History’s made; a dream comes trueWilliamson’s first winery opens |
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History’s made; a dream comes trueWilliamson’s first winery opens |
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Get ready to take a delicious sip of history in the making as the first winery in the town of
The Youngs’ love of farming paired with their appreciation for wine set the wheels in motion several years ago. Herm is a fourth generation fruit farmer; Wilma’s home is in
The tide turned in a major way when Herm and Wilma renewed an old friendship with Williamson’s Jan Klepetzky. They had met Jan years ago when he was their older sons’ Cub Scout leader. Jan has been an extremely successful and respected home wine maker for over three decades (see the May 8 edition of the Sun & Record). When Jan began to take award after award for his wines Wilma decided to interview him and share his story with readers of The Sun & Record. Wilma recalls, “Jan is a very congenial fellow and invited me down to see his cellar – an amazing place with a older stone foundation, dirt floors and a small stream running through. Jan was very proud of his winemaking ability and shared a sip of this one and a glass of that. It was a most enjoyable interview. Not long thereafter Jan offered a winemaking course and Herm and I took it. It was all about grapes, but Herm persisted and convinced Jan they should try to make apple wine. That wine (made Senshu, an Asian hybrid apple) was the first gold medal wine at the New York State Fair competition that was produced by them together. Herm was hooked. Jan was impressed, and I was convinced we could make fruit wines and people might like them. We dreamed of having our own winery someday. That was going to be tough because Williamson was a dry town at the time. Jan and I and several others worked hard to petition the town to offer a referendum to allow Farm wineries and the people of Williamson agreed that we should be given the chance. The dream became ever more possible.”
Their vision became more focused as hopes, dreams, and expectations began to come together. The road to building the winery was daunting, but the Youngs are no strangers to hard work and commitment to a goal. They’ve raised five sons and have spent more than 20 years developing a deep appreciation for fresh fruit and benchmark marketing skills. Herm has a full time job at Xerox as a mechanical design engineer; Wilma is owner and editor of The Sun & Record newspaper. Additionally, they run the fruit farm which produces nearly two dozen varieties of apples, cherries, peaches, plums, and pears; they go to market twice a week throughout the summer and fall. Hey, what’s the big deal with building another business from the ground up? Herm explains, “We had a vision to expand the farm viability in a new, unique way for our area. We don’t want to be a large player in the local fruit growing industry; we have no desires to go full time with the farm but really enjoy working small scale and developing a product that satisfies our customers’ needs. We listen to what the customers ask for and change our business to align with the demands, like removing fairly new trees to plant a different variety that was requested. Operating on a smaller scale allows us to be a little more flexible in how we manage our crops. Our sons developed a personality for dealing with people, managing a business, and the hard work ethics to enable a successful outcome.”
The road to opening the winery has at times been a rocky one. A huge hurdle was changing the alcoholic beverage law in Williamson. “The people in the town supported us and we are grateful!” Wilma said with a smile. Another major obstacle, Herm explains, “was not knowing what we were getting into from the standpoint of regulations. There is tons of information on the rules and regulations but not necessarily all set into one convenient hand book. We understand the necessity of the regulations and have a deep appreciation and respect for the laws and governing entities, but we don’t understand the reasons for the delays in processing applications. We do understand that in today’s business world that everyone is asked to do more and more with less and less. We are very grateful for the assistance that Assemblyman Bob Oaks and Senator Mike Nozzolio gave us in ensuring that we were able to secure our licenses last fall so we would be able to utilize last fall’s harvest.” A winery can only begin producing product to sell after the facility has been completely built, all equipment purchased, inspections passed, and federal and state licenses secured. Even the labels have to receive state and federal approval.
Wilma shares their gratitude to Williamson Town Supervisor Jim Hoffman, saying “he has been very supportive – whatever we needed, he was there. The town board and the towns of
Under the sage guidance of winemaker Jan Klapetzky, a former chemical engineer at Kodak, Young Sommer (Wilma’s maiden name) wines are handcrafted in small batches, usually no more than 130 gallons each. Their current white grape wine varieties include Traminette, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles, Cayuga White; red varieties include Cabernet Franc, Sommer Breeze Dry, a blend of Chancellor and Foch, and Sommer Breeze Semi-Sweet, a blend of Chancellor, Foch, and Cabernet Franc. Apple wines include Golden Delicious, Golden Russet, and Senshu. They offer unique fruit-grape blends; currently both a semi sweet and semi dry blend of cherries and Traminette grapes are available. This fall they’ll be offering blends featuring blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, peaches, and spiced apples.
As for what the future holds, Herm says, ”We’ll let our customers helps us make that decision as well. As for now, we know that we won’t be the biggest or the best but we hope to set a standard to compare against.” There’s an air of both excitement and apprehension as Young Sommer Winery prepares to open on Saturday. Wilma shared some thoughts, saying “This weekend will bring about a huge change in our lives…and also for the community. It’s an historic day for us all. To me though the most important thing is to remember my German heritage: Wine is for having fun and I am committed that our winery will be a place to relax and have a little fun and enjoy the bountiful fruit of our labor. I’ll be lifting my glass and wishing you good health and good cheer!”
Young Sommer Winery is located at
