Lower Manhattan event scheduled for Sunday

Must have a dozen posts to get done and way too much other work. So let me try to put the other work on the back burner for two days and catch up before we reach the weekend. Been having this one since Monday. Here are two items I liked out of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation newsletter:


CITY WINERY in lower Manhattan will be the scene of our “Uncork New York—Sip, Savor & Shop” tasting next Sunday afternoon [Dec. 6], with 38 wineries, over a dozen food producers, and four restaurants providing samples for locavores. Besides tasting, attendees can actually buy the wines and foods on the spot, a great way to stock up for the holidays.

Friday’s Wall St. Journal included a nice mention of the event, which is also being promoted in Time Out New York and through other means. Tickets are only $45, and are available at www.citywinery.com/events/50934.

“WINES, WITH NOTES OF M.B.A.” is the headline of a New York Times Business Section article today by Kathryn Jones on the growth of the wine industry stimulated by people from other businesses pursuing a second career.

The piece also features a great photo of Mike Schnelle and Nancy Irelan, owners of Red Tail Ridge Winery on Seneca Lake, the first LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified winery in the Finger Lakes. Nancy’s Ph.D in genetics and years of experience in enology and viticulture research at Gallo, combined with Mike’s M.B.A. and experience in the heavy equipment and construction industries, brought a unique set of knowledge and skills to creating a new vineyard and winery literally from the ground up.

Of the 58 New York wineries that have opened in the past three years, virtually all are owned by people from other walks of life, as opposed to the immediate post-Farm Winery Act (1976) wineries which were all owned by grape growers whose traditional markets (large wineries) had dried up.

A similar trend is occurring in different parts of the country, and in most cases there is virtually no attrition (failure), largely because most new entrants do their homework and create sound business plans. In New York, for example, we offer a sophisticated web-based site selection system (www.nyvineyardsite.com), and on our own web site (www.newyorkwines.org) legal and regulatory information, a comparison of different types of licenses, and basic resources for business planning.

In today’s economy, few industries are growing and contributing as much value-added benefit as the wine industry, which in New York State generates over $3.4 billion annually in economic activity. Public officials would be wise to keep this in mind as they shape budgets and policy initiatives.

Thirty-five wineries part of next New York event on Dec. 6 in Lower Manhattan

Have occasionally chatted with executive director Jim Trezise of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, so I don't mind snatching from his weekly e-letter when I see item pertinent to my audience. Here are a couple entries from the one that arrived this morning.

VINTAGE 2009 is one of the longest, slowest, and latest in recent memory, but is also surprisingly good under the circumstances (particularly the fall harvest season), according to the final edition of the “Veraison to Harvest” e-newsletter published by Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) and underwritten by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation.

Statewide Extension Enologist Chris Gerling wrote an excellent wrap-up with comments by winemakers in various regions like Christopher Tracy of Channing Daughters on Long Island: “What we have will be super, there’s just not that much of it” (reflecting a smaller than normal crop). The weekly e-newsletter is a timely and valuable resource for grape growers and winemakers alike, and now CCE is launching a sequel called “The Cellar Dweller” to provide up-to-date information for winemakers on cellar techniques to maximize wine quality.

The research and extension provided by Cornell University and the Geneva Experiment Station have been a vital part of the dramatic improvement in quality of New York wines, and we are delighted to support their efforts.

-

2,500 WINE GLASSES disappeared yesterday at the New York State Fairgrounds. That’s great news: Everyone who attended the first-ever Pride of New York Harvest Fest in Syracuse got a complementary “Uncork New York” wine glass, which means over 2,500 consumers attended in just one day. We had to put in an emergency order for 2,000 more to cover today’s anticipated crowd, having thought the original 2,500 would cover Friday through Sunday.

The Department of Agriculture & Markets, State Fair, and New York Wine & Grape Foundation partnered on this venture, which far exceeded our expectations. With about 50 wineries and 50 food producers scattered in the spacious Horticultural Building, it was hard to judge the size of the crowd, so the wine glasses gave us the most accurate count. To my knowledge, this was the largest single-day crowd of any event we’ve ever been involved in, and there’s still today!

The “locavore” and “locapour” trend seems alive and well in the greater Syracuse area, as people were not only sampling but buying, stocking up on New York wines and foods for the holidays. Between my seminars (Wine & Chocolate, Wine & Cheese), I sampled a wide array of wonderful local foods—cheeses, chicken meatballs, sausage, sauces, pastries, wine ice cream—which reaffirmed that New York Farm Country is a gold mine for fabulous fare.

Now we just need to have consumers ask for New York wines at liquor stores and restaurants, and New York foods at grocery stores. New Yorkers supporting New Yorkers: It just makes $en$e.

-

SIP, SAVOR & SHOP AT CITY WINERY is our next event on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 6 in lower Manhattan. More than 35 wineries from throughout the State will be joined by a dozen artisanal food producers and several restaurants to give participants a taste of New York while listening to a popular jazz trio from Long Island.

Tickets are only $45, and available at www.citywinery.com/events/40934. For more information on the participants, go the home page of www.newyorkwines.org.

Birds helping themselves in NY; state expects to top 300 producers by sometime next year

Saw a few notes in the latest weekly e-letter from the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, courtesy of executive director Jim Trezise, that warrented passing along.

2009 GRAPE HARVEST is slowly getting under way, with both similarities and some differences among the various regions. Every region is late in terms of ripening, but recent decent weather has helped, and flavors seem to be developing well, a key component in wine quality.

Each region has unique challenges, and one of those for Long Island is birds, which migrate annually and feast off the great grapes. Many growers have responded by covering their vineyards with huge nets—but now the birds have figured out how to eat the grapes through the nets!

Keep up with the harvest through Cornell Cooperative Extension’s great “Veraison to Harvest” newsletter at http://grapesandwine.cals.cornell.edu/extension.

NEW WINERIES just keep popping up all over the state, confirming that the wine industry is about the only growth industry in New York State. Today there are 273 fully licensed wine producers, 33 satellite stores (linked to wineries but in other locations), and 15 pending winery licenses, meaning we’ll probably top 300 actual producers next year if not sooner.

-

While some of the pending licenses are in traditional wine regions, an increasing number are elsewhere, like The Saratoga Winery (www.thesaratogawinery.com) in that tony horse-racing and spa city north of Albany; and Elfs Farm (www.elfsfarm.com), a combination cider mill, farm stand, and now farm winery in the Lake Champlain region bordering Vermont, which has an increasing number of grape growers and wineries.

-

We commissioned the New York State Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to conduct an updated New York Winery Survey using 2008 data (vs. 2003, the last survey), which should appear sometime in October. But even that will be outdated, given the way the industry keeps growing.

-

(Vigna note: A story on the winebusiness.com site in February 2009 showed New York with 232 bonded wineries in operation, fourth highest in the country and the most outside the West Coast triumverate of California, Washington and Oregon. Virginia was sixth with 152, Pennsylvania was next with 127, and Maryland was tied with Arizona for 20th with 37).

-

RIESLING keeps growing in acreage, according to NASS, which every five years conducts a vineyards survey (different from the winery survey). In 2001, there were 461 bearing acres, and another 30 planned; in 2006 there were 683 bearing with 103 planned; and based on my own anecdotal evidence, I would estimate there are now about 1,000 acres of Riesling, with 90% in the Finger Lakes region.

New York foundation trumpets upcoming Restaurant Week in Buffalo, Rochester

-

Filing this item under the heading of things I'd like to see happen in various Pennsylvania and Maryland communities. This note comes from Jim Trezise, the head of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation:

-

LOCAL RESTAURANT WEEK is slated for September 21-28 in Buffalo and Rochester, with over 200 restaurants featuring three-course menus for $20.09 along with an array of New York wines and beers.

-

Spearheaded by Peter Longo, President of the Buffalo chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, the program brings together farmers, chefs, suppliers and customers, highlighting the great local products available to consumers in these areas.

In March, 150 restaurants participated in Buffalo, with 75 Rochester restaurants in April. The fall promotion, which we support, will include more restaurants and will occur simultaneously in the two markets. For more information, go to www.localrestaurantweek

NY's next wine hot spot: Champlain region

Director Jim Trezise of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation reported in his weekly e-letter that the next area is his state to develop as a wine producer is the Champlain region — near Lake Champlain which separates New York and Vermont. He wrote that it already has three wineries, with more to come. He added that last week the foundation got notice that Eminence Road Farm Winery in Long Eddy is officially open and will be selling at area farmers’ markets and local wine shops. Owned by Jennifer Clark and Andrew Scott, the winery is located in a mountain valley in southern Delaware County (no wineries there before!) and is making unfined and unfiltered Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Dry Apple Wine and others (visit www.eminenceroad.com). He said: "When I first came to this industry 27 years ago, there were wineries in about 7 counties — compared with 45 now (of 62), which is just wonderful politically. Frankly, the industry is growing so fast it’s hard to keep up with it. As far as I know there are now 262 fully licensed (federal and state) wine producers (not including satellite stores), with many licenses still pending at the State Liquor Authority. Last week, a representative from the federal Tax and Trade Bureau said New York now has 294 TTB-approved licenses, which means we’ll probably top 300 in the near future. Now I ask you: What other industry in New York State is growing that fast?

Also in his newsletter:

CORNELL UNIVERSITY has been a major partner in the renaissance, reputation and growth of the New York wine industry, exemplified most recently by the unveiling of a new Teaching Winery on April 1, the first day of the Wine Industry Workshop in Ithaca. The event began with the cutting of a grapevine by Susan Henry, Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, who has been the driving force behind several key initiatives that promise a bright future for both Cornell and the New York wine industry. Several years ago at a strategic planning retreat of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, Art Hunt of Hunt Country Vineyards strongly suggested that Cornell become more involved with the industry beyond the traditional research. While some were initially resistant, Dean Henry was receptive to the concept and started by creating a new four-year undergraduate program in viticulture and enology. Art’s son Jonathan was the first to enroll, and is now deeply involved in the family business. In the past, students had no good place to make wines, making the teaching winery a key addition to the education and training process. It’s the first such facility in the eastern United States, and one of the finest in the country. The $900,000 winery at Cornell Orchards includes all the equipment needed to make and analyze wines—fermentation tanks, barrels, a sophisticated lab—as well as grapes grown by Cornell on that site and another. In addition to creating the V&E curriculum and teaching winery, Cornell has recruited several superb young extension agents and faculty members—Chris Gerhling, Anna Katharine Mansfield, Ramon Mira de Orduna, Hans Walter-Peterson, Gavin Sacks, Justine Van den Heuvel, Miguel Gomez, Brad Rickard—who bring diverse talents and new energy to the research and extension programs. A decade ago, the relatively small size of New York’s wine industry may not have justified this type of investment and commitment, forcing New Yorkers to train elsewhere and creating a brain drain. That has now changed, with world-class research facilities and faculty luring tomorrow’s leaders into the heart of New York wine country.

SUSTAINABILITY is a pervasive topic these days, and Cornell Cooperative Extension is one of the nation’s leaders in defining and refining it for New York grape growers and others. In fact, its comprehensive program (VineBalance Sustainable Viticulture) is being transplanted in Michigan and Washington State by Welch’s, which is owned by National Grape Cooperative headquartered in Westfield, NY. VineBalance was created by statewide CCE director Tim Martinson and his colleagues Alice Wise (Long Island), Hans Walter-Peterson (Finger Lakes), and Tim Weigle (Lake Erie), and now involves over 100 wine and juice grape growers throughout the state. The program includes a comprehensive workbook, and practices reflecting the grape growing conditions in the northeastern United States, although much could also apply to juice grapes in other regions. Since Welch’s sources grapes from all three states, uniformity of sustainable viticultural practices is important, especially as an increasing number of major retailers like WalMart are demanding products reflecting sustainable practices. There are similar programs in other states like California (Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance), Washington (Vinewise, for wine grapes) and Oregon (LIVE), and over time a challenge will be creating an integrated system which is both broadly applicable yet also responsive to local conditions.

FIGHT THE RECESSION: BUY LOCAL WINE is the theme of a terrific new poster created by artist Joanna Purdy for Fox Run Vineyards that may be adapted to any part of the country. The poster is reminiscent of those during World War II appealing to self-help and community spirit, and may be seen at www.foxrunvineyards.com. The first 500 printed copies of the poster have been funded by Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association. For more information on adapting the poster locally, contact Leslie Kroeger at Fox Run (leslie@foxrunvineyards.com, 800-636-9786).

YATES COUNTY (where I live in the heart of the Finger Lakes) is bucking the statewide decline in farms and acreage (-2.3%, -6.3%) with big increases in farms (142 new ones, 20% more) and acreage (11,000 new, up 10%) from 2002 to 2007. It’s also one of the state’s major sources of organic products, with 49 farms on 5,500 acres generating sales over $2.7 million. The key is diversity. When I moved here 27 years ago, the region was an ugly mosaic of abandoned vineyards, ramshackle barns, and rundown farmhouses. The transformation has largely been brought about by an odd combination of the wine industry renaissance and a growing community of horse-and-buggy Mennonites who are excellent farmers and stewards of the earth. As in other areas, dairy is the largest sector (262 farms, 12,150 cows—1 for every 2 humans) and livestock farms have also increased (363 farms, 19,000 cattle), but the grape and wine industry (with 26 wineries) is a major economic engine for agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing. In fact, the 750 agri-tourism jobs represent a major “industry,” and wine is largely the catalyst.

More thoughts from the NY Wine boss

Followers of this blog have frequently read the weekly thoughts and opinions of executive director Jim Trezise of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. Sharing a couple other that seem to me to have some relevency no matter what state you live in.

FLOWER SHOPS may sell wine in Iowa for an annual license of only $25, and Iowa wineries report brisk sales along with the bouquets. This is one of many ways in which that supposedly conservative midwestern state is far more liberal than the “Empire State,” and as far as we know Iowa doesn’t have major problems with underage purchase, drunken driving or related issues. At this week’s WineAmerica meeting in Washington, North Carolina’s Margo Metzger made the great suggestion that a summary of all states’ laws and regulations be compiled for the sake of comparison so enlightened public policy could be proposed. This will take some time, but it will happen.

POLITICS is a fascinating game, as I was reminded last week shuttling between Albany (final budget negotiations) and Washington (federal issues) and meeting with the game’s “players”—politicians who for some reason subject themselves to hard decisions, media scrutiny, and voter outrage. For most people, “March Madness” means basketball, but in Albany it’s the annual drama of negotiating a State budget by the April 1 deadline, a process commonly known as “three men in a room”—the Governor, Senate Majority Leader, and Speaker of the Assembly—shaping roughly a $126 billion budget, this year in the face of a $16 billion deficit. To his credit, Governor David Paterson raised a red flag about the impending fiscal crisis last August and presented his budget proposal a month early in mid-December to get the process going, yet has received widespread criticism in the months since then. Among the issues affecting the grape and wine industry are his proposals to allow the sales of wine in grocery stores, a tripling of the wine excise tax, and funding for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. The first issue has been particularly nasty—World War III, as I predicted in the Wine Press last December—with the liquor lobby and wholesalers pitted against the grocery store lobby, while New York wineries are caught uncomfortably in the middle. On the federal level, immigration reform (AgJobs) has long been an equally inflammatory issue rarely mentioned during the Presidential campaign and still treated like a hot potato because of the “A” word (Amnesty), a red herring. These are not simple issues, nor are they fun for our elected officials to tackle. But fortunately they do, and to the best of their ability in shaping policies for the greatest good, for which we should be grateful. Over the years, I have come to know many public officials on many levels and on both sides of the aisle, and most are truly fine human beings doing a tough job under a microscope. Yes, there are exceptions, and the occasional scandal, but “public servant” describes well who they are. This was reinforced for me on Thursday when I flew on the same plane home from Washington with Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who sponsored the New York Wine & Grape Foundation legislation 25 years ago and now chairs the powerful House Rules Committee. She is one of the most dedicated, intelligent, and hard-working people I’ve ever known, and even when technically off the job was asking people how they felt about key issues and what she could do to help them. It wasn’t about her, it was about them. She wasn’t looking for votes, she was looking to help. These are tough times, and politicians get bashed a lot. Maybe we should consider saying “Thank you” instead.

California contest offers unique criteria

This note on an upcoming wine competition comes courtesy of Jim Trezise and his weekly
e-letter from the New York Wine & Grape Foundation.

LODI INTERNATIONAL WINE AWARDS scheduled for March 8-9 isn’t just another wine competition, as one would expect when Tim Hanni and Pooch Pucilowski are running the show. It’s based on the premise that different people taste differently in terms of sensitivities (hypersensitive, sensitive, and tolerant are the three basic categories), which applies to both judges and consumers alike. The judges are screened according to those categories, including an actual counting of their tastebuds, then placed on panels so there’s a balance. The final awards are provided in a way that consumers can find the wines that best match their own preferences by the judges with similar sensitivities. And wineries which enter the competition receive a sensory evaluation of each wine to determine where the wines fall along the sensitivity continuum, as well as receiving access to “taste budometer” technology that can help determine the taste preferences of their customers. The awards ceremony and tasting will take place on May 1 in Lodi, CA. More info is available at www.lodiwineawards.com.

Mazza: Industry proving to be good investment

Had posted some of the conversation with Bob Mazza, president of the state winery association, about the impact of the economy and specifically what's going on in New York, where there are fears that Gov. David Patterson will cut off funding entirely to the Wine & Grape Foundation. I asked Mazza if there are similar concerns in Pennsylvania.

"I think every state's gotta fear something right now because of the state of the economy on a federal level and actually that trickles down to a state and local level, so, year, we all gotta be concerned about that," Mazza said by phone. "New York has been receiving substantial funding for a good number of years, probably over 20 years now, and that’s probably an area they're going to take a look at. But that’s kind of beating your chest to start out with and then of course everybody kind of moves down the line. I don’t think that’s going to happen, to be quite honest with you. I don’t think they are going to cut all the funding I think they’ve seen a tremendous return on their investment and that’s what it’s all about, that's the case you continually make is, 'Hey, whatever money you spend, we return much more, and it’s a good sound investment.' You don’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water. You gotta get rid of the bad programs that don’t work and aren’t returning anything on the investment and certainly keep continuing to support the programs that do, and I think it’s been proven that [the wine industry] does. So they just need to make that case."