Wine Enthusiast magazine is lovin' New York wines, with a new bunch of nice scores of 90, including: Bloomer Creek 2012 Tanzen Dame Second Harvest Gewurztraminer; Dr. Frank 2013 Semi-Dry Riesling (Best Buy); Hazlitt 2012 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay (Best Buy) and 2013 Riesling; Kelby James Russell 14 Nutt Road Vineyard Dry Rose; and The Grapes of Roth 2010 Merlot.

                  Also, I missed a couple last week from the Critics' Challenge Competition: Swedish Hill 2013 Blue Waters Riesling got a Platinum and 99(!), and Black Willow Classic Diamond a Gold (90).

                  It wasn't so many years ago that major wine magazines paid no attention to New York wines, and certainly wouldn't score any over 90, but today it happens all the time.  It's a tribute to the intense focus on quality by Cornell researchers, grape growers and winemakers, more aggressive outreach from the industry, and the new openness of editors.

                   New York is Wine Region of the Year: the 30 year overnight success!

                    Later this week I'll be judging at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, where New York wines typically do well.  Stay tuned.

                   Wolffer Estate Vineyard, long a leading winery on Long Island, is giving its customers some new options beyond great wines for enjoying life. 

                    The Wolffer Kitchen at 29 Main St. in nearby Sag Harbor is the first winery-owned restaurant in the Hamptons, with siblings Marc and Joey Wolffer as the owners.  It's a casual neighborhood eatery featuring seasonal, local food paired with locally produced wine, beer, cider, and spirits. Wolffer Kitchen serves modern American cuisine with a Mediterranean flair inspired by the Spanish island of Mallorca, where Marc also owns a vineyard.

                    Meanwhile, back at the sustainable vineyard, a Yoga in the Vines and high-intensity interval training bootcamp on Wednesdays through Sundays has drawn many people who understandably a prefer a beautiful, natural, outdoor setting to a closed-in gym with fitness machines.

                    Founded by the late Christian Wolffer, the elegant winery has long been known for its stunning Merlots and super-popular Roses (a "must" for summer in The Hamptons), but is also now producing a wonderful cider, all created by co-owner Roman Roth, one of the most talented winemakers and finest people in our industry.

                   Bedell Cellars is getting some great exposure as part of the new I Love NY summer attractions television ad.  And Brooklyn Oenology, as well as some other wineries, are being served from the Taste NY booth at Belmont Racetrack, where the Triple Crown will be decided one way or another this afternoon.

                   A Long Island Latino Vintners Association was recently created to recognize and represent the 250+ people of Latin American roots who work in the vineyards and wineries of Long Island.  This is a great idea, and certainly many regions rely heavily on Latino workers, so perhaps similar ones will follow.

                   Farm Credit East has kicked off its 2015 Benchmarks program, and is now accepting applications from wineries.  Farm Credit East is a great partner of the New York wine industry, and its Benchmarks program, now in the eighth year, has been an invaluable resource to all wineries that have participated.

                   The program allows winery owners to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their businesses, implement strategies to capture the full market value of their products, create marketing that matches the quality of their wine, and discover ways to control costs and increase efficiencies.

                    All wineries I have talked with have said this program is one of the best investments they ever made.  To sign up, call Kathy Young at 800-929-7102 or email Gregg.McConnell@farmcrediteast.com   For more info: https://www.farmcrediteast.com/winerybenchmarks.aspx.