At Lucas Vineyards, winemaking is all in the family

Video of Lucas Vineyards

In the past, young men ‹ and some young women ‹ would head for the sea to find adventure. So why would a successful tugboat captain, his wife and children leave the sea for the Finger Lakes?

JEFF RICHARDS/Star-Gazette Lucas Winery winemaker Jeff Houck with some display grape vines in front of the winery tasting room.

Two reasons, for the Lucas family. A cooperative extension site said that a farmer in the Finger Lakes could make a living growing 40 acres of grapes. And Bill Lucas felt it was time for a lifestyle change.

After the family moved to Interlaken to become grape farmers in 1974, "We had one good year," says Ruth Lucas. "We harvested 34 tons of Dechaunac on four and a half acres that first year, at $400 per ton." They had planted Dechaunac because it was supposed to be a guaranteed seller.

The family ‹ Bill and Ruth, daughters Ruthie and Stephanie, and son Billy ‹ added Cayuga, chardonnay, Riesling, seyval and vignoles varieties to their vineyard and thought that they were off to a successful start.

Then the bottom fell out for local grape growers. The area's largest grape buyers, Taylor and Great Western, were purchased by larger companies that did not buy as many local grapes.

Many local growers were left with grapes hanging on the vine. But the Lucas family persisted. The Farm Winery Act of 1976 offered another opportunity for the Lucas' recently planted vineyards. The act allowed grape growers to make their own wine and sell it on the premises.

The Lucas family made 400 cases of wine ‹ Dechaunac and Cayuga ‹ from the 1980 vintage. The wine sold in few months. They also sold several tons of Cayuga grapes to Glenora Wine Cellars to make some of the first Cayuga wine in the Finger Lakes.

Again, the Lucas family believed that their financial plan was in good shape.

"We thought it would be simple to sell," Ruth remembers. "If we could sell 400 cases in a few months, we could do 2,500 cases in a year." So they made that many cases out of the 1981 vintage. But the family was ahead of its time. The Finger Lakes area wasn't a wine-lovers destination in the 1980s.

JEFF RICHARDS/Star-Gazette Lucas Vineyards owner Ruth Lucas, seated, with her daughters Ruthie Lucas Crawford, left, and Stephanie Lucas Houck in front of the winery's tasting room in Interlaken.

"People who came to the Finger Lakes came to our place not knowing that wineries were in the area," Ruth says. It proved to be very difficult to sell those 2,500 cases.

Judd Falls Wines and Spirits of Ithaca came to their rescue with a "Save a Winery" campaign. The store marked down the prices of their wines to sell them faster and the family was able to make their mortgage payment, move that vintage out and move on to the next. Another lesson learned.

Bill's seafaring past became a part of the winery very early in its history. The Lucas' good friend, Michael Turbach, former owner of Turbach's restaurant in Ithaca, suggested a nautical theme for a line of their wines.

He proposed that his bartender, Jim Dumond, draw the first label, which he did. That's how Tugboat Red, made mainly with Dechaunac, was born.

It was followed by Tugboat White, Captain's Belle and Lighthouse Blue.

"The nautical line has driven the other lines," Ruth says.

Tugboat Red helped pay for the planting of cabernet franc vines, a new grape press and new buildings. According to the family, Tugboat Red has a "mass appeal."

What is ironic is that Tugboat Red did not take off until the late 1980s ‹ after the family already had pulled out some of the Dechaunac vines to plant other varietals. Now they must buy Dechaunac from other growers to meet the demand for the popular wine.

Although Ruth and Bill have divorced, both daughters are active in running the winery, and have been since childhood. Ruthie Lucas Crawford remembers, "Barbie dolls went out the window when we moved to the farm."

The experience "taught us an incredible work ethic. Our parents were working hard seven days a week," Ruthie says, and the girls pitched in all the time.

"If we weren't tying up vines or taking suckers, we were picking up rocks," Stephanie Lucas Houck says. "I remember Mom ‹ she did all the vineyard work, including spraying."

Ruthie remembers as well. "She would come in the house covered in spray, wash up and start cooking dinner," Ruthie says.

"Our father would take us to Danby and cut posts," for the vineyards, Stephanie added. "It was too hot to go to the lake, but not too hot to pick up stones."

It was only when the girls got much older that they discovered that "picking up stones" was a way to keep them occupied.

Both girls still are busy. Stephanie is the winery retail manager and Ruthie does the administrative paperwork for the business. Stephanie's husband, Jeff Houck, is the winemaker. The couple had married in 1994, and Jeff asked Ruth if there was anything in winemaking at the family business that he could do.

"I really developed an interest in it, working in the tasting room," Jeff says.

The couple took a trip to California in 1996 so Stephanie could get ideas in the Napa Valley and Sonoma County for the retail shop. Jeff says he came back "high as a kite and had to get involved with the business."

Steve diFrancesco, now with Glenora Wine Cellars, was the winemaker at Lucas from 1991 to 1994.

"Steve spoiled me, not having to do a lot of work," Ruth says. She took over again as winemaker until Jeff was ready.

However, she credits Steve and Peter Bell of Fox Run Vineyards with helping Lucas develop wine-cellar management techniques.

When Jeff took over the winemaker position, Ruth says she was thrilled. "It was time to take the hat off," she says.

Ruth is the sole proprietor of the business, but now lets the next generation continue the tradition of hard work that results in consistently good wines at Lucas Vineyards.

Wine Guy picks

- Cabernet Franc Reserve 2001: Flavors of cherry, plum and oak; a little tannin lingers on the tongue.

- Reserve Riesling, 2002: Very smooth; rolls off the tongue with flavors of cantaloupe and lime.

- Semi-Dry Riesling, 2003: Lots of fruit taste with peach and apricot flavors.

- Extra-Dry Sparkling Wine (nonvintage): A creamy, yeasty wine with green apple taste.

Lucas family favorites

- Ruth Lucas: The Butterfly (nonvintage), a white wine blend.

- Ruthie Lucas Crawford: Stars (nonvintage), a white wine blend.

- Stephanie Lucas Houck: Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine (nonvintage).

If you go ...

Phone: 800/682-WINE (9463) or 607/532-4825.

Web site, e-mail: www.lucasvineyards.com, info@lucasvineyards.com.

Tasting room and gift shop hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays, January through April.

10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, May through December.

For comments or questions, Jeff Richards can be reached at 607/271-8279 or 800/836-8970, ext. 279, or e-mail: jrichards@stargazette.com.