Stanley Arthur "Bill" Wagner (April 10, 1927 – June 26, 2010) was an American

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

who, in the 1970s, became one of the earliest winemakers to establish a vineyard in the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York (state), New York, in the United States. This region straddles th ...

region of

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, in an area that would eventually become the

Seneca Lake AVA Seneca Lake is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) surrounding Seneca Lake, the largest of the eleven Finger Lakes in upstate New York, approximately south of Lake Ontario within portions of Seneca, Ontario, Schuyler and Yates counties. E ...

. In addition to his award-winning wines, Wagner also established a

microbrewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

that produced

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

and

stout Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale. The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...

Biography

Wagner was born on April 10, 1927, in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...

. Both his parents and grandparents had been grape farmers, and he grew up in

Lodi, New York Lodi ( ) is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 1,469 at the 2020 census. The Town of Lodi is in the southwest part of the county and is northwest of Ithaca, New York. The town contains a village also named ...

, only one-half mile from where he established his vineyards. Wagner dropped out of high to join the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but the war ended before he could see combat.Fox, Margalit
"Stanley Wagner, New York Winery Owner, Dies at 83"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', June 30, 2010. Accessed July 1, 2010. He became a dairy farmer after completing his military service, but by the mid-1950s he had returned to the family tradition of growing grapes. In the 1970s, Wagner lobbied on behalf of the

New York Farm Winery Act of 1976 The New York Farm Winery Act of 1976 is a law that allows grape growers in New York to establish wineries and sell directly to the public, subject to a maximum of annually. In the early 1970s, John Miller, of Benmarl Winery, and John Dyson, commi ...

that fostered the creation of wineries in New York State.Finger, Ray
"Wagner Vineyards founder Stanley Wagner dies at age 83"
''

Elmira Star-Gazette The ''Star-Gazette'' is the major newspaper for Elmira, New York. Based in Elmira, the publication is owned by Gannett. History The ''Star-Gazette'' was the first newspaper of the now massive Gannett conglomerate. It was founded as the weekly ' ...

'', June 28, 2010. Accessed July 1, 2010. Wagner Vineyards was established in 1979, at a time when there were barely a dozen wineries in the Finger Lakes region. The winery took three years to construct, as most of the work was done by Wagner and his family. Wagner's first vintage was in 1978, and its initial varieties were white wines, such as

chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and which performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz ( ; although this is never the case in German, because mean ...

and

riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

. A 1981 review of a chardonnay in ''

'' called the wine "a rich and creamy white, full in body", with the characteristics of "some of the great white Burgundies of France". Later, Wagner Vineyards became known for its red wines, including

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

and

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

. In addition to a restaurant, Wagner opened the Wagner Valley Brewing Company in 1997, producing a range of beers including pilsner, lager, ale and stout. He opened branch locations in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

and the

Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (, ) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about downstream fr ...

, once state law had been revised to allow such operations. In the 1990s, Wagner had worked on a study with researchers from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

measuring the levels of

resveratrol Resveratrol (3,5,4′-trihydroxy-''trans''-stilbene) is a stilbenoid, a type of natural phenol or polyphenol and a phytoalexin produced by several plants in response to injury or when the plant is under attack by pathogens, such as bacterium, ba ...

in the wine and printed on neck tags to let buyers know about the positives of consuming the wine and its antioxidants, but federal authorities revoked the winery's ability to identify possible health benefits. Polgreen, Lydia
"Selling New York Wine as Good . . . and Good for You (Who Knew?)"
''

'', August 26, 2003. Accessed July 22, 2010. A resident of

, Wagner died at his home there at age 83 on June 26, 2010, after what was described as a "brief illness". Wagner credited his longevity to his consumption of a glass of his own Pinot Noir every night at dinner, continuing to note that "I exercise and eat right, too. But the wine helps, no question."via ''

''
"Stanley Wagner , N.Y. vintner, 83"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', July 6, 2010. He was survived by a daughter, two sons and six grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Stanley 1927 births 2010 deaths American winemakers Businesspeople from New York (state) People from Elmira, New York United States Navy sailors New York (state) wine People from Lodi, New York 20th-century American businesspeople