Ravines quickly became regarded as a top wine destination in the Eastern USA and has consistently gained national awards, noteworthy press, high scores and international accolades.

2011

In 2011 Ravines purchased the historic White Springs Farm (circa 1801) where gentleman Farmer and Cornell agriculturist Carl Fribolin, had built a winery and planted vineyards in 2003.

Danish by birth, grew up on his family’s estate winery in the Côtes de Provence region of France, a region that’s world famous for its food and wine “religion”. His parents owned and operated Domaine de Castel Roubine, a 170 acre vineyard and estate winery where Morten spent years honing his viticulture skills, and in the cellar, learning the traditional methods of fine, European winemaking. Castel Roubine was a culinary paradise, surrounded by vineyards, gardens, orchards, and wild herbs and Lisa spent time training in the culinary arts after previously meeting Morten at the SAT test in high school.

After secondary school, Morten received an advanced degree in both Enology and Viticulture at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie in Montpellier, one of the world’s top winemaking schools, and then went to work for Chateau Cos d’Estournel, a world-renown “2nd Growth” winery in the Medóc region of Bordeaux. In the following years, he made wine at Cordier Estates in West Texas and then the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. In 1998 he went to work as Chief Winemaker for Dr. Konstantin Frank Cellars, one of the pioneers of vinifera grape growing in the Finger Lakes.

As chief winemaker, Morten’s job allowed him to work with grapes from many vineyards around the region and he marveled at the terroir of some of the sites, most of which were not owned by a specific winery. Additionally, as he tasted other Finger Lakes wines and made wines for Dr. Konstantin Frank, he was able to assess and gauge that the grapes would be best expressed in a very dry, focused, mineral-driven style, rather than the off-dry, fruity style that was principally being produced.

The Hallgrens realized the serious potential for fine, cool-climate winemaking in the Finger Lakes and agreed that this was their place to set roots as a life-long home. As timing would have it, they had the perfect opportunity to invest in a 17-acre parcel of land on the steep, eastern slopes of Keuka Lake, between two deep ravines. These were typical of the hundreds of ravines, gullies and gorges around each of the Finger Lakes and an important geological feature because they drain cold air and water from the vineyards. These particular ravines purchased by the Hallgrens became the namesake of the winery and later the place of Ravines first tasting room.