Name/Title
LetterEntry/Object ID
Q2022.21.141Scope and Content
A letter from Mark Miller to Wilbur P. McDonald, M. D., dated 14 October 1969. It is on BENMARL VINEYARDS letterhead, Marlboro, New York.Context
Dear Doctor McDonald:
Congratulations on the nice article about your interest in vines and good wine.
I know very little about Missouri climate but it seems to me that there are currently successful plantings of Vinifera fairly near you. For example, there is a commercial winery in Altus, Arkansas which seems to be having good luck.
A new organization called "The American Wine Society, has many vinifera growers among its members. Why not apply to them (235 Berkshire Road, Ithaca, N. Y. 14850) for names of growers near you? You might even find it interesting to join and attend the annual conventions.
Here at Benmarl where our winter temperature can match yours we are just beginning to try vinifera and at present Pinot Chardonnay seems to be doing reasonably well with no special handling. Our mainstays for wine are the French Hybrids. They are worth your interest I would say. Their wines are frequently better than those of the vaunted vinifera when the latter are grown in less than optimum environments.
The Baco 1 you are using for rootstock can make an excellent wine here so if your Ruby Cabernet should fail you might save the situation by training up a shoot from the root. Foch is well thought of here in New York for red wine. It is a hardy early-ripening grape with low acidity. For white wine Siebel 5279 is very dependable. Seyve Villard 5276 is generally thought to be excellent but a little less winter hardy than S. 5279. The New York Experiment Station at Geneva, New York is doing a lot of work with Hybrids, both in the vineyard and the winery.
Good luck and don't forget to drop in on us if you happen to be in the area.
Sincerely,
(A hand written notation in blue ink): Enclosed is a recent article about our little operation which shows our new winery -Lexicon
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Dimension Notes
7.25" x 10.5"