New York Wineland Reminiscent of Old World
By OTTO E. STURM
Naples, N.Y. -UPD- There's
an autumn nip in the air as
you leave the city of Roches
ter, N.Y., and head south
along a state highway.
Soon the suburbs are left
behind and you're out in the
country. The peak brilliance
of the fall foliage has passed
but there's enough color left
to make an enchanting view.
Gradually the scene chang
es and the country becomes
hilly. You no longer pass truck
or dairy farms. Now, wher
ever you turn, your eyes rest
on serried ranks of trellises
bearing grape vines the leaves
now brown under the autumn
sun.
Occasionally the road winds
between straight rows of tall,
slender poplar. You glance
down a slope to your left and I
a blue-green body of water
comes into view. i
Old World' j
Suddenly you feel that
you're in another world the
Old World. Those poplars are
right smack from a French
landscape. These vineclad
hills could be rising above the
Rhine.
But that body of water ta
pering to a point parallel to
the road is not the Rhine. It's
Lake Canandaigua, which
the Seneca Indians called
"The Chosen Place." And this
is not the Rhine valley, but
the Naples valley in the beau-'
tiful Finger Lakes country of
New York state.
Here, in 1882, John Jacob ;
Widmer, a young immigrant
from Switzerland, found the I
same climate, the same pecu-1
liar blend of shale soil and
natural drainage as those of
the famous vineyards of Eu
rope. He planted his first
vines and laid the foundation
for an American Wineland
that would produce Rieslings,
champagnes and sherries
equal to those of the Old '
World.
But it is not only in geogra
phy and topography that this
land of the grape is compara
ble to the Rhine valley.
Wine is the lifeblood of
this area. It cultivation, from
the vine to the bottle, is the
way of life of its people.
These descendants of Swiss, j
German, French and Alsatian
Immigrants are fircely proud
of their tradition and all the
Old World art and tender
care of their forebears goes
Into their wine-making.
They have been so success
ful that their vines have been
transplanted in European
vineyards. And that a leader
of the local wine industry can
say confidently:
"This is potentially the
greatest wine country in the
world.
The grape is the King of
Wineland and this is his day. .
You're on your way to the i
annual Naples Grape festival.
The harvest is in, the long,
hard days of climbing up the ;
steep, winding vineyard trails
to pick the grapes are over. I
This is the day for bands,
speeches, crowning of a fes
tival King and Queen, trophy
awards, street dancing and
fireworks.
Gals Mood
A gala mood is in the air
as you enter the little village
of Naples. Flags and bunting
drape the buildings on Main
street and the homes of vil
lagers. People in costumes
gather for a parade. It's the
first sunny day in more than
a week and the ordinarily
sparsely traveled road is ,
crowded with a steady stream
of cars. This day will see
Naples' population of 1,200
swelled to 10 times that num- (
ber.
An odd sight greets you
from the road. Stacked on the
roof of a winery are tier up
on tier of barrels. There are
some 10.000 of them and each
holds 50 gallons of sherry.
Here, under sun, rain, snow
and wind, the wine ages and
mellows for four years before
It is bottled. It s an Old World
touch because this is the
sherry-making process as the
famous solero system used in
Spain.
Identifies Wine
At the winery the Old
World crops up again when
you talk to "Will" Widner,
70-year-old son of John Jacob.
He is said to be able to ident
ify by year any wine he has
ever tasted. A tour of the
winery is a unique blend of
the Old and New Worlds. In
the sweet . smelling pressing
room, huge modern mechan
ical presses squeeze the Juice
from the grapes. Traditional
oak fermentation vats have
been replaced in the pungent
and yeasty fermentation room
with glass-lined stainless steel
tanks, towering 20 to 30 feet
high and holding as much as
10.000 gallons.
But the wine-carrying hoses
which snake in twisting pat
terns across the damp floor
are made of pure white rub
ber, carrying on the Old
World adage of "new hose for
old wine."
Modern mechanical means
are used, too. to filter and
clarify the fermented liquids
but then the Old World takes
over. Nothing can replace sap
less white oak casks and tanks
during aging. Row upon row
of them 20 feet tall and hold
ing thousands of gallons, loom
in the murky depths of the
cool aging cellar.
Lunch in the old-fashioned
dining room of the little Nap
les Hotel is a real trip to the
Old World. Seated near you
is a prominent vineyard own
er of the area, dressed in an
Austrian "Jaeger," or hur,;er's
outfit, a blue-gray coat of mili
tary cut with metal buttons
and worn over a black velvet
vest decorated with little
floral designs.
Swiss Yodelers
There is entertainment by
a troupe of Swiss yodelers,
on a tour of the United
States. You're not surprised
to hear one of them comment
that they never felt so much
at home.
Now Main street in front
of the hotel is lined with an
eager throng awaiting the
parade. This is their big day,
the culmination of a year of
work Springtime saw them
covering the hills, tying vines
in umbrella fashion to wire
between cedar stakes.
The long summer days were
filled with tilling and spray
ing and weeding. And harvest
ing hasn't changed much from
Jacob Widmer's day. It's still
a careful hand procedure so
that tender grapes will not be
crushed or bruised.
These people, celebrating
before the year-round cycle
of wine-making begins again,
spent many hours and much
ingenuity putting together pic
turesque floats.
Ancient Garb
Appropriately, one of the
leaders of the parade is a
portly gent dressed in ancient
garb. A sign identifies him as
"Backus God of Wine."
Grapes and wine are the
theme of most of the floats.
They depict people at work
in vineyards, a "Bubble Car"
of huge artifical grapes, an
old-fashioned hand wine press.
At nightfall, a band takes
over the parade-reviewing
platform in front of the hotel.
Traffic is blocked off and the
street dancing begins. With
such Old and New World var
iations as the Schottische and
the Twist.
The dancing Is called off at
at ten o'clock and the people
flock to a fireworks display
to end their festival. It's obvi
ous they're happy in the
thought they they have earn
ed its theme: "Honor the
Keepers of the Vines."
You head back for the trip
of about 40 miles north to
Rochester. The valley and the
lake now are bathed in the
soft light of a full harvest
moon. When the lights of the
city come into view, you find
it hard to realize you haven't
been in the valley of the
Rhine.
Old World , U.S.A., you
might call it.
SECTION B
MedfordJ
PAGES 1 to 10
'RIBUNE
MEDFORD. OREGON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1!)B2
Scio Youth Dies Of Crash Injuries
Stayton -IUPII- Glenn Dean
Gibbons, 18, Scio, was dead on
arrival at a Stayton hospital
Wednesday night from in
juries incurred in a head-on
traffic crash near here on the
Stayton Scio highway.
Four other persons were in
jured. The Linn county sheriff's
office said Gibbons was the
driver of one of the cars, and
was alone.
The four persons in the oth
er car were Malcolm King, 23,
Ernest King, 19: Irby Batcy,
21. and Tyrone Batey, 18, all
of Scio. Officers said Malcolm
King was the driver of the
second car.
SORRY. VULCAN
Sheffield, England - IUPP -A
clothing store in this steel
making center today unveiled
a statue of Vulcan, the god
of metcls. It was made of
glass fiber.
DamaSCUS. Svria - IllPIt - PO. . arrnrdintf tn a 0nwtnmAnfc
land has agreed in principle, spokesman here. He said Syria
to lend Syria $15 million to would repay the loin In
unance industrial projects, eight years.
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