In its 175 years of business, Brotherhood Winery has seen many changes within the wine industry and has had the opportunity to set a few trends in line with those changes. “Our history provides a good perspective of the changes of the industry in the last 175 years,” says Hernan Donoso, president of the Washingtonville, N.Y.-based winery. “From [our start with] sacramental and medicinal wines, Brotherhood Winery has adapted to each of the eras in a different way, capitalizing on new business opportunities and adding new capabilities with investments in technology, wine-making facilities and renovations.”
In fact, change is what brought the winery into business in the first place, according to Donoso. “John Jaques, one of the first to establish a commercial vineyard in Orange County, N.Y., began selling grapes in 1837,” he explains. “When the tradable price suddenly dropped from 15 cents to 13 cents per pound, Jaques was unwilling to let his extraordinary fruit go for such a low price. It was then he set his sights to a new venture — wine — and thus founded the winery in 1839.”