From farm to table: grape growing and processing from the records of George Hostetter
Item set
Title
From farm to table: grape growing and processing from the records of George Hostetter
Description
The Niagara region is well known for its wine production. This renowned reputation was built by men like George Hostetter, a researcher and viticulturalist with the T.G. Bright & Co. Limited company in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Hostetter and his colleagues changed grape and wine production with their experiments and trials, with their collaboration with other North American grape growers and wine producers and their attention to the desires of Canadian wine consumers. This exhibit highlights some of the earliest efforts to produce grapes for the wine market in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Creator
Edie Williams
Date
1940-1960
Language
English
Rights
George Hostetter fonds
Subject
Niagara region
Niagara Township
Grapes - Ontario
Wine - Ontario
George Hostetter
Brights Wines success lay in not only producing good wine but also promoting this good wine in several markets. These images showcase some of their successes.
One of Brights Wine most celebrated products was its President champagne. Champagne production in the 1940s-1950s was labour intensive. All aspects of the processing and bottling of champagne was done by hand.
After the fermentation process wine was transferred into aging barrels and stored in the vast wine cellar at Brights Wines headquarters on Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls.
The winemakers take over! The fine art of winemaking is evidenced by these images that show the continual testing of the grape juice. At every step of the process the wine is examined and tested for quality. This would ensure the very best quality of table wine production.
Once grapes were received at the winery, the grapes were placed directly into large crushing machines to immediately extract the juice that would later become wine.
Once the grapes were harvested they were trucked from the research vineyards to the winery location in Niagara Falls. Here winery workers unload the crates of grapes and dump into the crusher. The wine making process has begun!
The start of the wine making process is the delivery of the grape. Here a lineup of vintage trucks wait to make delivery of this years grape crop. What is a good year for the grape?
It takes many hands to harvest grapes in the vineyard. All grapes were cut from the vine by hand and deposited in wooden crates. Vineyard workers included both men and women as many were needed for this task.
Vineyard workers tend to the grape vines even in the winter. A worker prunes grapes, even while there is snow on the ground and two others on a Bucyrus Erie dozer tend to vineyard clean up.
Once grape vines had been pruned the next step in the cycle of grape production is to wait for budding and then to guide vines and tie them to a trellis system. George Hostetter studied various styles of trellis system over the course of his research at Brights Wines.
Pruning is an important aspect of encouraging great grape production. Different pruning techniques were used depending on the grape variety. George Hostetter, dressed formally in a hat, coat and tie, demonstrates some of these techniques.
Planting grape vines was labour intensive. In one of the photographs there are no fewer than 11 men planting grape vines who followed behind another worker with a hand plower and another on an International tractor. In the other photograph we see a freshly furrowed field with clear rows marked for planting. A Brights Wines truck sits in the middle of the field loaded with young vines ready for planting.
Art Neff, a staff member in the research vineyard division, prepares, plants and checks on growing status of grape vines grown under glass in the greenhouse.
It all starts with the vine. After 1933 investment increased into the research of suitable grape cultivars to produce table wines for the Canadian market. Grape vines were imported and grown in the Niagara region and also were then shared with other growers in Niagara, in southwestern Ontario, parts of eastern United States and international locations.
