The SweeTango Blog

All In The Family At LynOaken Farms

Someday they’ll get around to fixing grandpa’s old tractor.

In the meantime, members of the Oakes family have apples to grow. And cider to make. And a winery to run.

Darrel Oakes
Darrel Oakes

The Oakes family has been farming in Orleans County in New York for nearly a century. A few years ago, they started growing a new star of the show, SweeTango.

Chris Oakes, a fourth generation apple grower, says SweeTango is the finest apple he’s ever tasted.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten as far as apples, and I’ve eaten a lot of apples,” he said. “It’s the juiciest, sweetest, tartest — all into one. It’s really an experience you have to have for yourself.”

The heart of LynOaken Farms is the property Leonard Oakes bought in 1918. He picked a fine spot just a few miles south of Lake Ontario, which helps create an ideal climate for apple growing. There’s been an Oakes home on the land ever since.

LynOaken Farms
Leonard Oakes founded the farm in 1918.
Today, the Oakes family has branched out. They run an apple and gift shop. They operate a cold storage facility. And they’ve created the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery.

LynOaken Farms is part of Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative, which grows and markets SweeTango. We like to say that SweeTango is flavor, nurtured by the finest apple growers in the world.