This week we held our Board of Directors meeting at a truly unique and inspiring location: Becker Farms in the Greater Niagara Region, about 30 minutes east of Niagara Falls.

                    This craft beverage empire is the creation of Oscar and Melinda (Mindy) Vizcarra, both Cornell graduates who obviously learned a lot--and have applied it to enhance their own entrepreneurial creativity.  Becker Farms was originally a multi-generational fruit farm, which are very common in this region south of Lake Ontario.  As they saw the New York wine industry start to grow, they transformed some of the fruit into wine, and gradually added more traditional grape wines like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  Voila!:  Vizcarra Vineyards.

                    As craft beer started exploding, and as Governor Andrew Cuomo liberalized the beverage production and marketing laws, they created Becker Brewery in a separate building right next to the Vizcarra Vineyards tasting room.  And then came (real good!) cider, which is also available by the glass or bottle.

                    Oh, and did I mention that they host 110 weddings a year?  Wineries which host weddings know what a huge, and often stressful, undertaking they are, but these folks have two separate locations on the property, full kitchen and staff, and often do four or more per weekend!  And right next door their daughter Amanda owns and manages a small cluster of 10 individual cabins which are rustic on the outside but totally modern indoors.

                     The overall ambience is what I would call "rustic elegance".  This is a working farm out on a country road, and the various buildings reflect that functional theme.  But they also have subtle architectural touches, like a palladian-style window atop the Garden Pavillion, as well as interesting mini-gardens and well-kept grounds that are easy to navigate.  Oscar and Mindy also treat their employs with great respect and appreciation, and happy employees mean happy customers.  It's no wonder they get tens of thousands of visitors per year who come to the middle of nowhere!

                     As the overall adult beverage industry has evolved, New York wineries have responded in various ways.  Oscar and Mindy saw craft beer and cider not as a threat, but an opportunity to bring in more customers by offering them more choices.  After all, not everyone likes wine (or beer, or cider), so having all three expands the (happy) consumer base.  And there's even Becker Farms Ice Cream!

                     It's definitely worth a visit.  www.beckerfarms.com.

                     "Champlain Valley" is the country's newest American Viticultural Area (AVA), officially approved this week by the federal Tax and Trade Bureau.

                      The AVA system, adopted decades ago, is designed to recognize distinct grape growing areas and help consumers identify the origin of different wines.  Once approved, wineries may use the AVA terminology on their labels of wines which are made from at least 85% of grapes grown in the region.

                       Covering Clinton and Essex Counties in northeastern New York State, the Champlain Valley AVA covers approximately 500 square miles from the Canadian border to Ticonderoga.  Due to the cold climate, virtually all vineyards are planted to the extremely cold-hardy "Minnesota varieties" like Frontenac, Marquette, and LaCrescent.  The Lake Champlain Grape Growers Association credited local winery owner Colin Read for the work in securing the designation.

                       Champlain Valley is the 10th AVA in New York State.  From east to west, the others are: Long Island, North Fork of Long Island, and The Hamptons Long Island; Hudson River Region; Finger Lakes, Seneca Lake, and Cayuga Lake; Niagara Escarpment; and Lake Erie.

                        Not so long ago, no one envisioned grapes being grown and wines made in the Champlain Valley or other northern regions, but they sure are.  In fact, wines are now made in 59 of New York's 62 counties--truly a statewide industry.

                        Congratulations to our friends in the Champlain Valley.  Cheers!

                     Last night, I want over to Billsboro Winery on Seneca Lake to present owners Vinnie and Kim Aliperti with the Governor's Cup for their 2013 Syrah (Sawmill Creek Vineyard).  It was a perfect summer evening with great food, music, and lots of friends gathered to celebrate a great wine and great winery, but mostly great people.

                     Among those present was Jim Hazlitt, a long-time friend and vital 80-year-old who still works in the Sawmill Creek Vineyard that he turned over to his son Eric and Eric's wife Tina.  Ultimately, Jim was responsible for that Syrah.  He was the one who took a huge chance and planted a variety that others said would never make it in the Finger Lakes.  The were wrong, not only about Syrah, but Sauvignon Blanc and other varieties he planted.

                   Simply put, in his prime, Jim Hazlitt was the best grape grower in New York State.  Not only did he always deliver top-quality fruit every vintage, but he had the vision and courage to try new things and make sure they succeeded.  He received our "Grower Award" for his many accomplishments over decades.

                    Vinny Aliperti is an incredibly talented winemaker as well as a super nice guy.  And when you blend top quality grapes with a superb enological artist, what you get is great wines.

                     Congratulations and thanks to all.

                     The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park (Hudson Valley) has long been recognized as one of the world's foremost institutions for training chefs, but frankly was not very knowledgeable about or supportive of New York wines, at least until recently.

                       Happily, that seems to have changed.  My colleague Traci Dutton, who manages wine education at the CIA at Greystone (Napa Valley) and judges in our New York Wine & Food Classic competition, recently sent me the link to the current CIA/Hyde Park beverage list, which includes a good selection of New York wines as well as New York craft beers, spirits, and ciders.

                       As our industry has changed for the better in all ways, it's nice to see recognition in key venues like this that are training tomorrow's culinary leaders.

                        The Great New York State Fair opened this week with tons of new attractions following a $50 million makeover to revitalize the Fairgrounds and improve the quality of the fairgoers' experience.  The Midway...Animals...Food...Events are just some of the areas of new attractions and improvement.

                         In the Horticultural Building where all kinds of New York agriculture is featured, there's a new area for farm-based craft beverages including wine, where wineries can describe how grapes are grown and wine is made while offering samples of the product and selling bottles if people wish to buy the.  This is in addition to the traditional New York Wine Pavilion where about a dozen wineries offer table wine and/or "wine slushies" like the red, white and blue Patriot Slushy from Treleaven.

                       LIMA, the Long Island Merlot Alliance, recently launched a viticulture and enology scholarship, with the first one going to 18-year-old Miranda Sannino, daughter of Antony and Lisa Sannino of Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard in Peconic.

                      The LIMA East End Viticulture/Enology Scholarship Fund & Internship Program provides a $3,500 scholarship annually to a Suffolk Country student studying viticulture and enology at Cornell University.  The award also involves a summer-long rotating internship focused on the study of the merlot grape at LIMA's member wineries.

                     Congratulations to Miranda Sannino, and good for LIMA!