Formerly: Blooming Grove Winery · Jaques Brothers Winery · The Brotherhood Wine Company
Washingtonville, New York · Founded 1839 · Building: 19th-century cellar complex; individual building dates unverified
A working Washingtonville winery with a first commercial vintage in 1839, hand-dug cellars, and an unresolved claim to America's oldest operating winery title.
Brotherhood Winery traces its commercial wine history to 1839, when John Jaques released a first vintage under the Blooming Grove Winery label in Washingtonville, New York. Jaques had begun growing grapes around 1824 and expanded into a larger vineyard by 1835; his sons later operated Jaques Brothers Winery before Jesse M. Emerson and Edward Emerson purchased the estate in 1886. The winery became The Brotherhood Wine Company in 1894 and remains active today with wine sales, tours, tastings, and events.
John Jaques, a French immigrant cobbler, began growing native grapes behind his Washingtonville store, according to Brotherhood's current history.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026
Jaques established a larger vineyard and sold grapes in the New York City market before shifting toward commercial wine production.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026; Historic Towns of America, "Oldest winery in America"
Jaques released his first commercial vintage under the Blooming Grove Winery label, the recognized origin date of Brotherhood's commercial winery lineage.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026; I Love NY, "Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery"; ABC7 New York, "A toast to America's oldest winery," June 9, 2026
John Jaques deeded the winery to his sons John Jr., Oren, and Charles, who operated it as Jaques Brothers Winery.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026; Hudson Valley Wine Goddess, "The Story of Brotherhood," June 5, 2014
Jesse M. Emerson and his son Edward Emerson, New York City wine merchants, purchased the Jaques Brothers Winery from Charles Jaques.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026; Historic Towns of America, "Oldest winery in America"; ABC7 New York, June 9, 2026
The Emerson family incorporated The Brotherhood Wine Company, formalizing the Brotherhood identity.
Source: Hudson Valley Wine Goddess, "The Story of Brotherhood," June 5, 2014
National Prohibition began. Brotherhood's history says its operators produced medicinal and sacramental wines allowed by law, including wine for religious communities. Original federal permits and production records were not reviewed.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026; ABC7 New York, June 9, 2026; Historic Towns of America, "Oldest winery in America"
Secondary histories report an ownership transition at Brotherhood Winery. The current owners, transaction details, and legal succession require direct New York records review.
Source: Showcaves, "Brotherhood Winery"
A secondary history reports restoration work by a partnership involving the Baeza, Castro, and Chadwick wine families. The ownership roles and exact restoration scope have not been independently verified.
Source: Showcaves, "Brotherhood Winery"
Brotherhood Winery continues public wine sales, tastings, tours, and events at 100 Brotherhood Plaza Drive in Washingtonville.
Source: Brotherhood Winery official contact and tours pages, accessed September 1, 2026; I Love NY, "Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery"
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Brotherhood's current history, New York tourism material, and ABC7 coverage all identify 1839 as the year John Jaques released his first commercial vintage under Blooming Grove Winery. This is the strongest and most specific historic founding fact in the reviewed record.
Brotherhood is widely described by its own materials, New York tourism, and current media as America's oldest continuously operating winery. Its 1839 first commercial vintage and reported sacramental/medicinal wine production during Prohibition make the claim credible. But this review did not examine original Prohibition permits, production and sales records, full ownership/legal-entity succession, or all competing national claimants, so the title is not treated as conclusively settled.
Brotherhood's history and ABC7 reporting say the winery remained open during Prohibition by making wine for church and medicinal use. The account is coherent and directly relevant to its continuity claim, but this review did not retrieve federal permits, tax records, production logs, or named religious-community contracts.
Brotherhood's hand-dug cellars are central to its historic identity and are widely described as extensive. However, no reviewed architectural survey, preservation study, national cellar inventory, or defined comparative source establishes that they are the largest in the United States or North America.
The business began as Blooming Grove Winery, became Jaques Brothers Winery after 1858, passed to Jesse M. and Edward Emerson in 1886, and was incorporated as The Brotherhood Wine Company in 1894. Later ownership changes are also reported. The long site and winery lineage is real, but it has not retained one unchanged name or ownership group since 1839.
Brotherhood's current official contact and tours pages publish location, phone number, visitor schedules, wine tours, tastings, and special events. I Love NY also lists the winery as open year-round for wine purchases.
Brotherhood Winery began when Jean Jaques first planted grapes in 1835.
Brotherhood's own history says John Jaques began growing grapes around 1824 and had established a larger vineyard by 1835. Its first commercial wine was released in 1839, the date used for Brotherhood's winery origin.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026
Brotherhood Winery has always operated under the Brotherhood name.
The winery began as Blooming Grove Winery, became Jaques Brothers Winery after 1858, passed to Jesse M. and Edward Emerson in 1886, and was incorporated as The Brotherhood Wine Company in 1894.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026; Hudson Valley Wine Goddess, June 5, 2014
Brotherhood's 1839 historic cellars are the largest hand-dug wine-cellar system in North America.
Brotherhood has extensive historic underground cellars, but this review did not find an architectural survey or national comparative inventory establishing a largest-in-America or largest-in-North-America ranking.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026; Discover America Blog, August 9, 2020
The winery's national oldest-continuously-operating title is conclusively proven by its Prohibition sacramental-wine history.
Brotherhood's 1839 commercial vintage and reported Prohibition-era sacramental and medicinal wine production make its national oldest claim credible. But original permits, production records, ownership/legal-entity continuity, and comparison with competing national claimants must be reviewed before declaring the title resolved.
Source: Brotherhood Winery, "History," updated February 4, 2026; ABC7 New York, June 9, 2026; I Love NY
Brotherhood survived because each era found a way to build on the same Washingtonville vineyard-and-cellar setting. Jaques moved from grape growing to commercial wine when market conditions changed; the Emersons expanded the operation and gave it the Brotherhood identity; and Prohibition-era sacramental and medicinal wines reportedly kept production alive when ordinary wine sales were prohibited. Modern winery tourism has turned the old cellars into an experience, but the record still needs primary documentation before the business can claim a fully proven, unbroken national operating chain.
Brotherhood Winery released its first commercial wine in Washingtonville in 1839 under the Blooming Grove Winery label. Its founder, John Jaques, began growing grapes around 1824 and expanded to a larger vineyard by 1835; his sons later ran Jaques Brothers Winery before Jesse M. and Edward Emerson purchased the estate in 1886. The Emersons incorporated The Brotherhood Wine Company in 1894, and the winery reportedly remained active during Prohibition through sacramental and medicinal wine production.
Brotherhood Winery is widely promoted as America's oldest continuously operating winery and has a strongly supported first commercial vintage date of 1839. Its reported legal sacramental and medicinal wine production during Prohibition supports the continuity story. However, this review has not examined original federal permits, complete production records, full legal-entity succession, or every competing national winery claimant, so it does not declare the national title conclusively settled.
The dates mark three different stages of the winery's history. John Jaques began growing grapes behind his Washingtonville store around 1824, established a larger vineyard by 1835, and released his first commercial wine in 1839 under the Blooming Grove Winery label. Brotherhood uses 1839 as its commercial-winery founding date.
Brotherhood's current history says the winery produced medicinal and sacramental wine during Prohibition, including wine for religious communities. That claim is credible and helps explain why Brotherhood is described as continuously operating, but this review did not inspect the original federal permits, production records, or sales documentation. The operation should not be described as ordinary unrestricted commercial wine production during the Prohibition years.
Brotherhood Winery has an extensive nineteenth-century underground cellar network that is central to its tours and historic identity. Some accounts call the cellars the oldest or largest hand-dug wine cellars in the country, but this review did not find a comparative architectural survey or national inventory that proves a largest-in-America or largest-in-North-America title. The cellars are historically notable without relying on an unsupported ranking.
100 Brotherhood Plaza Dr, Washingtonville, NY 10992
(845) 496-3661
Brotherhood publishes separate schedules for retail sales, tours, tastings, and events. Check the current visitor calendar before traveling because hours vary by day, season, and program.