Sheldrake Point Winery 2014 Wild Ferment Finger Lakes Riesling Ice Wine took top honors out of nearly 500 Rieslings from around the world at this week's fabulous Canberra International Riesling Competition in the Australian capitol city.  The rigorous competition, dubbed the "Cannes" of Riesling,  included entries from Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.

                The "Best of Show" winner, rated at 98 points on a 100-point scale, also took Best American Riesling and Best Sweet Riesling on its way to the top.  In addition, the Sheldrake Point 2014 Riesling Ice Wine (not Wild Ferment) also received an "Elite" rating (97 points), continuing a long tradition of the Cayuga Lake winery's top medals at this event.  Their 2004 Riesling Ice Wine won a Gold medal and Best American Riesling in 2005; the 2009 Late Harvest Riesling in 2010; the 2010 Riesling Ice Wine in 2011; and the 2013 Late Harvest Riesling in 2013.  Clearly, Sheldrake Point is one of the world's top producers of Riesling dessert wines.

                 Other Finger Lakes wineries that have won the "Best American Riesling" honor include Atwater Estate 2005 Riesling in 2006; and Dr. Konstantin Frank 2008 Bunch Select Late Harvest Riesling in 2012.

                This year, Wagner Vineyards 2012 Dry Riesling Caywood East Vineyard won a Silver medal, along with Bronze medals for its 2013 Dry Riesling and 2012 Semi-Dry Riesling.   Bronze medals were also awarded to other Finger Lakes wines, including Anthony Road 2014 Dry Riesling and 2013 Semi-Dry Riesling; and Three Brothers Riesling 2014 First Degree Riesling (Dry) and 2014 Second Degree Riesling (Medium Dry). 

               Out of 494 wines in the competition, only 31 came from the United States, including 18 from the Finger Lakes which won 9 medals (a very good ratio in this very rigorous contest).  Other top U.S. winners included Chateau Ste. Michelle 2013 Ethos Reserve Late Harvest Riesling, Horse Heaven Hills (Elite, 96) and 2014 Columbia Valley Cold Creek Vineyard Riesling (Gold, 95) from Washington State; and Black Star Farms 2013 Arcturos Dry Riesling (Elite, 96) and 2013 Arcturos Riesling (Gold, 95) from Michigan.

               Having had the pleasure of judging at this competition and knowing of its prestige, I strongly encourage more Finger Lakes, other American, and Canadian producers to plan on submitting their top Rieslings for next year's event.  As always, our office will assist in the logistics of shipping the wines to Australia.

              Congratulations of all winners from all over the world, and to Ken Helm, Sue Hart and their colleagues for running such a classy show.

                    Have you received a call from a Music Licensing Organization threatening you with a lawsuit for playing music in your winery?  WineAmerica can help you.

                    Want to make sure that federal excise taxes don't go up, and hopefully will go down?  WineAmerica is working on that.

                    Want to save money on direct shipping costs, compliance, and other aspects of your business?  Then join WineAmerica!

                   WineAmerica is an organization that every New York winery, and those from other states, should support.  While our good friends from (California) Wine Institute do a great job when it comes to federal and state public policy affecting the wine industry, only California wineries may join.  So WineAmerica is truly the only national organization of and for American wineries from everywhere else (and also many from California who choose to join).

                   Starting next weekend, the WineAmerica Board of Directors, the State and Regional Associations Advisory Council (SRAAC), and other members will gather in Lexington, Kentucky for the annual fall meeting.  It's a mixture of organizational matters, public policy issues, industry networking, and sharing a glass of wine (or many) with colleagues from around the country.

                   Like all trade associations, WineAmerica has had its ups and downs over the years, and as a member of the Executive Committee I'm happy to say it is now clearly on an upswing.  The Board is chaired by Caroline Shaw of Jackson Family Wines in Sonoma, with our own Trent Preszler of Long Island's Bedell Cellars as Vice Chair until he takes over next spring.  The Board is being reduced in number to a manageable level of truly engaged members; the lean and efficient staff of Michael Kaiser and Tara Good do a great job juggling a lot of balls; and the government affairs firm of Meyers & Associates is providing professional guidance, credibility, and advocacy on key issues in our nation's capitol.

                 I'm proud to say that New York has more WineAmerica members than any other state, but ashamed at the small proportion of New York wineries that are shouldering the load for their colleagues.  EVERY winery benefits from WineAmerica's efforts, and every winery should join.

                When we launch our annual NYWGF membership drive at the end of this month, we will simultaneously be urging New York wineries to help protect our industry's interests on a national level.

                 Don't be a freeloader: Join WineAmerica.

                    2005 Grape Harvest is close to being over as the last grapes are brought in during one of the earliest harvests in history.  Ironically, just a couple months ago it looked like it might be late, but the incredible September weather (consistently hot and sunny) sped things up.  The descriptive wrap-up will appear in a couple weeks with the final issue of this year's "Veraison to Harvest" e-newsletter from Cornell Cooperative Extension.

                    As always, there are variations by region, but overall things are looking quite good, particularly in terms of quality.  In the upstate regions, not surprisingly some varieties are down in terms of quantity, but in some cases not as much as forecast.  On Long Island, it's been another good year and it looks like there are no potential hurricanes forecast that might compromise it.  In all regions, there are various challenges from insects and wildlife, but nothing out of the ordinary or unmanageable.

                    Having a vineyard is like rolling the dice in Las Vegas: You win some, you lose some, but you always come back for more