Wine Press FINAL 10-14-10

October 26, 2013

 

             "Taste NY" is everywhere, more awards and rave reviews, Brits love New York wines and beers, harvest winds down, Research pay$, Farm Credit helps out, Red Tail Ridge adds sculpture, and so much more happening in New York Wine Country.  Busy, busy.

  

             Cheers!          

             Jim Trezise

"Taste NY" Rolls On...and On

 

                In mid-August, the Governor's Cup Wine Tour associated with our New York Wine & Food Classic competition featured the "Taste NY" theme and materials.  That was just a few days after it was front and center at the PGA Golf Championship in Rochester which, by the way, generated a total of $101 million in economic benefits to the city and region, far more than the $78 million projected prior to the event.

                 Last Saturday, I attended a gala Taste NY Brunch at the Lighthouse on Pier 61 along the Hudson River, where New York several wineries and top chefs showed New York City consumers just how great "local" can be. In addition, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that dozens of chefs and restaurants in the City and State have taken the "Pride of New York Pledge" to support the New York State's excellent wines, beers, spirits, agricultural products, and local foods.

                 Supported by the New York State Restaurant Association, the pledge involves increased sourcing by at least 10% of New York grown and made products and ingredients; featuring, highlighting and increasing by at least 10% the use of New York wines, beers, spirits, and ciders; educating staff about New York products; and other measures. 

                  The list of participants reads like a who's who of the restaurant world, including Benchmarc (Celebrity Chef Marc Murphy, Landmarc restaurants at Time Warner and Tribeca as well as Ditchplains and Kingside); Union Square Hospitality Group (Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, North End Grill, Maialino, Shake Shack, the Modern, Cafe 2 & Terrace 5); Tribeca Grill; Sardi's; and many others.

                  Restaurants throughout the State are invited and encouraged to take the pledge at any time by visiting http://nysra.org/associations/2487/files/TasteNYPledge.pdf.

 

                    "Coming Soon!" will be actual Taste NY stores featuring New York wines, beers, and foods at major transportation hubs like Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, and the LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports.  Basically, these are intended to be "branch offices" of farm wineries, which under New York law may automatically sell any New York labelled beverage along with New York foods and souvenirs. 

                     I have flown through LGA a couple times recently, which has now been transformed into a great airport (of consumer services) by OTG Management, which has two Taste NY areas under construction.  I can't wait until they're open, not only so I can enjoy New York wines before or after flights, but also so thousands of people from around the country and world can take some home with them.

                     At Grand Central, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has already introduced Taste NY bar carts offering commuters small bottles of  New York wines, beers and spirits for their rides home on the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad.  But the Taste NY store will be a larger, permanent facility joining many other high quality retail outlets in the terminal, which receives more than 750,000 visitors daily. 

                      Next weekend there's a Taste NY Harvest Fest at the State Fairgrounds in Syracuse (tastenyharvestfest.com), with lots more events being planned for next year.             

                      Meanwhile, industry members are being invited to a meeting with top officials of Andrew Cuomo's Administration this Thursday morning (7:30-10:30) at the Culinary Institute of America in the Hudson Valley to receive updates about all the programs that came out of last year's Wine, Beer & Spirits Summit, and to provide suggestions for continuing progress on regulatory change and promotion.  To attend, RSVP to Gina Domenico at [email protected].

 

                      It is truly incredible, and very uplifting, how much Governor Cuomo and his Administration have already done for the wine and other farm-based beverage industries, and we know there is much more to come.

 

                        

 Long Island Wines Shine

           

            Anthony Dias Blue, a longtime friend and colleague who runs the San Francisco International Wine Competition, is a radio personality, and publishes The Tasting Panel magazine, found a lot to love about Long Island wines during his vacation there last summer.

            The Tasting Panel's October 13 edition has a brief description of the region's evolution ("The progress that has been made...is remarkable."), and reviews of many of the 100+ wines he tasted.  Seventeen of those rated 90 or above, including (at 92) Bedell 2010 Taste Red and Sherwood House 2007 Estate Cabernet Franc, with Kontokosta 2007 Cabernet Franc and Macari 2010 Bergen Road both receiving 91.  Those at 90 included Clovis Point 2007 Vintner's Select Merlot, Grapes of Roth 2010 Cabernet Franc, Jamesport 2012 Sauvignon Blanc, Macari 2012 Sauvignon Blanc, Martha Clara 2012 Sauvignon Blanc, One Woman Wines 2010 Estate Chardonnay Reserve and 2010 Merlot, Pellegrini 2012 Chardonnay and 2007 Cabernet Franc, T'Jara Vineyards 2010 Reserve and 2007 Cabernet Franc, Wolffer Estate 2010 Perle Chardonnay and 2010 Fatalis Fatum.  While Long Island is well known for Merlot, it's clear that Cabernet Franc is also a strong suit, given the number of excellent wines by different producers.

 

               Elsewhere, Damiani Wine Cellars 2010 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon received 90 from Wine Spectator, the highest rating for a red wine from the Finger Lakes; and Black Willow Winery from the Niagara region received a 90 rating from Beverage Testing Institute for its "Odin's Nectar", a traditional mead (honey wine).

 Research Pay$, Ground is Broken

 

                 With the exception of some Concord grapes, and other varieties purposely left hanging to produce late harvest and ice wines, the 2013 harvest is virtually over, with reports of quantity and quality ranging from good to great (especially on Long Island, which had record dry weather, while the Lake Erie region at the other end of the state has been drenched).  And this year's harvest in the Lake Erie region, which grows  predominantly Concord grapes for grape juice, provided a dramatic illustration of the tangible benefits of research by Cornell scientists.

                  Dr. Terry Bates is one of the most respected researchers in the country and world when it comes to vineyard mechanization, a topic of great interest not only here but especially in California, Australia, and many other places with large grape and wine industries.  He has been working on methods of mechanical thinning of vineyards--essentially, having a giant grape harvester cut off clusters of grapes well before later picking the crop (with the same machine) as a way to reduce the crop size and, most importantly, enhance the ripening process that leads to better quality grapes.

                  This year his efforts paid off handsomely: As in other parts of the State, the 2013 crop was huge, and the Concord growers who followed Terry's advice had their grapes ripen beautifully, while those that did not are still trying to get them to ripen under less than ideal conditions.  This has tremendous economic benefits for the growers, as well as for the processors who depend on an adequate supply of quality fruit.

 

                    Meanwhile, this week in Geneva there was a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Finger Lakes Viticulture Center that combines the efforts and expertise of Cornell and Finger Lakes Community College.  Led by Lieutenant Governor Bob Duffy, the ceremony also included Senator Mike Nozzolio and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, both of whom were instrumental in securing the funding to make this dream a reality.  On the private sector side, key players have been Dr. Tom Burr of the Geneva Experiment Station and Paul Brock, who directs FLCC's viticulture and enology program.

                    It is quite amazing how many new facilities and programs pertaining to the grape and wine industry have been started in recent years, reflecting the fact that ours is a fast-growing industry that needs skilled and educated workers in order to grow and compete in the future.

Free Run...
 
               2% Tax Cap per year on assessments of agricultural lands in New York State is now law, ensuring a more predictable tax climate for New York's agricultural sector and allowing farmers to better plan for the future.  Signed this week by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and sponsored by Senator Patty Ritchie and Assemblyman Bill Magee, who chair the Agriculture committees in their respective chambers, this bill was a top priority of New York Farm Bureau, which deserves tremendous credit for its efforts. (Every New York grape grower and winery should be a member!).
                 Coupled with a 2% property tax cap, this new legislation will help to keep farmers on their lands and to reinvest in their operations.  This is a big relief for farmers who over the past seven years have seen their assessments nearly double, adding to the increasing tax burden from school systems and municipalities.
  
                  Farm Credit East is one of the great partners of the New York grape and wine industry, as well as other agricultural producers in the Northeast.  Besides always being a sponsor of New York Farm Day, they are by far the largest lender to the wine and grape industry, lending more than $101 million to wineries and grape growers.  In addition, they offer a superb Winery Benchmarks program which really lets wineries fully understand the financial aspect of their operation and get more control over their own businesses.  Every winery I've talked with which has signed up has said it is one of the best investments they every made.
  
                   Gramercy Tavern and Rouge Tomate topped the list of "The 12 Best Restaurants in New York for Wine" in a recent article by New York Times wine writer Eric Asimov.  Happily, both restaurants offer nice selections of New York wines, thanks to wine directors Juliette Pope and Pacaline Lepeltier.  The iconic Gramercy Tavern in fact has been a leader in featuring New York wines for decades, thanks to the vision of the legendary Danny Meyer and the fine people he recruited.  It's nice to see other fine restaurants catching on as well.  In fact, there will be a Taste NY gathering of top restaurateurs and trade at Landmarc (Time Warner Center) on November 12 to discuss how we can accelerate the process.
  
                     I Love NY (wines and beers) was the mood last week when a small group of British travel writers visited Finger Lakes wine country and several other destinations where beer is made.  I greeted them with a New York-focused dinner at the New York Wine & Culinary Center paired with a selection of Long Island wines that have distribution in the UK, followed the next two days by visits to several Finger Lakes wineries which are also there.  They were very surprised that (1) New York is more than a great city, (2) we make a lot of wine, and (3) it's so good!  They took copious notes, and  based on their enthusiasm for what they discovered, I wouldn't be surprised if we see some Brits visiting New York wine country next year.
  
                     The Repeal of Prohibition (80 years ago) was cause for celebration this week at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, including the screening of a documentary film, "America's Wine: The Legacy of Prohibition", and a tasting of wines from several states organized by WineAmerica.  Representing New York, appropriately, was Meaghan Frank of Dr. Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars, which transformed the New York and eastern American wine industries through a vision and passion for classic European grape varieties.  By the way, if you're ever looking for a fascinating book, I highly recommend "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition" by Daniel Okrent.  
  
                     Red Tail Ridge winery has a new addition to its property--a 30-foot tall iron sculpture in the form of a tree with a hawk on a top branch, along with a large metal sign with the winery's name.  The awesome work of art was done by Sam Castner of Ironvine Studios, who has created dozens of other iron sculptures, including several at neighboring Anthony Road Winery (owned by the Martini family, whose daughter Liz is Sam's wife).
                     Owned by winemaker Nancy Irelan and her husband Michael Schnelle, Red Tail Ridge is the only LEEDS certified (i.e., "green") winery in New York, with lots of features that not only save energy but money as well.  In addition, they grow several unique grape varieties, like Teroldego from Italy, as well as Finger Lakes standards like Riesling.  Recently, a winery employee told me that many people never knew the winery was there, but with the new sculpture "they won't miss us now!"  www.redtailridgewinery.com
        
  
"Making good wine is a skill.  Fine wine is an art."
--Robert Mondavi
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