Though California has the current title of America’s wine capital, the very first winery in the country was actually right here in New York.
Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville in the Hudson Valley, about an hour’s car ride from NYC (and 1.5 hours by public transit), now boasts a catering hall, gift shops and its own restaurant. But, it has humble beginnings as a tiny backyard vineyard!
What better way to enjoy history than with a glass of wine? Read on to learn more about Brotherhood’s origin story, grape-growing in NY, and how to visit today.
A history of brothers, and grapes
1824-1900s
Everything began with John Jaques, a French cobbler who immigrated to the U.S. and started growing grapes in his backyard in Washingtonville, NY back in 1824. In 10 years time he had a significant vineyard, and began selling his grapes in NYC. As time passed and Jaques wasn’t making as much money on just the grapes alone, he tried his hand at making wine. He debuted his first commercial vintage in 1839, and called his winery “Blooming Grove Winery.”
Eventually (around 1858) Jaques passed the operation along to his three sons and it grew rapidly to produce 15 different styles of wine, with about 35,000 gallons of wine, port and brandy (that was kept in hand-dug cellars still there today!). Oh, and they renamed it “Jaques Brothers Winery.” Then in 1886, the last remaining brother sold the entire business to city wine merchants J. M. Emerson & Son.
1900s-today
The merchants kept the “Brotherhood” name due to its reputation in the area, and in the following years tremendously scaled-up the business — adding new buildings, underground vaults for storage, and expanded beyond wine to more brandies, sherries, distilled spirits and even a special methodé champenoise style of champagne. Prohibition slowed things down for a while in the 1920s, with the Emersons transitioning to legal medicinal and sacramental wines.
After, it was the full-blown tourism era, with co-owners the Farrell family now leading the way for the vineyard. They rebranded to “America’s Oldest Winery” and held tours, tastings and cellar parties throughout the 1960s that drew tons of patrons.
The winery fell on hard times again during the recession in the 1980s, but in ’87 was bought by a group of local businessmen and they brought it back to life, reestablishing the winery as a visitors destination. Though a tragic fire in 1999 destroyed many historic buildings on the property, the winemaking facilities and underground vaults were saved. Brotherhood was even designated as a historic landmark in 2000!
For the past 15 years it has thrived, thanks to a new partnership in owners, a Board of Directors, and restoration/renovation plus expansion. And remember, even the above was still a brief history, so check out the Brotherhood “About us” page for even more details!
The modern era
Nowadays the winery has significantly grown with tours, tastings, bar and restaurant, gift shops and even serves as a wedding and events venue with its Grand Monarque Hall!
Tours will take you through the winding historic wine cellars, boasting 200 barrels. The tunnels were hand-excavated in the late 1800s, and as you wander you’ll learn both about the history of them plus about wine making itself. These are available Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and include a tasting of five wines. They cost $25, but no reservations are required!
As for just a wine tasting on its own, they are available Tuesday-Sunday.
You can also check the Brotherhood website, as there is typically live music on weekends! Plus, there is an on-site restaurant, 1839 Restaurant & Bar, so you can have a bite when you’re there (and they have outdoor seating).
The grounds are also lovely to walk through on a nice day, as you peruse the historic sites.
How to get there
What’s great about Brotherhood is that it’s easy to get to via public transit from NYC. You can either take the Metro North on the Hudson Line from Grand Central to Beacon, NY (about an hour), and then get a 15-20 minute taxi or Uber to the vineyard.
Or, you can take NJ Transit from Penn Station to Secaucus, and then transfer to the Port Jervis Line and go to the Salisbury Mills-Cornwall stop (about 1.25 hours). From there, it’s just walk 10 minutes to Brotherhood.
If you drive, there is parking on-site!
📍 100 Brotherhood Plaza Dr, Washingtonville, NY 10992
⏰ Sunday, Tuesday – Thursday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed Mondays); 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday