CHENANGO FORKS – Many cling to the old adage that suggests a glass of red wine a day is good for one's health. Who doesn't want an excuse to have a nice drink at the end of a long day?

Black Bear Winery is working hard to provide wines that are both unique and health-conscious, though the type and color of the wine varies from the traditional red color and grape-derived wine of the saying.

Located on 248 County Road 1 in Chenango Forks, Black Bear Winery offers a variety of fruit wines, meads, and hard cider.

“We don't use any grapes. It's all local fruits, and they are all grown in New York,” said Sandy Stacey, co-owner and founder of the winery with her husband, Mark Stacey. “We're all about supporting the community we grew up in.”

Black Bear Winery has been around for 11 years, and the Staceys, who did not get formal training in wine-making but learned through experimentation and research, began making their own wine because they are fruit growers.

“We were hoping to make a living off of our own land,” Stacey explained.

“Not all of the wines are sweet. Some are really nice and dry,” she said. “We have a black currant 'Black Moon' wine that is dry, tart, and oak-aged.”

Black Bear Winery makes at least 60 different kinds of wines, though not all of them are available at the same time. Everything is aged at least a year, and the Staceys are constantly collecting and freezing fresh fruits throughout the year until a tank is free to start the wine-making process. One of Stacey's favorite wines is the Elderberry wine, the berries of which are not easily cultivated. As a result, in order to get enough fruit to make a batch of wine, they spend three years collecting the berries that they find growing in the wild.

“It takes a couple of thousand pounds of fruit to make a tank of wine,” said Stacey and explained that a tank holds approximately 300 gallons. “The local growers are thrilled that they can sell in that bulk.”