New Wineries Win Big

                 The "Celebrate the Classic" event Friday night provided a terrific way for consumers, media and trade to taste the Double Gold and Gold wines from our New York Wine & Food Classic, highlighting the blend of diversity and quality as well as several new wineries which took top awards.

               Winemaker and General Manager Juan Micieli-Martinez traveled from Long Island to pour the Martha Clara Vineyards 2010 Riesling which won this year's Governor's Cup award.  The elegance of the wine was mirrored by a strikingly simple, elegant label and a screwcap closure to preserve freshness.

               Long-time Finger Lakes grape grower and vintner Mark Wagner left his Seneca Lake vineyard to showcase six of Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars's Double Gold and Gold medal wines that led to Winery of the Year honors, reflecting consistently excellent quality across grape varieties and wines.

               Three of the 20 wineries in attendance were relatively new operations that took Best of Category awards.  Keuka Lake Vineyards, owned by Mel Goodman and located above the southwest end of the lake, has been making wine only for a few years but the vineyards date back decades.  In fact the vines producing the 2010 Leon Millot (Best Red Wine) were planted by the legendary Charles Fournier of Gold Seal Vineyards, as noted on the label.

               Owera Vineyards, which won Best Rose/Blush with its 2010 Cazenovia Blush (a blend of vidal and chambourcin), is so new that it will break ground on its building in about a month with the intention of opening around Memorial Day of next year.  For the moment, the wines are being made in Syracuse until the winery overlooking Cazenovia Lake opens.  Owera also won a Gold for its Dry Riesling and Double Gold for its Semi-Dry Riesling, poured proudly by Owera's Ben Reilly.

               Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in the Niagara region has long been in the apple business, but is relatively new to wine.  Its  2008 Vidal Ice Wine took Best Dessert Wine, and the Steampunk Cidre took a Double Gold, which co-owner Wendy Oakes and winemaker Jonathan Oakes offered to guests.

               The event, held at the New York Wine & Culinary Center, also provided a great opportunity for winemakers to taste each other's wines and compare notes.  This collegiality is one of the things that make our industry great.  The product is a pleasure, but the people are the treasure.

               Two of New York's newest wineries from North Country stuck gold at the International Cold Climate Wine Competition, held recently at the University of Minnesota campus. 

              Coyote Moon Winery Brianna and Tug Hill Vineyards Whiteout (made from Frontenac grapes) received Gold medals at this terrific competition, which emphasizes grape varieties (many developed in Minnesota) that can withstand severely cold temperatures (like 40 below) and still produce quality wines.  Coyote Moon, which opened just last year, has been on a roll with competition awards this year, and Tug Hill, which had its Grand Opening just a few months ago, is obviously doing fine as well. 

              (Incidentally, the town of Clayton, NY, near Coyote Moon and bordering the St. Lawrence Seaway in the Thousand Islands region, was just cited by a major travel publication as one of the "top 10 coolest small towns in America".  Well deserved.)

              Separately, the new Fall 2011 issue of Wine & Spirits magazine features Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars, the oldest vinifera winery in the Finger Lakes, in a section titled, "Great Performances by Family Wineries".  Dr. Frank was the only eastern winery in the section, which included many well-known wineries from California, and was cited particularly for its Rieslings (2008 Semi-Dry, and 2009 Bunch Select Late Harvest).

              Meanwhile, Beak & Skiff in Lafayette (near Syracuse) is celebrating its 100th anniversary as an apple farm, which has branched out to include both a winery and distillery in recent years.

Here Comes Harvest!

                  Canadice table grapes are nature's candy, small, reddish-purple seedless balls bursting with flavor and juice.  They're also a sure sign that the annual grape harvest is soon going to begin in earnest. 

              So growers are tuning up their giant harvesters and vineyard tractors, winemakers are frantically bottling to make room for the new vintage juice, and Cornell Cooperative Extension agents start taking their grape samples for the Veraison to Harvest e-newsletter issued every week during the harvest and crush.

              While conditions vary somewhat in different regions, overall 2011 is shaping up to be a good and potentially great harvest, and most likely another early one, though not as much as last year.  Weather conditions throughout the year have generally been favorable, so both quantity and quality are looking good at this point.  Our main concern right now is the potential effect of Hurricane Irene on Long Island vineyards.  Our hope is that, like last year's Hurricane Earl, it veers out to see and leaves a gentle rain on the vines.

               This week, a pioneer of the Long Island grape and wine industry passed away at age 80.  David Mudd (Mudd's Vineyard) planted many of the region's vineyards during its early years in particular, and helped put Long Island on the map as a serious wine region.  In recognition of his accomplishments, he received our Grower Award several years ago.

Research Money Needed 

             Cornell University scientists and Cooperative Extension professionals have been a vital part of our industry's dramatic success, and we are extremely fortunate to have world-class research right in our own backyard.  But we still risk falling behind due to lack of funds compared with competing regions.

             The Government of Ontario, Canada just granted $2.86 million to Brock University to study the potential impact of climate change on the Ontario grape and wine industry, given its importance to the provincial economy.  That's for just one subject, on top of all the other research being supported, as well as millions more for replanting.

              Meanwhile, the State of New York gave us $180,000 in matching funds (which the private sector must match) to cover well over 20 different research projects on grape growing, wine making, and wine marketing.  Several years ago, the State grant was much higher, but with the economy still in the doldrums we do not expect a significant increase any time soon.

              In addition, the private sector needs to step up to the plate, like our colleagues in the State of Washington have recently done in commiting $7.4 million of industry funds over the next 10 years to build a Wine Science Center. For years, both growers and wineries have paid assessments on tons and gallons produced, respectively, in order to fund their programs; and they recently--voluntarily--increased their assessments to fund this forward-looking project.  Ironically, the lead enologist there is Dr. Thomas Henick-Kling, formerly of Cornell.

               While there are several groups or individuals in New York State which contribute private sector dollars supporting research, it is time for the broader industry to pitch in.  That's why our organization is asking the Department of Agriculture & Markets to begin the process of developing a Research and Development Order.

                If we want research, we need to pay for it.

   "Wine is a chemical symphony."

                                                        -- Maynard Amerine