20090911

Widmer vineyards donated to RIT

ROCHESTER, NY -- In the midst of an unprcedented growth in the number of wineries in New York State, one of the oldest is being closed.

Widmer Winery, located in Naples about 40 miles southeast of here, will be closed by 2011 and the building and vineyards donated to Rochester Institute of Technology. RIT offers academic programs in wine, sustainability and culinary arts.

Widmer is owned by Constellation Brands Inc., headquartered here in Rochester. It is the world's largest wine company.

Constellation CEO Rob Sands said the company plans to move production of its Taylor, Paul Masson and Manischewitz wines from Widmer to its Canandaigua Winery, located about 20 miles away. It said it probably will move the 55 jobs at Widmer to Canandaigua.

RIT is getting a piece of history as well as 860 acres of land on which there are 220 vine acres with 640 vines to the acre.

The foundations of Widmer's Wine Cellars began more than a century ago when Swiss winemaker John Jacob Widmer and his wife, Lisette, moved to the Finger Lakes. He planted his first vines in 1883 and his wine business started in 1888 when he began filling kegs and barrels on request, mostly for Swiss immigrants in Rochester and in Paterson, NJ.
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Monster whisky bottle one for the book

TOMINTOUL, Scotland -- If you're limited to just one bottle of Scotch, the distillers here in the highest village in the Highlands have come up with just the thing for you.

They've made it into the Guinness Book of World Records by producing the world’s largest whisky bottle for their Tomintoul Speyside Glenlivet Single Malt. It holds the equivalent of 150 regular bottles.

It recently was filled by hand at the distillery in August with 105.3 litres of the 14-year-old whisky, and stands just under five feet tall. The bottle now is on permanent display at the Clockhouse in the Tomintoul village square.

Tomintoul is located in the northeast of Scotland in Ballindalloch, Banffshire.
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