Ashley Lynn apple wines embrace other fruit flavors

Leroy Hurlbut skips the grapes when he makes Ashley Lynn wines.

His father started growing apples on the familyıs dairy farm in 1928. Leroy remembers the apple trees on the farm located in Mexico, N.Y., 12 miles east of Oswego.

³My father always made hard cider; we had a barrel of it in the cellar,² Leroy says. When Leroy got out of high school, he began spraying the trees and taking care of them. He eventually bought the farm in 1957 and he and his wife, Pat, now grow several apple varieties in their 40-acre orchard.

How did making apple wine turn into more that a hobby for Leroy?

³We used to give it as gifts at Christmas time,² Leroy says. Several people suggested that he turn his wine-making into a business.

³I refined the process,² Leroy says. He took ³brix² readings, measuring sugar levels in the fresh-pressed cider, and played with the mix of apple varieties to come up with an apple wine that he liked best. It turned out to be a blend of Macintosh, Empire and Delicious apples.

Leroy makes the wines at Ashley Lynn Winery, located at their son Leon Hurlbutıs farm market in nearby New Haven.

It is a 90-mile trek for Leroy to get to their tasting room, 12 miles north of Watkins Glen on Route 14.

Pat is spared the trip by living in the apartment attached to the tasting room. She manages the retail store during the week with the help of friend Barbara Gifford, also of Mexico. They welcome Leroyıs visits on the weekend to help with the tastings.

As I stopped by last Saturday to sample some of their wines, I was treated to some easy-listening music provided by Peter Haskell, a one-man band.

Peter lays down chords and arrangements on a personal computer. He then uses what he calls a ³band in a box² to provide the programmed background music while he sings and plays guitar. It set a relaxing tone in which to sample apple wines blended with a variety of flavors.

We started with Elderberry Mist, which had nice, bright berry flavors. It is a semisweet wine with a clean finish. The Raspberry Rush was next, and wow, did the nose smell like fresh raspberries.

The flavor was just as intense with another clean, crisp finish.

The Peach Keen wine really smelled like fresh peaches. It had a cooling, fresh taste as I sipped it. Leroy says that it is a good wine for a hot summer day.

³It kind of mellows you out and quenches your thirst,² he says.

The Apple Cranberry wine has a full, sweet start that ends with a typical tart cranberry taste. According to Leroy, the Apple Cranberry wine sells well around the holidays.

Ashley Lynn even offers a wine for those who say they are not wine drinkers. It is a great blend of apple and fresh, sweet Concord grape tastes with only 8 percent alcohol.

Leroy says that the apple wine is somewhat neutral and therefore blends well with different fruit flavors. I think that the crisp, clean finish in most of the wines is in part due to the refreshing apple that I tasted in the straight Apple Wine. All of the wine flavors are priced at $8 per bottle, with discounts for larger quantities.

On the Net: www.ashleywines.com.

Jeff Richards' wine column appears Saturdays. For comments or questions, he can be reached at 607/271-8279 or 800/836-8970, ext. 279, or e-mail: jrichards