January 26, 2013

             The Ice Wine cometh, Finger Lakes featured, "White House" wines sold out, Viticulture 2013 looms, and much more happening in New York wine country. 

             Cheers!          

             Jim Trezise

           One great benefit of living in upstate New York is the ability to make ice wines virtually every year at this time--and also to enjoy them during the winter months.

            Ice wines are made from grapes frozen on the vine and picked when they're frozen--a labor of love that produces absolute nectar.  We owe our colleagues in Germany for the tradition, and our colleagues in nearby Ontario, Canada for first showing just how great northeast ice wines can be.

             For the past two weeks, various wineries in the Finger Lakes, Niagara and Lake Erie regions have conducted their ice wine harvests, often starting at dawn (sometimes before) in frigid conditions.  To be labeled "ice wine", the grapes must be frozen when picked and the temperatures within a certain range for a certain time. (Dessert wines labeled "iced wines", "ice", or something similar are typically made from grapes which are picked unfrozen and then placed into a freezer before processing.)

             Ice wines are almost always sold in tall, thin, elegant half bottles (375 ml) and may cost anywhere from $25 to $200 or more.  This reflects the facts that making ice wine is a risky business; the amount of grapes harvested per acre is far less than for normal table wines; the labor needed is intensive; only certain regions can make ice wines; and you drink only a small amount of the elixir, compared with normal table wines.

             Years ago, ice wine grapes were almost always harvested in the same calendar year that they were grown, often in late November or December.  But with global warming, in recent years ice wine grapes are often picked at the beginning of the next year (2012 vintage grapes picked in January 2013), so even though the grapes were grown last year, the wines will be labeled this year because that's when the grapes were picked.

              There are about 20 ice wine producers in New York, and one of the most awarded wineries, Casa Larga Vineyards, is also one of the greatest ice wine promoters of all genuine New York ice wines.  Each year Casa Larga hosts a New York Ice Wine Festival, and this year is partnering with the Rochester Institute of Technology's Brick City Catering to incorporate more food into the festival.  This year's festival will take place on February 16 from 11 am to 6 pm, with more information available at www.NYIceWineFestival.com.

             The Finger Lakes region and many of its wines got great reviews from the Wine Spectator's Senior Editor James Molesworth in the current edition.  The long article, accompanied by several photos, describes the region and its specialty (Riesling), noting that many of the wines are excellent values.  A couple notable quotes:

             "These are only a few of the many well-priced wines on offer from the Finger Lakes, which teems with value.  Overall, there are 130 wines in this report that cost $20 or less while earning 85 points or better, including many frontline Riesling bottlings"..."As the region's steadily growing ranks of winemakers gain experience, homing in on the best grapes and vineyard sites, the Finger Lakes is quickly becoming an excellent source for quality and value.  It's time for serious wine consumers to take notice."

               Wow!  This from the Wine Spectator?!  He also listed the top-scoring wines and top values.  Scores of 92 went to Anthony Road 2009 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling, Martini-Reinhardt Selection; Sheldrake Point 2010 Finger Lakes Riesling Ice Wine; Hermann J. Wiemer 2010 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling, HJW Vineyards and 2010 Late Harvest Riesling. Wines rated 91 included Forge 2011 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling; Keuka Lake Vineyards 2010 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling, Falling Man Vineyard; Silver Thread 2011 Seneca Lake Riesling, STV Estate Vineyard; Standing Stone 2010 Finger Lakes Gewurztraminer Ice and 2010 Finger Lakes Vidal Ice; and Hermann J. Wiemer 2010 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling, Magdalena Vineyard.

                 The Top Values (from $13 to $18) included Rieslings from Atwater Estate, Fox Run, Hermann J. Wiemer, Ravines, Sheldrake Point, and Wagner.

                  Great stuff.

                 If you're looking to enjoy some Tierce 2010 Dry Riesling or Bedell 2009 Merlot, you're too late: It's sold out.  Well, there may be a few bottles of Tierce left, but the Merlot is gone.

                 Why? The tons of publicity surrounding their being the featured wines at the Inaugural Luncheon on Monday in Washington.  Thanks to New York Senator Charles Schumer, who did an awesome job as Emcee of the Inaugural festivities, New York wines (and some foods) were front and center at the ultimate power lunch.  Once the news broke in the New York Times, there were articles everywhere and even a big segment on CBS about the Bedell Merlot.  And of course, the wineries' phones rang off the hook with sales. 

                  Senator Schumer also provided some tickets to the actual Inauguration, which was a truly moving and memorable experience.               

                     At the Wine, Beer and Spirits Summit in late October, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a new "One-Stop Shopping" service by which members of the farm-based beverage industries (wine, beer, spirits, hard cider) can get answers to questions about State laws and regulations in areas like labor, environment, and alcohol beverage control.  In addition, he said that if a business acts according to the information it was given and is then found to be in violation of the law, it shall be held harmless.

                       This is HUGE.  Virtually all these businesses are small family operations which have neither a staff attorney nor one on retainer, and they also want to follow the law--but they need to know what is.  I have been begging for this for years, and now it has actually happened.  In addition, the person responsible for implementing it--Sam Filler of Empire State Development Corporation--will be at Viticulture 2013 to give a progress report on the service.

                        There are many other great seminars as well--and Viticulture 2013 is only 10 days away, so now's the time to register.  We've had so many sign up already that the Hyatt Hotel is very nearly sold out.   Visit www.vit2013.com.