. And it's a very challenging time as
you know in Ukraine, and we're praying for a positive
end to the war. And we also do quite a
bit with some local organizations that benefit Ukraine, the war
(43:58):
in Ukraine, the relief effort. So there's a great organization
called Rock Madeon we've worked closely with doing Ukrainian benefit
for and also a flight in our garden, our wine
garden that the proceeds are going towards relief efforts. So
(44:19):
we're trying to do what we can and that connection
is so important to us, you know, to keep that
connection strong in this difficult time.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Well, we're all hoping that everything will move forward in
a positive way. But I had a feeling I remember
reading about some of the efforts you're doing, and it's
so important to hold on to that connection and hopefully
your family will be okay.
Speaker 3 (44:43):
Yeah, absolutely, Well, thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
Gosh, we've enjoyed talking with you. I'm we've got to
take out those wines that we still have. We're staying
in New Orleans for the holidays now, and I think
it's time to have some little special dinners and wines
and make every day.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
A day be thankful, right, Absolutely, that sounds great. Yeah,
especially coming to Thanksgiving. It's a great time to open
some American wines, open win finger legs.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
And always American win Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Yeah. I'm a big believer in me the American wine istry.
It has its challenges, but this is a great reason
to go out and support it and drink American for
the holidays.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
Well, Megan, it's always great to see you. Hope we
will see you and raise the glass together with you.
If you're not coming to New Orleans, hopefully we will
be up in New York. We miss New York. We
love New York. It's always a state of mind and
in our hearts wherever we go. So thank you for
joining us and sharing your story, and we love, we
(45:42):
love the special coufe. It's really special and as I've said,
it's available www. Dot Doctor frank Wines dot com and
it's as I saw, it's still available because you do
have some sold out wines, but this one is available
and with one hundred cases, go and get it now.
Great gift.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
Thank you so much Melanie and David, and happy Thanksgiving,
Happy holidays to you both, and thank you for having me.
And we'd love to see you back in the finger
Legs anytime, I hope so.
Speaker 5 (46:11):
So it was our pleasure to see you again and
we look forward to coming and visiting.
Speaker 4 (46:16):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
You've been listening and watching the Connected Table Live TV
and our audio podcast, which you could be heard on
over sixty five podcast channels, including all the big ones
like Spotify, Amazon, iHeart You name It. You can see
this episode on the Connected Table Live TV on YouTube.
Please share it and recommend it. We want to have
(46:39):
more people join us at our table because we love
sharing our experiences and the people. We like to connect
with you every day in every way. Until then, stay
insageably curious. Thank you
Speaker 3 (47:00):
Still
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