Zoom Tasting with Meaghan Frank of the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Finger Lakes, New York State: USA, Germany, Ukraine, Russia

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery and Germany 

Founder Dr. Konstantin Frank was born in the Tsarist Russian Empire into a Russian-German family. The Germans came in waves from the West to Russia and settled there from the 16th century onwards. A big wave of German immigration occurred in the 18th century under Catherine the Great, who herself was a German from Anhalt. 

The Frank family belongs to the Black Sea Germans. They settled in the territories of the Black Sea in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was Meaghan`s great great grandfather, who was borne in Germany and followed the invitation to settle in the Black Sea region. The Frank family lived there in a German enclave.

At the time Dr. Konstantin Frank was born, Odessa belonged to the Tsarist Russian Empire. When Dr. Konstantin Frank, surviving the Russian Revolution and two World Wars, left and moved to the USA in 1951, it was part of the Soviet Union. 

After the breakdown of the Soviet Union 40 years later, it became Ukraine. 

I have met Frederick Frank several times. We always communicated in German. Fred got his wine growing and wine making training in Geisenheim in Germany. 

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery and the Vitis Vinifery Revolution in the Finger Lakes

With extensive experience growing the vitis vinifera varientals in below freezing temperatures back in his home land, Frank knew it would be possible with the grafting techniques that he developed to plant vitis vinifera varietals in the cool Northern fringes of the North-eastern US. The struggle to do this goes back many centuries.

In the original charter of the 13 colonies was a royal commission to pursue three luxury items that England was unable to provide for itself: wine, silk, and olive oil. Every colony made attempts to satisfy the requirements of its charter, but made only limited progress. The problem was that on the one hand there were the native American grapes. All these native American grapes were cold tolerant and disease and pest resistant, but not that well suited for wine making, due to their coarseness, high tannins, and foxy flavors. On the other hand, the vitis vinifera which settlers brought from Europe, were well suited for wine making, but uniformly unable to survive long enough to produce a crop.

Despite many years of failure, the early Americans persisted in their efforts. And they had some success. A big step forward was made in 1740 when a natural cross pollination occurred between a native American grape and a European vitis vinifera. Other successful crossings followed.

So, only native American grapes and European American hybrids were grown in the Finger Lakes area, when Dr. Konstantin Frank arrived in the United States in 1951, finding work at a Cornell University experimental station in the Finger Lakes region. Having grown vitis vinifera back home in regions so cold that "spit would freeze before touching the ground" Dr. Frank believed that the lack of proper rootstock, not the cold climate, was the reason for the failure of vitis vinifera in the Finger Lakes region. He thought that European grapes could do well on the rolling, well-drained hills around the Finger Lakes provided they were grafted onto early maturing American rootstock.

With the help of the French champagne maker Charles Fournier, Dr. Frank put his ideas into practice. He developed the right root stock and grafted European vitis vinifera on them. He planted these vitis vinifera in the slate soil around Lake Keuka and he opened a winery, Vinifera Wine Cellars, in 1962. Despite his success, other winemakers still doubted him for many years and he had trouble getting New York distributors to handle his wine.

Today, Dr. Konstantin Frank is recognized as having led the revolution in wine quality in New York State and the East Coast.

Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery and the American Wine Society

Dr. Konstantin Frank is the founder of the American Wine Society. 

I have been a member of the American Wine Society for many years. For several years now, Annette has led tastings at the Annual Conventions of the American Wine Society. At the 2017 National Convention in Pennsylvania, we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the American Wine Society with the Frank family. 

See: The 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens