It was very tempting to approach this subject indirectly through a wine science fiction sort of allegory. The tale of a race decimated by plague and forced to breed with other relative species in order to survive. The social stigmas faced by the viable offspring: the challenges of relocation and settling of new lands, the…
By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief Stoutridge Vineyards located in Marlboro, NY, is still one of the newer producers in the Hudon Rivery Valley AVA. It opened in 2006 and is built on the site of vineyards planted in the late 1700s. A winery on the site was closed in 1902 by prohibition. Owned by Stephen Osborn…
Earlier this week, I introduced you to Windham Vineyards and the unique hybrid grape St. Pepin. Today, I've got another new-to-me grape to talk about: Frontenac Gris. Wikipedia doesn't have a specific listing for Frontenac Gris (just Frontenac), but I was able to dig up a little information about it on the University of Minnesota…
I just got back from three days immersed in the Vermont craft beverage world as part of my annual TasteCamp conference. I started it in 2009 right here on Long Island and we’ve visited wine regions like Northern Virginia, Niagara (both sides of the border), the Finger Lakes, Quebec and the Hudson Valley since. Typically,…
Fall in the vineyard (photo via Shinn Estate Vineyards) NEWS Facebook - 11/4/2005 Lakewood Vineyards in Watkins Glen, have broken ground for a sizable increase in winery and tank space. Ithaca.com - 11/7/2015 A wine summit of a different sort, Frontenac Point hosted a gathering of Finger Lakes food and wine pioneers to discuss the…
Stephen Osborn at Stoutridge Vineyard What started as a grand experiment, one with results that were successful beyond anyone’s expectations, Stoutridge Vineyard is a very unique winery. In 2001, founders Stephen Osborn and Kim Wagner set out to prove a thesis, they believed that great New York wines could be made truly locally, with local grape…
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’…
Many wine lovers turn their collective noses up at wines made with hybrid grapes. While obscure varieties from dark corners of European countries are sought out and embraced, grapes like Corton Noir, De Chaunac, Frontenac, Marechal Foch, Traminette and La Crosse are shunned. I’d be lying if I told you I was, generally, a fan…
Harvest is closing in fast and winery tasks are in high gear, whether it be crush pad prep or the bottling of last year’s vintages. From large producers to little amateur outfits like our own, the story is the same as one season rolls quickly into the next, and what comes in through one door…
The last snow piles are finally melted after a long winter in the North Country, and while the the season may have been oppressive, those intrepid enough to dwell in it are rebounding with a vigor of surprising quality. This exuberance was evident at the Saratoga City Center this past Saturday when nearly a thousand…