PLEASE NOTE: Proof of vaccination is required for all BBG cooking classes. Please bring your photo ID and vaccination card with you on the day of the class.

NEW DATE APRIL  2. Author, grape grower, and winemaker,  J. Stephen Casscles will talk about the many wonderful grape varieties that were developed in Massachusetts and the rest of New England. He will present information and slides on New England grape hybridizers such as E.S. Rogers of Salem, MA; E. Bull and Jacob Moore of Concord, MA; and others.  As we review these heritage grape varieties, wines made from them will be presented. 

J. Stephen Casscles of Milea Estate Vineyards of Staatsburg, NY, has over 45 years of experience growing heritage grape varieties in the Hudson Valley and making wine from them at leading Valley wineries in the Valley. He comes from a farming family who settled in the Hudson Valley in the mid-1700’s and grew grapes and other fruits starting around 1870 in Marlboro, New York. In the fFall of 2021,he was appointed Director of the Heritage Wine Project s to encourage the study and production of locally produced wines from Heritage Grape varieties. On his 12-acre farm in Athens, NY,  Stephen cultivates over 110 rare French-American hybrids, 19th Century heritage grape varieties from the Hudson Valley and Massachusetts, and own-rooted chance hybrids that he evaluates, makes award-winning wine from, and lectures about. As a regional historian, Stephen authored Grapes of the Hudson Valley and Other Cool Climate Regions of the United States and Canada. He is currently working on two new books,and is a frequent lecturer and contributor to the leading academic and trade journals.Tags: Cooking, Horticulture