Reporting from all precincts ...

I sent a scattershot note to a group of regional wineries asking if Saturday’s tropical storm had any effects on their harvest. What follows if their replies. And, as always, my public thanks to everyone who responded.

Jerry Forest, Buckingham Valley Vineyards: No serious issues in Buckingham. We harvested 15 tons of Cayuga on Friday before the pending storm; clean fruit, good sugar, Ph and acid. We mechanically harvest, so we can pick 6+ tons per hour day or night with one person. It’s great for bringing in the crop before a storm. We got 4” of rain on Saturday, but no high winds, and great drying on Sunday. We netted some reds today (to hang for 2+ more weeks), and plan to pick Chancellor tomorrow morning. All varieties are doing well and ripening somewhat earlier than normal this year. Overall, another great harvest! Thanks for asking.

Brad Knapp, Pinnacle Ridge: We harvested Cayuga for our sparling Blanc de Blanc on Friday in order to beat the rain. Cayua have a tendency to split when they get rained on at harvest so we wanted to avoid that situation if possible. We got 2.25" (could have been worse) and things look reasonable. We will be picking Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for sparkling wines this week.Vickie Greff, Blue Mountain Vineyards: Thank you for the contact regarding our harvest. Fortunately we did not plan to harvest this past weekend so the weather was not a factor. Although it did put a damper on our Annual Adopt a Vine Ceremony, which took place on Saturday, September 6th. We still gave out the plaques, however the adoptive parents were not able to go into the vineyard to place their plaques on the vines. They took a rain check for next year's Ceremony. Regardless of weather we still had a wine tasting accompanied by snacks and our seasoned parents were given their commemorative bottle of wine! We will most likely begin our harvest next week, of course weather permitting. Due to the predominately dry summer it looks to be a great harvest. We did need the rain this past weekend, but we are hoping for very little rain during harvest and a long lasting warm fall.

Carole Kirkpatrick, Kreutz Creek Vineyards: We had no problems from the storm, we did not yet start harvesting.

Anthony Vietri, Va La Vineyards: All is well here. Par for the course and all. I try not to get either too anxious or too excited; it just all plays out the way it's going to play out, and all I can do is applaud.

Carl Helrich, Allegro Vineyards: I haven't started picking yet, so, yes [we got through it OK]! We'll start this week with some hybrids. Chard will be toward the end of the month along with Merlot. Cab and Riesling in October.

Morris Zwick, TerrapinStationWinery: We got through OK. We picked second block of Cayuga on Friday instead of Saturday [obviously[ as it was ripe and ready to go. Everything else seems unaffected. We already had some downy mildew problems in one field, so the storm did not help that, but we put a spray down and should be able to manage it. We are likely to pick our Traminette this weekend since it was fairly close last week and the weather looks favorable for some catch up ripening.

Jason Price, Twin Brook Winery: Yes we made it out okay. We were concerned some of the hybrids might swell and burst. Biggest annoyance was crushing in the rain. We crushed and pressed 3 tons of Cayuga Saturday morning. tried to hurry and get the grapes in the press before the heavy rains started. Almost made it. Made clean up a whole lot easier.

Fridays Creek drying out, set to bottle reds

The early assessment from at least one regional winery is that Hanna’s cloudbursts on Saturday did no more than take away a harvest day and spoil some events that were planned.

Frank Cleary Sr. of Maryland’s Fridays Creek Winery in Owings, Md., said yesterday afternoon the storm that swept through Saturday morning didn’t produce the damaging winds that were feared and that the rain, while substantial, should have little effect on the quality of the harvest.

“We were pretty thankful,” he said. “We had picked quite a bit [already] but we did jump in and pick in advance of the rain and we probably didn’t have to. I mean, it was OK, we could have let it hang. Now we probably will lose a little bit of Brix on the sugar content. We’re going to check it tomorrow [Monday] and see if any of it dropped down a little on what’s still hanging.”

That there’s so little left to pick off the vines doesn’t mean anyone at the winery has found a cot to enjoy the cool, sunny days forecast for the rest of the week after tomorrow’s cold front moves through. Cleary said they’ll soon start bottling their reds, including a red estate wine they call Rubilee. This is the third year they’ve bottled the hybrid grape, a high producer developed by Cornell under the original name of GR7. They made a very small batch out of the 2005 harvest and made a little more out of the ’06 crop. Cleary said they might get around 25 cases out of the ’07 juice that has been aging about a year and, continuing the trend, could fill around 100 cases next year with what they’ve just picked off the vine.

Cornell came up with the name of Rubiana for the grape, but told Fridays Creek that “we couldn’t use that name. So that’s where we came up with Rubilee as an alternative," Cleary said. “It’s a heavy red; it probably would make an excellent port . . . but that’s not what we’re doing [with it] now.” Asked to compare it to a wine readers might recognize, he said it’s “closer to the local hybrid Chambourcin [than anything else].”

This one ages about a year, as long as the rest of Fridays Creeks reds. “Sometime you can pull them out a little earlier depending on whether it’s a brand new oak barrel or whether it’s been used once before,” he said. “Basically putting it in oak, you’re looking for the oak flavor. It would age just as well in steel. But it wouldn’t have the oak flavor.”

You’ll be able to sample, if I may, the fruit of their labor at Saturday’s open house, scheduled for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Two 2007 wines that will be offered for tasting are the 2007 Seyval Blanc and the 2007 Chamboursin.

Some food for thought from NY head

I tuned in midway through a Food Channel show the other night that featured the ebullient Rachael Ray touring Provence. Besides the fetching sundress that Ray wore and the scrumptious dishes that she had at each and every stop, the other aspect of the tour that left an impression was how many of those restaurants served up wines form the region.

OK, you’d expect to see that there. Conversely, it’s almost a surprise to find local wines served at restaurants anywhere in this region, and to some extent in New York State. The head of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation termed the progress made in placing local wines in that state’s restaurants as slow but steady.

“You know, a lot of the frustration that our industry and especially consumers who love New York wines have,” Jim Trezise said, “is . . . they go to a restaurant, let’s say, either in the Finger Lakes, where I live, or on the border likeRochester, Syracuse, what have you, and they look at the wine list and there might be one or two New York wines or there might not be any at all. Why is this? What’s going on here? And traditionally a few things have been going on.

“Number one, and most important is that it is the distribution system, it’s the wholesalers who service the restaurants who basically determine what the restaurants serve. It’s not the restaurants themselves, it’s the distributors.”

Does it have to be that way? No, Trezise said. But it is, for a lot of reasons. “Most of the restaurant owners have their hands full with employees and broken plumbing and taxes and all this kind of stuff,” he said. “So when it comes to wines there are not that many restaurants frankly that pay real attention . . . so they take the easy way out and they rely on their wholesalers to tell them what’s good, how they should structure their wine list and so forth. Now the wholesalers represent the big guys from California and Europe and other places as well and not the little guys from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. So the distribution system is the number one impediment. Secondly, as I said, most restaurateurs really don’t pay attention to wine.”

Trezise admitted that doesn’t make sense “because it’s their best profit center, and it would be even better if they priced their wines more reasonably. You know, over the many years we’ve had a lot of complaints and concerns, so we’ve done a couple of things. We have a little leave-behind what we call restaurant card that is a fold-up card. So when you fold it up it says,’ The meal was fine, but where’s the New York wine?’ And then inside it has a short courteous message that says, ‘We enjoyed our meal but it could have been much better with a better selection of New York wines, and then it has a place to sign it and date it. And then there’s information on how to get more information about New York wines, which is us, at the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, and so forth. So we’re trying to leave the message that consumers want this and we are a resource to help the restaurants figure out, well, which New York wines would fit into their menu, that kind of thing. So that’s a little thing. I can’t tell you [that it] has had a major impact. Has it had any impact at all? Yeah, I’ve gotten some calls from restaurants.”

What they have seen more quantifiable evidence of progress, he said, is a program called New York Wines & Dines, which ties in participating New York City restaurants. Each one features at least three New York wines up front, and as customers come in they are invited to sample them. “They’ll say I want a dry white wine, and the restaurant will say, ‘I’ve got this wonderful Chardonnay from Long Island or this dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes, what have you. And they match that with foods that are grown or caught in New York, like Long Island seafoods. It’s a coordinated program that takes a lot of effort and a lot of money to do it,” Trezise said, “but we’ve also found that it does work. Last year we had about 75 very good restaurants in New York City that participated enthusiastically in the program and really promoted New York for that month, and we got a lot of exposure for New York wines and some permanent placements and that kind of thing.

“But it’s uphill sledding, there’s no doubt about it, because the system is stacked against us. You know, a good trend now is the whole Locavore trend . . . and the concept of it is to eat food and drink wine that are produced within a hundred miles from where you live, and the wine part of it, like in New York City, there’s kind of a takeoff on it called Locapour. We definitely have seen a positive effect from that whole movement going on.”

Still, the current situation remains well behind what's happened on the West Coast, where Trezise noted both the volume of wine produced and the culture that exists creates far more ties between local wineries and restaurants.

“When you go into a restaurant in Portland [you find] Oregon wines,” he said. “When you go into a restaurant in Seattle, it’s Washington wines. I was just at a conference a month ago in Seattle and stayed at the Hyatt, and their restaurant -- which is a really good restaurant/bar -- featured nothing but Washington wines. That’s all. There was no California, no France, no anything else. It was all Washington I went up to the bartender . . . and asked him how this came about. ‘Did you have pressure, did the trade association do something special?’ And he said, ‘No, it just made sense. We have really great local wines and we’re in Washington so why not promote our local wines to the people who are coming through.’ And I said, ‘Bless your heart, I wish we had you in New York.’

“But New York is different, especially the closer you get to New York City and right in the heart of it. It’s truly an international city and people are used to having a lot of choices. So it’s a much, much tougher market to break into for us than in Seattle for Washington or Portland for Oregon wines.”

NY's Fox Run among world's 100 best

This is one of the items worth sharing from the New York Wine & Grape Foundation weekly e-letter. Congrats to Fox Run.

Fox Run Vineyards on Seneca Lake has been named one of the top 100 wineries in the world by Wine & Spirits magazine, and will celebrate that achievement with a press conference and wine-and-food tasting on Sept. 17 from 1 to 3 p.m. Wine & Spirits editor and publisher Joshua Greene noted that the magazine staff tastes over 9,000 wines a year, with the top 100 wineries selected on the basis of a range of wines that score at the top of their categories. For years, Fox Run has been widely recognized as one of the top quality producers in the Finger Lakes and New York overall, with the hallmark of quality across a broad range of wines. Being in Wine & Spirits’ top 100 is not only a major achievement for Fox Run, but also a great reflection on both the Finger Lakes and New York overall. Congratulations and thanks to the Fox Run team. More information about the event is available by calling Leslie Kroeger at 800.636.9786 or email foxrunmarketing@foxrunvineyards.com.

Wine books for a rainy (or sunny) day

Deb Harkness, who pours her heart and soul (and writing talent) into the blog Good Wine Under $20 and also writes a column called Serious Grape at Serious Eats, just posted a piece called five must-have wine books. Not only do all of these look like great reads for anyone wanting to learn more about grapes and the nectar they produce, but the string of comments beneath her column add a few more books to the list. I’d add two to her list: Making Sense of Wine by Matt Kramer and The Pleasure of Wine by Gerald Asher.

Sigh. As someone who drives 4 to 5 hours a day, I only have one question pertaining to any of the books on her list: Are any of these available on audiobook?

Basignani cancels Saturday picking

Not surprisingly, Basignani Winery has canceled its volunteer harvest scheduled for tomorrow because of the approach of Tropical Storm Hanna. There are other weekend dates scheduled throughout September into early October.

The Event Grapevine: Sept. 5-7

Featured event

It’s safe to say that virtually all these events listed below are going to be subject to change with bad weather moving in Friday night and lasting through Saturday. One of those that could be moved to Sunday or another weekend is a public tour scheduled at Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery in Breinigsville, Pa., at 1 on Saturday. Admission is $8; but there is no charge for minors.

It includes a vineyard walk and guided tour through the production facility and barrel room. Admission includes wine tasting and a souvenir wine glass. Reservations are required. Call 610.395.2468 or 1.888.CLOVER HILL for information and to make sure the event is still scheduled. The closest hotel, The Hilton Garden Inn, is offering an $89 room rate for guests of Clover Hill Winery. You can make reservations by calling 610.398.6686 and asking for the Clover Hill Winery room rate.

This event will set the stage for a busy fall there. It will be followed next weekend, from Sept. 11-14, by the 23rd anniversary sale, where Clover Hill wine will be sold at a 23 percent discount.

That said, here’s what set for this weekend:

PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli: Candlelight Concert ($$), Friday, 7 to 9 p.m.; Fall Foliage Tasting ($$), Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m., http://www.bluemountainwine.com

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Summer Night Under the Stars ($$), Friday, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.; reserve tastings ($$), Saturday, sittings at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m., http://www.chaddsford.com

Country Creek Winery, Telford: Concert, Christine & Company, an acoustic act from the Philadelphia suburbs, Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m., http://www.countrycreekwinery.com/

Crossing Vineyards & Winery, Washington Crossing: Wine 101, first class of the semester, Monday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., An Introduction to Wine, http://www.crossingvineyards.com

Moon Dancer Vineyards & Winery, Wrightsville: Music Friday (6 to 9 p.m.), Saturday (2 to 5 p.m.) and Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m., http://www.moondancerwinery.com

Naylor Wine Cellars, Stewartstown: “Summer Sounds” outdoor concert series ($$), Saturday, 7 to 10 p.m., music by Herm Miller Orchestra, http://www.naylorwine.com

Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville: Summer Tours With the Winemaker ($$), Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m., about 1 ½ hours long, http://www.vynecrest.com/whatsnew.htm

Wycombe Vineyards, Furlong: Harvest Weekend, Friday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a BBQ to follow, call to reserve a spot or go to the Web site

MARYLAND WINERIES

Boordy Vineyards, Hydes: last of the Summer Concert Series ($$), Saturday, 7 to 9:30 p.m.; gates open at 5:30 and there’s a dance instruction session at 6:30, http://www.boordy.com/events.html

Other MARYLAND winery events can be found at this link and VIRGINIA events at this link.


FESTIVALS

4th annual Gettysburg Wine & Food Festival, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., rain or shine, click on this link

($$) – Admission charge