February 23, 2013

             New York Gold, Finger Lakes Wine Sumposium, a Premier success, and more happening in New York wine country. 

             Cheers!          

             Jim Trezise

          Sparkling Pointe Winery on Long Island and 21 Brix Winery in the Lake Erie region--at opposite ends of the state--scored a dual coup by taking Best of Show Sparkling Wine and Best of Show Dessert Wine at the recent International Eastern Wine Competition sponsored by Vineyard & Winery Management and held in Sonoma, CA. 

          Sparkling Pointe's 2008 Blanc de Noirs was the big winner, garnering a Double Gold and Best of Class designation on its way to the top.  The winery also showed its consistency of quality with Gold medals for its NV Brut and 2003 Brut (which also got Best of Class).

          21 Brix, a very new winery with an impressive string of wins already, captued Best of Show Dessert wine with its 2011 Vidal Ice Wine, along with a Gold for its Ella's Red.

          Double Gold awards went to Dr. Konstantin Frank 2011 Riesling and Glenora 2011 Dry Riesling.

          Gold medal winners included Anyela's Vineyards 2010 Noiret; Atwater Estate Vineyards 2011 Dry Riesling; Baldwin Vineyards Raspberry Wine; Castello Di Borghese 2010 Cabernet Franc; Coyote Moon 2011 Twisted Sister and 2011 River Run; Dr. Konstantin Frank 2010 Pinot Blanc (also Best of Class) and 2010 Rkatsiteli; Glenora 2011 Riesling Select Harvest (also Best of Class) and 2011 Dry Riesling; Knapp 2011 Dry Gewurztraminer (also Best of Class) and 2011 Dry Riesling; Johnson Estate Winery 2011 Sparkling Traminette and Niagara; Keuka Spring Vineyards Celebrate and Clara's Red; Goose Watch 2011 Melody; Penguin Bay Winery Percussion and 2011 Moscato; Swedish Hill Winery 2011 Dry Riesling and 2010 Late Harvest Vignoles; Villa Bellangelo 2011 Dry Riesling; Wagner Vineyards 2011 Riesling Select; and Woodbury Vineyards 2011 Cayuga White.

            These and other New York wineries also won scores of Silver and Bronze awards. And in the Winemaker Challenge Competition, Goose Watch Winery's 2011 Traminette took a Gold and Best of Class, and its 2011 Riesling-Gewurztraminer a Gold.

            Separately, Shaw Vineyards 2008 Finger Lakes Riesling received a 90 from Wine Enthuiast magazine, which also named Hermann J. Wiemer one of the world's top dessert wine producers.     

             The Wine Symposium of the Finger Lakes on Saturday, March 23 in Geneva promises to be a superb event, featuring a former White House chef, two top sommeliers, a prominent wine writer, and lots of great things to taste. 

              Chef Walter Scheib, who served as the executive chef in the White House for over a decade (1994-2005), will orchestrate a great five-course dining experience with renowned Finger Lakes chefs.  Along with James Treadwell, one of Canada'a top sommeliers, Chef Scheib will also present a structured tasting highlighting wine and food pairings.

              Thomas Pastuszak, the wine director of The NoMad Hotel in New York City as well as the Finger Lakes Wine Ambassador, will team up with noted California wine writer (and New York wine lover) Dan Berger to lead tasting explorations of international cool-climate wines, both red and white.

               And the trophy presentation of the first ever Finger Lakes AVA Riesling Challenge will be made during the day.

               All of this will occur at the Scandling Campus Center of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and is being organized by a group called Grow Geneva in consultation with some regional wine organizations and wineries. Tickets for the entire day of tastings, meals, and education are $150, and more information is available at www.winesymposiumfingerlakes.com.

                 Premier Wine & Spirits of Amherst (a Buffalo suburb) was named 2013 Retailer of the Year by Beverage Dynamics magazine--recognition that is richly deserved.

                 The Premier "empire" was built by marketing genius Burt Notarius, who in recent years has been joined by sons Jon and Mark not only in the wine and spirits business but also in the gourmet food business.

                  I have had the honor and pleasure of knowing Burt very well, since he served as the Retailer representative on the New York Wine & Grape Foundation Board of Directors for about a decade.  I have never known anyone who could spin off markting concepts like he could, even though maybe I didn't understand them all.  The success of his store was always proof that he knew exactly what he was doing.

                  Besides his unparalleled marketing acumen, Burt simply is one of the nicest guys I have ever met--warm, friendly, cheeful, helpful, and not at all full of himself like some successful people tend to be.  He was also very committed to New York wines long before featuring them was fashionable (and in many places it's still not!), and serious about his position as an NYWGF Director.  Not surprisingly, after he stepped down we have him the Retailer award as a small token of our appreciation for his many contributions.

                  Part of the excitement now is that Premier Wine & Spirits has recently moved to a new location, and is adjacent to Premier Gourmet--which means one-stop shopping for the best things in life.  Both the wine store and gourmet shop offer consumers an incredibly wide range of products, prices, and professional help (Premier Gourmet carries more than 500 cheeses!)

                 Jon and Mark also indendently own Prestige Wines and Spirits in Orchard Park, and Premium Wines and Spirits in Williamsville--meaning that people living practically anywhere in the greater Buffalo area have quick access to great wines.  Even if you don't live near Buffalo, it's worth trip.

                 We applaud the Notarius family for their success, and thank them for supporting New York.

           Coyote Moon Winery in the Thousand Islands region, a consistent winner of top awards in wine competitions, also scored a recent coup by being ranked #40 worldwide on the "Winery Social Index", ahead of some giants like Yellow Tail, Beringer and Chateau Ste. Michelle.  It was also the only New York winery to make the top 50 in terms of "the social media health of a winery" as assessed by VinTank (http://cruvee.com/brand-index/score).  Just a few years old, Coyote Moon is truly on a roll in many ways.  www.coyotemoonvineyards.com.

            Trent Preszler, Chief Operating Officer of Bedell Cellars on Long Isand, is featured in the current issue of Grassroots, the excellent newspaper of New York Farm Bureau (everyone should be a member).  Besides running one of New York's premier wineries (whose 2009 Merlot was served at President Obama's Inauguration Luncheon in January), Trent is active in key industry organizations like the New York Wine & Grape Foundation and WineAmerica. www.bedellcellars.com.

             Finger Lakes Region got a nice plug in the current edition of AARP magazine, which has enormous circulation and readership.  In a section titled, "Destination: Romance" a short column "For Wine Enthusiasts" recommended winery tours, mentioned the New York Wine & Culinary Center in Canandaigua, and noted that the small city has been named one of the 10 most romantics U.S. towns.

 "Without wine, without bread, life is nothing." 

                                                           -- French Proverb