Finger Lakes Hail Damage: “In Ten Minutes, Everything Was Lost”
The May 29 storms that hit the Finger Lakes brought a variety of rough weather elements, including hail. A few bursts of hail were large and destructive, and while most Finger Lakes wineries were not affected, Cayuga Ridge Winery is now confirming a loss of nearly 100%.
It’s been an emotional time here. We work all season to ensure a healthy harvest, and in a short time it was all destroyed.”
“The hail hit us for about ten minutes on that Tuesday afternoon,” said Mary Jane Kircher, whose family owns and operates Cayuga Ridge. “There were pockets of it reported all over the area. It decimated our crop.”
The video posted here is cell phone video taken by Doug Emblidge, my 13 WHAM News co-anchor who was down on Canandaigua Lake in Bristol when the hail hit. Cornell found that some vineyards on Canandaigua Lake also suffered hail damage.
Kircher said that Thirsty Owl Wine Company, located next door, also appeared to have damage, but “Hosmer Winery, less than half a mile away, wasn’t hit. Though many farmers within these pockets suffered crop loss, we are the only two wineries that were affected, as far as I know.”
Cayuga Ridge will likely have no 2012 wines to offer as a result. “It’s been an emotional time here,” Kircher said. “We work all season to ensure a healthy harvest, and in a short time it was all destroyed.”
Cayuga Ridge’s crop insurance will cover 65% of the crop value, assuming the assessors agree and the coverage comes through. Cayuga Ridge also has some inventory in the cellar to try to ride out the 2013 year when the 2012 wines would have started to surface on the market.
“We will feel it next year, though,” Kircher said. It’s impossible to know the impact a winery will suffer when it doesn’t have a presence in the marketplace for an entire vintage. For now, Kircher’s family is relying on hard work and a loyal customer base to help them survive.
As always, she’s working tirelessly at The Copper Oven, Cayuga Ridge’s dining spot that focuses on Kircher’s wood-fired pizzas.
Kircher said her family has never seen anything like this in 20 years. “I guess nature really does have the final say.”
