HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



97 



The facilities for shipping the products of the vineyards, 

 either as grapes or wine, from this section are ample and 

 convenient. Hammondsport, at the head of the lake, is 

 connected with Bath hy railroad, which has a station at the 

 Pleasant Yalley Wine-Cellars, two miles south of the former 

 place and six miles from the latter. Penn Yan, at the foot 

 of the lake, is not only a port for the steamers which make 

 daily trips between there and Hammondsport, but is also sit- 

 uated on the Northern Central Railroad, connecting both 

 with the Erie and the New York Central. The steamers 

 land regularly at the dock of the Urbana Wine Company, 

 whose cellars are located on the west side of the lake, a few 

 miles below Hammondsport. They also cruise along the 

 lake-shore, and take on at every dock the packages of grapes 

 for shipping. The vintlge takes place from the 20th of 

 September to the 20th of October. There are shipped to 

 New York and other places, as fruit for the table, from 

 eight to nine hundred tons each year. Of the other por- 

 tion of the whole crop, the larger share is made into wine, 

 some into brandy. 



WINE COMPANIES. 



Incidental to such extensive vineyards, where marketing 

 for table use was neither profitable nor practicable on so 

 large a scale, came wine-making, which is now thoroughly 

 organized and systematized as an industry of no inconsider- 

 able magnitude. There are three organized and prosperous 

 wine companies within the grape-growing zone of this 

 county, whose history we shall now proceed to give in the 

 order of their organization, beginning with the pioneer 

 institution. 



THE PLEASANT VALLEY WINE COMPANY. 



This company was organized in 1860. The original cor- 

 porators were William Baker, Aaron Y. Baker, Charles D. 

 Champlin, Grrattan H. Wheeler, Timothy M. Younglove, 

 Deloss Rose, G. H. Brundage, E. Brundage, Bell & Mc- 

 Master, Dugald Cameron, and J. W. Davis. It was 

 through the efforts of the late C. I). Champlin that this 

 company was formed, and who was its manager until his 

 death, January, 1875. It was his energy, perseverance, 

 and business ability that made the business a success and 

 made a reputation for its product, which is second to none 

 of the kind produced upon the American continent. Their 

 vaults and buildings are situated about two miles from Ham- 

 mondsport, on the Bath and Hammondsport Railroad. Their 

 vaults are four in number, each 100 by 22 feet, with a 

 capacity of stowing 1,000,000 bottles of champagne and 

 100,000 gallons of still wine. 



The officers at present are Hon. Ira Davenport, Presi- 

 dent and Treasurer ; A. S. Tuttle, Vice-President ; D. 

 Bauder, Secretary ; and Jules Masson, Superintendent. 

 The company own but a small experimental vineyard, con- 

 sisting of about five acres, where all the new varieties are 

 grown and tested for wine purposes. They control, through 

 its stockholders, nearly 250 acres of the finest vineyards in 

 this section. 



This company, in the first year of its organization, used 

 about 18 tons of grapes, which steadily increased until 

 1874, when they consumed nearly 1500 tons. Since that 

 13 



time until the present it has ranged between 500 to 1000 

 tons yearly, — 12 to 15 pounds of grapes will produce a 

 gallon of wine. They began the manufacture of cham- 

 pagne in 1865, which year they bottled 20,000 bottles, 

 which steadily increased until 1870, when they bottled 

 150,000 bottles, which has been about the average up to 

 the present They distilled from 1000 to 1500 gallons 

 of brandy annually up to 1875, since which they have not 

 distilled any. The capital is nominally $20,000, but the 

 earnings have been used to enlarge their works, storage, and 

 stock, until they have nearly $200,000 invested. 



THE URBANA WINE COMPANY. 



The Urbana Wine Company, located at Hammondsport, 

 in this county, was organized in the spring of 1865, with 

 a capital stock of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 

 and owning two hundred and twenty-five acres of grape 

 land, carefully selected, and much of it then set to grapes. 

 The first officers chosen were John W. Davis, President; 

 H. H.Cook, Secretary and Treasurer; and A. J. Switzer, 

 Superintendent and General Managing Agent. 



To superintend the manufacture of wine the company 

 secured the services of Charles Le Breton, a native of 

 Nantes, in France, who had been for several years con- 

 nected with important P]uropean wine-cellars, and whose 

 practical experience eminently insured success. The build- 

 ings of the company, which occupy a beautiful site on the 

 lake-shore about half-way between Hammondsport and 

 Bluff Point, were begun in 1865 and completed in the 

 following summer. They consist of three neatly-con- 

 structed stone dwellings, a separate fire-proof building 

 for the distilling of brandy, and the main stone structure 

 containing the cellars and wine-house. The cellars are one 

 hundred by twenty-two feet in the clear, and are separated 

 by a heavy stone wall and arched above at the height of 

 eighteen feet in the centre. The main building, including 

 the cellars, is sixty-five feet at the front elevation from the 

 ground to the ridge, and cost the company thirty-five thou- 

 sand dollars, exclusive of the fixtures, which are certainly 

 no small item of expense when counted in detail. 



The first elected officers of this company continued to 

 discharge their respective duties till February, 1871, when 

 the stockholders at their annual meeting elected the follow- 

 ing : President^ D. M. Hildrith, New York ; Vice-Presi- 

 dent^ Clark Bell, New York; Treasurer^ H. H. Cook, 

 Bath ; Secretary^ A. Smedburg, New York ; General 

 Superintendent, A. J. Switzer, Hammondsport; Board 

 of Directors, D. M. Hildrith, New York ; Clark Bell, New 

 York ; Henry H. Cook, Bath ; E. Eldridge, Elmira ; Gen. 

 W. W. Averell, A. Smedburg, New York ; Dr. Fred. B. 

 Lent, New York ; Harlo Hakes, Hornellsville ; John W. 

 Davis, Hammondsport. 



LAKE KEUKA WINE COMPANY. 



The Lake Keuka Wine Company was organized Oct. 1, 

 1878, and owns the works known as the " Crooked Lake 

 Wine-Cellars," situated in the fine grape-growing section 

 on Lake Keuka. W. A. Tomer, Secretary ; Charles I^e 

 Breton, Superintendent. 



Mr. Le Breton was for twelve years in charge as wine- 



