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Marvin Baum Resurrects Rockland County’s Winemaking History With High Tor Vineyards
By Tina Traster
While he’s not penning a foundational document or planning a run for president, both fit the definition of Renaissance man – Jefferson, with his deep knowledge of architecture, invention, agriculture and philosophy, and Baum with some of the same driving qualities.
Over the past four years, Baum, an event promotor, environmentalist and oenophile, has purchased three New City properties for more than $3.1 million with plans to create an organically grown vineyard and flower farm called High Tor Vineyards. This county’s “gentleman farmer” has sunk a life’s treasure into resurrecting heritage Hudson Valley varietals, learning the grape growing industry, while becoming a landlord for houses he rents on his estates – which helps to finance the enterprise.
In 2022, he bought a three-acre parcel off North Little Tor Road. Two years later, he purchased the adjoining property, which will serve as the site for wine production next year when the vineyards are expected to begin producing (the fourth growing season). He began experimenting this year with growing zinnias, Dahlias, and other gorgeous showy blooms, which he also plans to monetize. And this year, he bought a third property on Buena Vista Road, a 4-acre former horse farm with a historic house to expand the vineyard and to give him the 7 acres he needs to be eligible for a New York State agricultural tax exemption.
Baum is driven by curiosity, passion and vision. He plans to establish a winery and use it for agritourism. But he’s also a well-financed pragmatist who knows how to build something so they will come. This Renaissance man, who grew up in Rockland, recalls a time when the county was rural and filled with farms. Though that has all but disappeared, Baum wants to resurrect a small patch of earth in the county he loves that echoes its pastoral and wine-producing past.
Please watch this short documentary to hear Baum tell the story of High Tor Vineyards.
