Posts Tagged“winter”

From the Archives: Finger Lakes Growers Begin to Check for Damage to Vines Following Brutal Cold Snap

Editor’s Note: On Thursdays — call them Throwback Thursday if you’d like — we’ll pull a story from the more than a decade of NYCR stories and republish it. This week’s jolt of frigid temperatures across New York — particularly in upstate New York — has those of us who care about and follow the wine and cider industries here worried about what damage was done. So, I thought posting this piece from January 2014 seeme appropriate. On Saturday, Steve Shaw of Shaw Vineyard spent about an hour carefully cutting buds from canes he pulled from his vineyard. It had been several days…

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Corks of the Forks: The truth about winter in Wine Country

Other than that recent big snowstorm, we’ve had a relatively mild winter thus far. It’s been my kind of winter, with limited time spent shoveling. Let’s hope I didn’t just jinx us. Despite the relatively mild weather, you just don’t see big crowds in Wine Country this time of year. Once the last pumpkins are picked, the tide of humanity recedes a bit through Thanksgiving and then fades even more as winter settles in. On one hand, I understand it. There are few things more enjoyable than sharing a bottle of wine, overlooking a vineyard on a warm, summer day.…

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Weekly New York Wine News — March 30, 2015

Assistant Vineyard Manager Donna Rudolph working in the vineyard (Photo via Bedell Cellars’ Facebook) NEWS The Leader - 3/24/2015 Senator Schumer believes that the long cold winter may again justify federal aid for NY wine producers. Albany Times Union - 3/24/2015 Republican State Senetor Phil Boyle from Long Island signs on to bill to keep State Liquor Authority from enforcing the adult beverage laws of other states. Dan’s Papers - 3/24/2015 The Damianos Family sells 87 acres on Long Island and will continue to work vineyards until new owners are ready to establish their own wine farm. Auburn Citizen - 3/25/2015 Two…

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Weekly New York Wine News — February 9, 2015

NEWS Observer Review - 2/3/2015 -A group of more than 100 area businesses has written a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in opposition of Crestwood’s proposed liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage project in salt caverns along Seneca Lake. Examiner.com - 2/5/2015 The Shawangunk Wine Trail announced the new “Hudson Valley Wine Tasting Passport” that covers each of the Trail’s 14 members wineries. The Telegram - 2/6/2015 Winemakers experimenting with native grapes yield interesting results. “I recently tasted the Cuvée d’Amour 2011 from the Dr. Konstantin Frank winery in the Finger Lakes region of New York, which is made from their own…

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Winter Vine Damage Not Widespread on Long Island — But it’s Out There

This past winter was a rough one across much of the northeast, with lots of snow and some of the coldest temperatures in recent years. As my colleague Evan Dawson wrote last month, those temperatures will have a not-insignificant impact on the Finger Lakes wine industry. On Long Island, the damage wasn’t nearly as severe or widespread, but with bud break’s arrival, Long Island growers can now better assess what damage was sustained, if any. Elevation matters, even here where many Long Island are seemingly flat. Little rises and dips matter because the coldest air pools in those low areas…

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New Survey Shows Why 2014 was the Worst Winter in the Finger Lakes in Years

The most devastating winter in more than a decade has left behind millions of dollars of damage to the Finger Lakes wine industry. Thanks to a survey from the Cornell University Cooperative Extension Finger Lakes Grape Program, we’re learning just how serious the winter losses could be. Over the last two weeks of March, researchers cut more than 14,000 buds and collected more than 100 samples of vinifera. Teams visited 20 different sites, from vineyards on Seneca, Keuka, Cayuga, Canandaigua, and Skaneateles Lakes. The staff attempted to collect buds from a variety of locations even within single vineyard sites — buds from high up, buds from…

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Visting the Finger Lakes: Part 1

By Finger Lakes Correspondent Jason Feulner The Finger Lakes are worth visiting for many reasons, but it is not always an easy vacation to plan if one is not familiar with the region.  In a two-part series, I will attempt to provide some general answers to basic questions about planning a trip to the Finger Lakes.  I encourage readers to ask me more questions if these topics do not provide all of the answers! When is the best time to visit?I’ll run the answer down by seasons to flesh out the possibilities: Winter-Darn cold, but can be downright beautiful after…

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One Last

As winter slows and we look to spring, LENNDEVOURS’ Poet Laureate, Christopher Watkins presents a piece about what this time means for grape vines that have been sleeping during the cold months. One LastBy Christopher Watkins One last hurl of winterfor the sleeping vinesto unknowingly withstand; One last morningof vivid, blinding beauty—sunlight caroming off snow slicks—and the dirty days that followas the oily trucks tattoothe banks built upalong the salted roads; One last fire for warmth; One last reminderthat the world’s not at our mercy,that our mercy’s what we plead forat the door of Mother Nature’s busy home—darkened by our…

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