March 2, 2013

             New York Drinks New York, happy heart health, grape acreage decrease, Finger Lakes competition, and more happenings in New York wine country. 

             Cheers!          

             Jim Trezise

            "New York Drinks New York" is an apt description of March in The Big Apple, where New Yorkers will have the pleasure of sampling wines from their own state at free tastnigs, wine flights, winemakers dinners, and other events throughout the month.

            The highlight of the month is the NY Drinks NY Grand Tasting on March 18 at Astor Center, with a special session for media and trade from noon to 4 pm, followed by a consumer tasting from 6 to 8 pm.  More that 200 wines will be presented by 40 wineries from the Long Island, Hudson River, Finger Lakes, Niagara Escarpment, Lake Erie, and Thousand Islands regions.

             Complementing the wines will be a selection of all-New York cheeses, charcuterie and hors d'oeuvres provided by the New York Wine & Culinary Center based in the Finger Lakes.  The consumer tasting, including all food and drink, costs only $35, with tickets available at www.nydrinksny.com/tasting until they are sold out.  (People started buying tickets before the event was even advertised this year, since last year's event sold out.)

             Several fine restaurants are also hosting wine dinners and offering special limited-release wines as well as wine flights, including Terroir Park Slope, Sample, and Seersucker. In addition, more than 30 free in-store tastings have been scheduled at fine wine stores throughout the City such as 67 Wines, Brooklyn Wine Exchange, and Union Square Wines & Spirits.  A full listing of participating wineries, restaurants and stores, and more information about the special events, is available at www.nydrinksny.com/partner-events.

             New York City is the world's most competitive wine market, and we get no break as New Yorkers; we have to prove ourselves like everyone else.  But we've got the quality, the passion, and the determination to get our slice of the Big Apple.

             We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority for a grant supported by the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets which made this program possible.

              "A glass a day keeps the doctor away" reflects the essence of a peer-reviewed study published on the web site of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and reported widely, including in The New York Times and on network news.

              Bascally, the study reaffirmed, in the most robust way yet, that the "Mediterranean Diet" is good for cardiovascular health, and can prevent about 30% of heart attacks, strokes and heart disease. And what's the Diet?  One rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits, vegetables and wine (in moderation).

              This isn't really "new news", in that studies over several decades have generally concluded the same thing, most dramatically communicated on 60 Minutes in the early 1990's when "The French Parodox" aired and changed the U.S. wine market overnight.  But this study had a different approach which made the association even clearer.

               Who said there's no good news?  Bon apetit, et A votre sante!

                 New York State's total vineyard plantings of 31.8 thousand acres at the end of 2011 decreased by 6% since the last survey was taken in 2006, according to King Whetstone, New York Field Office Director of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). However, the changes reflect different patterns by grape varieties and regions, with juice grapes generally declining while some wine grapes increased, and the Finger Lakes growing while most others declined.

                 The Chautauqua-Lake Erie region southwest of Buffalo, with 18.7 thousand acres (primarily Concord for grape juice), now represents 59% of the state's total grape acreage and declined by 1,533 acres.  Niagara County and several eastern counties also declined, while the Finger Lakes (30% of state total) and other western counties increased by 327 acres, driven primarily by growth in Yates and Schuyler counties.  (Unfortunately, the NASS survey did not include some of the newer grape and wine regions like the Thousand Islands, Adirondacks, and Champlain, though admittedly the acreage is still relatively small.)

                  The principal grape varieties among dozens grown in New York include (in order of acreage) Concord, Niagara and Catawba (primarily used for grape juice) followed by Riesling, Chardonnay and Merlot.

                  It's interesting that the decrease in grape acreage is in stark contrast to the explosion in the number of wine producers, which now total 335 and counting (not including their satellite stores and branch offices.)

                  This study and others are available through a free email subscription at www.nass.usda.gov/ny.               

           Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, one of the country's largest, will take place in Rochester, NY on March 23 & 24--a judging that all wineries should enter.  Last year there were more than 3,200 entries from 22 countries, 8 Canadian provinces, and all 50 states evaluated by a panel of 64 wine experts from around the world.  Besides being a great competition, all the proceeds for all activities, including a great dinner and auction in May, benefit a great charity: Camp Good Days and Special Times for children with serious illnesses.  For more information, and to enter, visit www.fliwc.com.          

           Winemaker, Brewmaster & Guest Chef is the theme of a series at the New York Wine & Culinary Center in Canandaigua, which is offering "the most exciting weekend in March" from this Thursday through Saturday.  The multi-day event includes meals, wine-tastings and discussions with luminaris from Red Newt Cellars & Bistro, The Clipper Inn, Tug Hill Winery, and guest lecturer Julie Purpura.  It's a crash course in great taste and much fun.  www.nywcc.com.       

           Thorpe Vineyard is celebrating its 25th anniversary, which astounds me, as it seems like yesterday that Fumie Thorpe first showed up at our office inquiring about what she needed to do to start a winery. From her native Japan, Fumie has brought many interesting perspectives to the winery at Chimney Bluffs on Lake Ontario, and has also won several awards with her wines.  The year-long 25th annivesary celebration will include commemorative glasses, an anniversary wine, sunset tastings, and even some star-gazing.  Visit www.thorpevineyard.com.

             Lake Erie Wine Country has unveiled a new signage program, with all 23 member wineries in New York and Pennsylvania displaying highway directional signs to help visitors get to nearby wineries.  A similar program has been used in the Finger Lakes for several years, and has supplemented the traditional highway signage program (green grape cluster signs on state and county highways).  So now a visitor at a Lake Erie winery will know which direction to turn before even leaving the driveway of the winery they've just visited.  www.lakeeriewinecountry.org.

             "Local" Legislation sponsored by State Senator Dave Valesky is intended to help connect the dots between producers and consumers.  A bill to create a "Dine: Pride of New York" program would recognize restaurants which use at least 15% New York grown or processed products.  Another "farm-to-senior" bill would promote the purchase of New York farm products by senior centers and other insititutions for the aging.  And a third bill would develop a Strategic Farm and Food Product Development Coordinating Council to promote the use of New York-grown products.

             Marketview Liquor, a large Rochester area wine shop which has been awarded our "Retailer" award in the past, has a nice Facebook post this week:  "What does Rochester have in common with San Francisco, Portland, and Santa Barbara?  We all have world-class wine regions in our own back yard!  Check out 25 amazine Finger Lakes Rieslings."

 "Without Bacchus, Venus is cold." 

                                                           -- An old Roman saying