By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent While the basic strategy for opening a functional winery differs from region to region, in the Finger Lakes the trend seems to follow a path that calls for the opening of the tasting room first with production facility and vineyard coming later. While this might be a generalization of sorts, it makes sense in many respects. Nearly 75% of wine sales in the Finger Lakes occur on site; many larger wineries lease production space; and a vineyard takes quite a few years to produce grapes. A winemaker or entrepreneur can purchase grapes, make wine at a different…
Posts Tagged“sustainable”
A Sustainability Study
By Contributing Columnist Richard Olsen-Harbich Most people understand the general concept of “organic,” especially as it applies to the food we eat. But lately in the Long Island wine community, the “buzz” is all about sustainability. The question on a lot of people’s minds is—what exactly does this mean? The concept of sustainable agriculture grew out of the early organic movement and became fine tuned during the late 1980s. In 1989, the American Agronomy Society adopted the following definition for sustainable agriculture: "A sustainable agriculture is one that, over the long term, enhances environmental quality and the resource base on…