Brotherhood Winery Ruby Port New York, USA (NV)

Producer: Brotherhood Winery

Style: Ruby Port, a fortified wines

Where: Washingtonville, New York

Country: USA

Taste: This is a sweet, rich, medium-bodied ruby-red dessert wine has a deep, intense ruby-red in color, with complex aromas of plums, cherries and notes of ripe blackberries. An ambrosial delight to sip with dessert and after dinner. Excellent with cheeses, nuts and apples. Will last for years.

Vibes with: Blue Cheese, Chocolate, Barbeque

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Additional Info:

Partially fermenting red grapes on the skins, then stopping the fermentation with the addition of fine brandy vinifies this Ruby Port - creating an 18% alcohol content. After filtering, our Port is blended and aged in casks of aged port. The port is then withdrawn using a modified "solera" system of continuous blending throughout many years.

The Brotherhood Winery is America oldest winery.

John Jaques, a cobbler by trade, began growing native grapes in the backyard of his Washingtonville, NY store as early as 1824. By 1835, he had established a large vineyard, selling his grapes in the New York City market. As prices dropped, Jaques turned instead toward making wine, releasing his first commercial vintage in 1839, under the label “Blooming Grove Winery.”

As an elder in his Washingtonville Presbyterian Church, Jaques initially produced wine for sacramental use, but from the first vintage the wine quickly developed a reputation for purity, “free of alcoholic adulterations.” These qualities brought Jaques’ wines into great prominence.

In 1858, Jaques passed the operation on to his three sons, John Jr., Oren and Charles. First renamed “John Jaques Jr. & Brothers,” and then “Jaques Brothers Winery,” the three brothers expanded the vineyards and increased production to 15 different styles of wine, keeping roughly 35,000 gallons of wine, port and brandy in storage in their hand-dug underground cellars.

The Jaques Brothers Winery continued to prosper until, in 1886, ill health forced Charles Jaques, the last surviving Jaques brother, to sell the entire winery and vineyards to New York City wine merchants J. M. Emerson & Son. 

In 1987, a partnership of local businessmen purchased Brotherhood Winery, including winemaker Cesar Baeza, with two goals: restore its reputation as a prime tourist destination in the Hudson Valley, and increase production with a new line of premium wines.  Internationally known as a wine master, Baeza set about creating premium wines from single vinifera varietals, including Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Riesling.

In 2000, Brotherhood Winery was designated an historic landmark, and added to the New York State and National registers of historic places.