Posts Tagged“wine”

Weekly New York Wine News — March 2, 2015

NEWS Hunt Country Vineyards – 2/25/2015 The Hunt family, founders and owners of Hunt Country Vineyards in Branchport (Keuka Lake), are pleased to announce the promotions of Brian Barry to Winemaker and Jim Alsina to General Manager. West Seneca Bee – 2/26/2015 West Seneca, NY has a new source for local beverage products at Best Value Wine and Liquors Edible Finger Lakes – 2/26/2015 A chat with former Red Newt winemaker Brandon Seager about the by-the-glass offerings at the recently opened Coltivare. Mountain Lake PBS – 2/27/2015 Army Veteran couple continue work on renovating the historic Old Stone Barracks property in Plattsburgh, NY into…

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Weekly New York Wine News — February 23, 2015

NEWS Syracuse.com – 2/19/2015 Wine review: Tasting Swedish Hill’s award-winning pinot grigio (Video). Poughkeepsie Journal – 2/19/2015 New York State ranks as one of the biggest producers of grapes and apples in the country again this year. Democrat & Chronicle – 2/20/2015 Fermentation and Distillation businesses are booming in the Rochester region, but is still a fraction of it’s historical peak. Daily Voice – 2/20/2015 Wine Doing Good – Wine Tasting Dinner in Tarrytown raises $300,000 for Food Bank. Wine Spectator – 2/20/2015 James Molesworth releases his comprehensive 2014 report scoring of more than 200 Finger Lakes wines. Troy Record – 2/21/2015 Industry…

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Weekly New York Wine News — January 19, 2015

New York Wine News Poughkeepsie Journal – 1/13/2015 Food, drink events worth a trip – Douglass Miller names Hudson Valley among his destination recommendations. WXXI – 1/14/2015 Rieslings From The Finger Lakes Region Gaining National Attention – “Need to Know” host Hélène Biandudi Hofer is joined by David Mansfield, Owner and President of Three Brothers Wineries and Estates and Vinny Aliperti, Owner and Winemaker for Billsboro Winery. NorthForker – 1/14/2015 Dean Babiar is new winemaker at Jamesport Vineyards – the 30-year-old winemaker said it was a taste of Jamesport Vineyards merlot and cabernet franc, given to him by his brother several years ago,…

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Weekly New York Wine News — January 12, 2015

NEWS Cornell Viticulture and Enology – 12/31/2015 USDA Renews Funding for Northern Grapes Project led by Dr. Tim Martinson at Cornell with a grant of $2.6 Million to continue research and education activities that have reached an aggregate audience of several thousand people across 12 states. DNAinfo.com – 1/6/2015 A Winery grows in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Winery is planning to open a second location in the Crown Heights neighborhood late summer 2015. Star Gazette – 1/7/2015 Techs who do IT support for Finger Lakes wineries, open a store “Odessa Wine and Spirits” selling only New York wines. The Chronicle-Express – 1/9/2015 Rochester Institute of…

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North Country Passing – Rob McDowell

North Country wine growers and cold climate viticulture lost a visionary, sharp witted, friend, colleague and sometimes antagonist when Rob McDowell passed away earlier this month on December 13th. Rob grew and operated Purple Gate Vineyard in Plattsburgh and was one of the first people to dedicate serious efforts to the propagation of cold hardy hybrids in the Lake Champlain Valley of New York. Rob was a founding member of the local wine community and shared generously of his knowledge at site visits, meetings and workshops, with locals and visitors alike, some who would go on to become growers and winemakers…

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Lovely Louise Swenson

Elmer Swenson is a respected and nearly mythical figure in the cold climate wine growing community, but do we ever wonder what force was behind his success? He had his own motivations for breeding grapes which developed at an early age, and then later in life he greatly expanded the vine breeding work of prior generations. His ‘amateur’ vine propagation began in 1943 and continued when he was a dairy farmer and had full responsibility for the family operation. Upon retirement from dairy, Elmer went to work for the University of Minnesota as a fruit nurseryman and eventually, grape breeder. When he retired again, he continued…

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North Country Report: Patience Needed to Tame Acidity

2014 was what most vacationers would describe as a pretty ideal summer and subsequent transition into autumn. Crop load in the north country has been good on those plants that had healthy wood after the bone-chilling winter. The season was marked by beautiful clear days and sporadic rains when we needed them.  It was good sleeping weather at night and it never really got too hot which was great for camping but a bit of a challenge for the grapes.  Sugar levels were behind and  worked their way up, but slow grape maturity had been holding pH readings low and Titratable Acidity (TA) high,…

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The Spirits of Volunteerism

Early last month a story broke in California about a small winery that had been subject to hefty fines levied by state labor authorities for the use of willing volunteers, and then fined again during their process to try and mitigate the unintended wrong. This has prompted conversations across the industry and across the country as wineries and their advocates look to their own state laws to see what kind of risks they might be exposed to. Hans Walter-Peterson in the Finger Lakes has mentioned the situation in recent issues of the Finger Lakes Vineyard Update newsletter, and we are recently…

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AVA in the ADK?

Conveying a sense of place has become a real priority for fine wine, no matter where in the world it is grown. Wine has the responsibility of not only needing to taste and smell good, but for afficianados and for marketing purposes it is expected to also serve as a reliable ambassador for its region of origin. It’s supposed to mean something when you see a unique place name on a bottle’s label, and before long it just might mean that it is coming from New York’s North Country. Producers way upstate have worked together and an AVA application has…

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Playing Some La Crosse

La Crosse is a grape from the cold climate quiver that is a pet favorite of mine. Having worked with it in the Cornell trial vineyard and in and the home winery for a few vintages, I’m intrigued by what smells and tastes like potential. It’s yet another of the Elmer Swenson-propagated diaspora of hybrid vines which offer options and hope to winemakers who grow and press  in places that are USDA Zone 5 and below. A complex hybrid offspring of Seyval Blanc, and named for the Wisconsin city on the Mississippi,  it offers some improvements upon its parent, and…

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