Winery taps old-fashioned recipe to turn birch sap into wine

First-of-its-kind business reports growing interest for its products, which are made with sap sourced in the Adirondacks

By Holly Riddle

Earlier this month, a Northern New York Agricultural Development Program research project determined that producing birch sap-based beverages could be a viable additional revenue stream for Adirondack maple producers. However, the potential for turning birch into business is old news to John Sheehan, director of communications at the Adirondack Council and owner of Meadowdale Winery.

According to Sheehan, his winery is the only one in the United States producing birch wines. While the winery is based in Altamont, with a tasting room in Voorheesville, it sources its birch sap from the Adirondacks, from a property owned by Sheehan’s mother-in-law on the shores of the Great Sacandaga Lake. 

A time-tested recipe

Sheehan was sifting through a book of historic recipes when he stumbled upon one for birch wine. 

“The first farmers who arrived in what became New Amsterdam and New Netherlands, so New York City and Upstate New York, wouldn’t have apples or grapes to make wine from for probably 150 years after they arrived,” Sheehan explained. “If they wanted to make wine, they had to find another way to do it.”

Sheehan’s recipe — fine-tuned for modern standards — dates back to 1736, when birch wine would have been popular in the Mid-Atlantic colonies, as well as Europe, where it still enjoys attention today, despite the eventual decline in popularity in the United States. At the time he first became acquainted with birch wine, Meadowdale Winery was operating its tasting room out of a 1730s barn.  

“The coincidence of the recipe being [published] so close to the year that the barn was built gave us the thought that possibly the folks who occupied the farm initially may have [made birch wine],” said Sheehan. “That was too much of a temptation for us to try it. We were prepared to hate it and never make it again, but, as it turned out, it’s really nice.” 

What it tastes like

Birch wine, he described, is light and citrusy, with a smooth, near-buttery mouthfeel. The Meadowdale Winery website further describes the wine’s flavor as having “notes of juniper, reminiscent of the finest dry gin.” 

“The first sip seems unusual, almost watery at first, and then it grows on you,” Sheehan said. 

The winery’s original birch wine won a bronze medal at the 2021 New York Wine Classic and a newer, semi-dry red version of the original has been added to the line-up, made with the addition of local elderberries.

Turning birch sap into wine

Sheehan said the winery can produce a gallon of wine for every gallon of birch sap harvested, and last year the team collected 150 gallons of sap from just 12 trees. Making birch wine, he added, is much easier than making typical grape-based wine. 

“The tree is growing without us doing a thing,” he said. “There’s no cultivation involved, really. It’s just waiting until usually late March, early April, for the sap to start to flow. It happens as soon as maple season ends…Birch is easier to harvest [than maple], in that it doesn’t turn off at night, when the trees get cold. Once it starts to run, it runs continuously until the season’s over, so it’s a little easier to collect if you have patience.” 

Demand for the birch wine is growing and Sheehan wants to begin producing it in greater quantities, but he’s running into a crucial problem: finding commercial maple producers willing to extend their operations. 

“I’m not sure why… They’ve just never done it before,” he shared. “I’m willing to pay for raw syrup…I think it would be more than lucrative, but so far, no volunteers. I’m going to keep looking. What we can harvest is fine for our customer base now, but the demand continues to rise. I’m really hoping we can find additional sources, because we need to make more than 150 gallons this year.” 

Learn more about Meadowdale Winery at their website. Online orders can be placed by emailing Sheehan at [email protected]. 

Top photo: The front door of Meadowdale Winery located in Voorheesville, NY in the summertime. Photo courtesy of Meadowdale Winery.