November 8, 2014

            Super winemakers, super suppliers, grape juice tariffs, and more from New York wine country

             Cheers!          

             Jim Trezise

Most Admired Winemakers

                   Peter Bell of Fox Run Vineyards and Johannes Reinhardt of Anthony Road Winery (and now his own Kemmeter Wines) have been named by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine as two of the "20 Most Admired Winemakers in North America" based on a survey of industry leaders.

                   This is a huge and well-deserved honor for both, and for Johannes the second time he has made the top "20" list, with last year's being "People" (not just winemakers).  For perspective: California makes about 90% of all American wine, Washington about 4 %, New York some 3%, and all the rest 3%.  And New York has a far smaller number of wineries than California (especially) and Washington, so to have two winemakers (10% of the total) in this list is a big deal. 

                   What's more, as I know both of them would agree, there are other New York winemakers who would deserve this honor as well.  In fact, Peter and Johannes for years have collaborated with Dave Whiting of Red Newt Cellars to produce the renowned Tierce Dry Riesling, the 2010 vintage of which was the white wine served at the 2012 Presidential Inaugural Luncheon.

                    The "Wine Region of the Year" award for New York State from Wine Enthusiast magazine belongs to hundreds of people who have worked together for decades to improve the quality of  New York wines and get the recognition they deserve.  Peter and Johannes are two great examples of such people.   

                    Wine is the ultimate value-added product. Visit www.newyorkwines.org, go to Archives and type in "What's in a Bottle of Wine?"  What you'll see is a graphic of a bottle of wine, all of the inputs required, and who benefits, including many different suppliers of good and services as well as government coffers at local, county, state and federal levels.

                     In other words, wine is a major economic engine, now generating more than $4.8 billion annually in economic benefits to New York's economy.  Those benefits flow not only to grape growers and wineries, but to real estate agents, lawyers, farm equipment manufacturers, tank and barrel producers, bottle and box suppliers, advertising agencies, transportation companies, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and many others who get money from wine.  When we grow, they grow, and our industry has been growing strongly for years, and explosively for the past four years in particular.

                     In short, they benefit from our growth, and happily there are some suppliers who get that and are willing to contribute to further growth by supporting trade associations like the New York Wine & Grape Foundation on the state level and WineAmerica on the national level.

                      Vance Metal, a Geneva-based manufacturer, first made a few wine tanks for some Finger Lakes wineries and is now selling them in 15 states.  Waterloo Container, a longtime supplier of bottles, boxes, and more, has also been able to expand with the increase in wineries.  Wine Enthusiast, a national consumer magazine, understands that wine is now made in all 50 states.  All of them are members of WineAmerica, as they should be, because they all benefit from our industry's expansion.

                       Most recently, there are law firms advertising on TV about how they are now specializing in beverage alcohol law, though to my knowledge they never paid much attention before.  They understand that this is a growing industry, and one whose growth is accelerating.

                        I strongly urge New York wineries to purchase the products and services of the Supplier Members who "get it" and directly support our industry.

                       Senator Charles Schumer is once again seeking to help the New York grape industry, this time by encouraging Israel to lower its 22% tariff on imported grape juice, much of which contains New York Concord grapes grown primarily in the Lake Erie/Chautauqua region southwest of Buffalo.  In addition to the well-known Welch's brand, a kosher grape juice made by Kedem in the Hudson Valley is also produced from those grapes.  Not only would reducing the tariff help New York growers, it would also lower the prices Israeli consumers have to pay for Concord grape juice, a natural product that's good for their health

                        Ports of New York, a small winery in Ithaca which makes only port-style wines and is owned by Federic Bouche, recently received the only medal awarded to a wine made with the port vinification method at the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition.  The winner is called Meleau Red.  Federic's family has made wine in France for several generations, and we are glad he has brought the tradition here.  www.portsofnewyork.com.

  "Wine improves with age.  The older I get, the more I like it."