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WineEastNews grown in New York state. After working with Charles Fournier to establish the vinifera vineyards at Gold Seal Vineyards in Hammondsport, he left in 1962 to start his own winery, Vinifera Wine Cellars. His fiery advocacy of vinifera and its wines led many growers in the east to follow his example. Willy Frank takes over Dr. Frank's son Willy Frank helped build the winery in 1962 and returned from Long Island every year to help with the harvest. Both men had strong personalities, and their relationship was often difficult. With his health failing in the early 1980s, Dr. Frank turned the management of Vinifera Wine Cellars over to his son Sept. 15, 1984, a year before his death. The younger Frank took over a winery that had been struggling financially and put it back on solid footing through his promotional abilities and success in changing the wine list to include vinifera wines that attracted more customers. He'd always had a dream of making world-class Champagne, and in 1982 Frank and his wife Margrit purchased land winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "Dr. Frank 50." next to Vinifera Wine Cellars, where they established Chateau Frank, a sparkling wine facility that had its first vintage in 1985. The couple's daughter Barbara Frank was a trained enologist who graduated from Geisenheim and earned a master's degree from California State University, Fresno. Today she handles sales for the winery in the New York metro area and is a consultant for its sparkling wines. Waterloo_Nov10.qxp 8/26/10 11:36 AM Page 1 Jack Morinello and family attend the 50th anniversary party for Dr. Konstantin Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, N.Y. Their son Frederick Frank also studied at Geisenheim and had spent 10 years as managing director for Banfi Vintners in Old Brookville, N.Y., when his father brought him to Vinifera Wine Cellars as president and majority stockholder in 1993. One of his early contributions was to introduce the Salmon Run line of wines, a second label that helped the winery during poor economic times and was responsible for elevating the status of the wines marketed under the Dr. Konstantin Frank label. —Hudson Cattell WINES & VINES AUGUST 2012 61