Farms: The Queens County Farm Museum in New York is making and selling its own wine, which goes on sale thi

HEADLINE: The 'Queens' wine, made in New York? NB. THIS IS A VOICEOVER TRANSCRIPT, NOT A FULL SHOTLIST CAPTION: The Queens County Farm Museum in New York is making and selling its own wine, which goes on sale this month. The AP's Warren Levinson check's out New York's new brew. (May 12) Gary Mitchell has heard the jokes. About Chateauneuf de Flushing. And Far Rockaway Red. It's to be expected. As the operations manager of the Queens County Farm Museum, Mitchell supervises the only working winery in New York City. SOT GARY MITCHELL, Operations Manager, Queens County Farm Museum ``We get a general reaction here at the farm of, `oh, you have a farm in the middle of Queens' anyway. So when we say we;'re gonna grow wine grapes on that farm in the middle of Queens, people sorta go, `Wow!' That's kimnd of interesting.'' The museum, which sits on land that has been continuously farmed since 1697, is a popular destination with school groups. The one and a half acre wine grape arbor was started six years ago, by a museum management looking for ways to make the place more attractive to adults. ((VIDEO: Closeups of bottles, Mitchell showing off racks)) Now it's bringing its first crop to market, complete with a label that puts the city skyline in the background. SOT GARY MITCHELL ``I suppose that's the unique quality. What I'm hoping is that the wine is drinkable. That's the key. I mean, we could be from New York City, but if nobody would like to taste the wine... but thankfully, from the few tasters that we've had, the Wall Street Journal and other's who've tasted it, they seem to say we've done a pretty good job.'' Lessons learned in six years of growing wine grapes? Number one, it's really hard. Number two: the merlot is best suited to the soil and the climate. ((OPTIONAL SOT OVER VIDEO OF GRAPEVINES ``I think it's a miracle every day. I think it's a miracle when the buds swell and the shoots come out, and you see the grapes forming.'')) The first Queens County Farm Museum wines go on sale later this month, in the museum gift shop. SIG OUT You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/355fdb71aec55cca7831d96131a78f62 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork