New York Cork Report

What New York Wine Needs Now: "There's No Boogyman Holding Us Back" with Rick Rainey of Winebow

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor 

How do you live vicariously through Lenn Thompson? (And why would you want to?) What are "wines of joy"? Is it time for an AOC system for New York wines? 

We think this is one of the most insightful posts yet in this series. If you're a consumer, this is dense but tremendously educational when it comes to how the wines you want end up in the stores you visit. If you're in the industry, there is wisdom here.

Rick Rainey is the Director of Sales Education for Winebow, an American importer and distributor. He lives in Trumansburg near Cayuga Lake. 

What is the most significant factor holding New York wines back right now?

Are New York wines being held back? I'm enjoying great success with Ravines Wine Cellars in all of our markets (DC, PA, NY, NJ, CT, MA and Chicago, Illinois). Of course, there are some markets that I believe are not realizing all of their potential, but I'm confident that will happen. 

So then the question becomes what are those producers doing well (Wiemer also comes to mind) that is not holding them back? 

As a distributor I'm interested in a partner that provides consistent and interesting wines with an expression of their region. In other words, what story is this wine telling me that would give me cause to buy it instead of a wine from some other region (this must be my French wine background shining through).

I'm also interested in pricing that is competitive with the other wines of its category from around the world. There are piles of great wine out there and, while pricing is not the ultimate deciding factor, it is an obviously huge part of the equation.

Also, I'm interested in an open partnership where we both have the same vision for the brand in the long term -- this is really helpful when it comes to making the tough decisions like, "How do we decide to allocate a recently highly-rated wine?" for instance.

I'm sorry if I didn't exactly answer your question but I'm not sure anymore about the premise that there is a boogyman out there holding New York wines back. We have great terroir, interesting history, a beautiful region, a culture of sharing and support and a growing interest.  If you're not moving the ball forward, well...

You have a business relationship with Ravines Wine Cellars, owned by the Hallgren family. How did you develop that relationship? How important is the personal connection, as opposed to the business side?

Several years ago I had the chance to taste one of Morten's early rieslings. My honest opinion was that though I didn't necessarily think the wine was where it could be, I believe it showed that the winemaker knew where he was going...in a big way. I've spent a fair amount of time in France for work tasting wines from new producers and often you would taste a new winery and say, "Oh yes, he will be great but he just has a few more kinks to work out."  If you ask me for another fairly recent example of this in the Finger Lakes I would say I felt that way a while back when I first tasted Billsboro Winery's wines. 

You know this happens with restaurants as well. It is not meant to be disrespectful but if your job is to find great producers for your sales reps to take out and present to their customers, you really do need to be brutally honest with yourself about the wines you're tasting. It is really hard to say to a customer, "I know this wine isn't stunning today, but just wait until two years from now when he really reaches his stride." From Day one we need to be in the game -- maybe not brilliance, but at least in the game. 

How did I develop my relationship with the Hallgren family? Funny story, as it took me about two or three years to convince them to come with Winebow. No joke, we had long, long conversations about working together but the stars just never aligned. Ultimately it was for the best because during that time we all learned a few more things, so when it finally did happen we were all on the same page. Remember, presenting a Finger Lakes wine producer to our New York City sales team was no walk in the park. Like most emerging regions, something Winebow has always been interested in (we really got our start in Southern Italy and continue today with wines from say, Greece), many sales reps thought we were simply out of our mind.

It has required some real dedication and hard work by the Hallgrens and I have immense respect for them because of that. I also have a lot of respect for those sales reps that saw the potential for this producer and felt confident that they could compete on the world wine stage and took the time to show the wine to their customers. The Hallgrens are one of our hardest working suppliers. 

The personal connection just seems to always happen with small producers. Over the summer I had a producer from France in town and I invited Morten and Lisa over for dinner. We all just have so much in common because (this may seem hokey) we all live and die by the vine. My wife owns a retail store so there is a real bond that often overshadows the business aspect or at least lets it exist in harmony with the business aspect because we all understand the challenges from the vineyard to the store shelf. That being said, we all have huge challenges and ultimately we all have to provide for our families, so having the ability to be absolutely honest about business is a real plus.

How do you determine whether you'll seek other business relationships with New York state producers?  

Currently we distribute The Grapes of Roth (LI), Millbrook Vineyards (Hudson Valley), Wolffer Estate (LI) and Ravines (FL) so we kind of have the category covered. We have never been the kind of company that went out and tried to "own" a category by having as many producers as possible from a particular region. This is one model that works for some distributors but with the kind of attention we try and give to all our suppliers, this would just be a difficult thing to do. 

Until we hit the production ceiling on a producer and they simply can't make any more wine and keep quality at the level we need, the conversation doesn't normally come up.

What is your opinion of New York wine produced outside the Finger Lakes?

Unfortunately, other than the Long Island and Hudson Valley producers we distribute, I don't get much opportunity to try other producers.  I wish I did get to taste more Long Island producers because I find it really interesting to see what they are up to... I suppose I have to live vicariously through Lenn!

There is no business strategy that works best for every winery, but do you feel that New York wines need to see greater distribution?

If you sell everything in your backyard, the market becomes saturated, the prices go down, and everyone eventually struggles.

Fortunately we have good cellar door sales, which probably helps to lessen the pain of selling at lower margins, but if you continue to want to grow your brand, increase your production and decrease your production cost, then eventually you need to address the distribution question. 

Unfortunately, from the conversations I have had with some of my friends in the area who own wineries, many of them are not sure how to manage that relationship or even how to have it. Perhaps having these kind of conversations will give them a tiny bit of insight.

If New York wines can be branded with one idea or theme in mind, what would you prefer that to be? For example, in Napa, cab is king. In Willamette, the almost-singular emphasis is on new world pinot noir.

I don't think I could speak for the Hudson Valley and Long Island producers. Seriously, it is a plane ride from the Finger Lakes to Long Island; it takes less time to go from Strasborg to Avignon. I would be speaking out of school on anything but the Finger Lakes... but if you're pressing for one theme, mine is the "diversity within our state", from one unique viticultural region to the other across our vast state (lush valley locations, ocean-influenced vineyards, deep lakes moderating otherwise frightening temperatures). 

I understand and appreciate the idea of all of us working together under the heading of "New York," but when it comes to wine, I can't help but want to celebrate them all independently for their own uniqueness.

How else do you see New York wines gaining respect and market strength in the future?

Respect in the wine business comes from regions (producers) that do the work that is required to overcome the roadblocks that prevent us from discovering what the true personality is of that place. 

I respect and appreciate any region that can give me a snapshot of that place (liquid geography) without me ever having to leave the comfort of my dining room. It is a huge question in regards to how we get there, but one of my suggestions, at least for the Finger Lakes, is to differentiate between what I call the "wines of joy," (we know the ones, the sweeter, less contemplative, "fun" wines that are drunk by the bucket-loads around the tasting rooms). 

It is crazy not to realize the importance of these types of wines, but I also believe they should have their own category that prevents them from bleeding over and vice versa into the "other" wines. I say "other" because not all the wines that would be considered the type that compete on the world wine stage are always vinifera, though for the most part they seem to be. 

It is imperative that we look at giving the consumer a guarantee of quality. If we can't come to a wide agreement, then I would like to see growers getting together, agreeing on some basic principles regarding what determines quality (that's a can of worms) and pushing each other to meet those standards and then coming together and telling the story of their work in a unified voice. 

The AOC system is by no means perfect, but I do think if we look back in history many of these regions have faced very similar challenges and we would be wise to try and learn from them... It would probably save us a whole bunch of time.

What New York Wine Needs Now: "Showcase the Virtues of These Wines" Juliette Pope, Beverage Director, Gramercy Tavern

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Our series "What New York Wine Needs Now" was conceived with the intent of getting thoughts and insights on the past, present and future of New York wine from those in and around the New York wine industry.

So far, we've heard from two winery owners and a retailer but this week, we turn our ears to hyper-competitive restaurant industry. And we went right to the top of New York City dining.

Juliette Pope is the beverage director at one of New York's top restaurants, Gramercy Tavern and has been since 2004. As such, her customers are among the most sophisticated diners in the world.

Can local wines succeed in a program like Juliette's? Where does New York wine need to go to be even more successful? Read on to find out.

What is your overall impression of New York wines? Are world-class wines being made here?

New York wine seems to have made great strides in the last 5-10 years that I have been actively involved in tasting and buying them.

“World-class” is a strong term, but there are some excellent wines — and no doubt hundreds that I have not even had the chance to taste yet — out there.

In what ways has New York wine succeeded over the past 3-5 years?

Slowly but surely, New York diners have awakened to the possibility of trying wines from our own “backyard.” I am not sure that that is due to efforts on the part of the New York wine industry as much as the rise of interest here and around the country in eating and drinking local products.

Whichever the case, we are seeing a difference and I am very pleased for these wines to get the attention that some of them deserve.

What is the most significant factor holding New York wines back right now?

If the main competition is domestic wines, then the toughest competitor is obviously California, which has a much longer history of winegrowing and has a lock on the American wine press.

There are a number of local wines that can compete quality-wise with California wines easily, but what you can’t get from the microclimates of the Finger Lakes or Long Island or the Hudson Valley is blockbuster wines with  high ripeness and alcohol, which is what is prized by so many mainstream wine drinkers and press.

There is no business strategy that works best for every winery, but do you feel that New York wines need to see greater distribution?

For sure, but that said, I am getting more and more phone calls from small wineries or from reps for groups of wineries, so that is a promising sign.

They are in a tough position, trying to grab some attention and shelf space in the city, where literally everything in the world is available to us. And New York wines get lost very easily in large distributors’’ portfolios, but then again, it is those distributors who have the reach, the service know-how and the pockets to pay for the wines.

Trying to establish a business niche must be extremely challenging for small New York wineries.

Do you carry New York state wines on your list? If so, how many and what ones? If not, why not?

Absolutely and very proudly.

Until last week, we had three on by the glass (now just two). By the bottle, we have approximately 15-20 at any given time. Current wineries represented include Shinn Estate Vineyards, Channing Daughters Winery, Paumanok Vineyards, McCall Wines, Castello di Borghese, Wolffer Estate Vineyards, Dr. Konstantin Frank, Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyards, Standing Stone Vineyards, Red Tail Ridge and Whitecliff Vineyards.

What has your customers' reaction been? Are they buying?

Wines by the glass do incredibly well since they give an opportunity to taste without a major commitment; bottle offerings naturally move more slowly but well enough, certainly more steadily than they used to.

The reactions are ones of surprise and pleasure and curiosity.

There are some who feel that New York's historical focus on hybrids and other non-vinifera grapes and wines is a problem. Do you agree? Why or why not?

I tend to gravitate naturally toward the Vitis Vinifera wines coming from New York, so am not sure if that means that the non-vinifera/hybrid presence is a hindrance or not. But my guess and assumption is that the greatest potential for quality New York wines does not lie with those grapes.

If New York wines can be branded with one idea or theme in mind, what would you prefer that to be? For example, in Napa, cab is king. In Willamette, the almost-singular emphasis is on new world pinot noir.

Aromatic, acid-driven whites from the Finger Lakes -- like riesling -- and aromatic, lighter-style reds -- cabernet franc and merlot -- from Long Island.

Those are not my preference per se, but what seems to make sense for those regions, what they do their best work with, when in the hands of the most meticulous growers and winemakers.

How else do you see New York wines gaining respect and market strength in the future?

Continuing the focus on growing techniques that reduce yields and improve ripeness and winemaking techniques that showcase the virtues of these wines -- light body, aromatics, acidity, finesse -- rather than trying to twist them into something that they are not meant to be: full, powerful, and tannic with heavy oaking for example.

What New York Wine Needs Now: The High-End Retail Perspective from Daniel Posner

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor

For our next guest commentary in this series, we wanted to turn to the retail side of wine. Daniel Posner is very well known in the world of high-end wine and online wine discussion. He's not afraid to speak forcefully -- and occasionally controversially.

He's the owner of Grapes The Wine Company in White Plains, New York and his daily wine deal email is a popular list to be on. And, he runs WineTalk.com, a growing discussion board that focuses on wine in all of its forms.

And you'll see, Daniel carries some New York wine... but not much. (We recently noticed he had Hermann J. Wiemer on his daily email offer, for example.) Some will argue he doesn't carry enough, but others will say that Posner carries what he can sell, and New York wine needs a better image to make it in a store like his.

We don't agree with all of his perspectives, but we find his views to be helpful in clarifying what a high-end retailer thinks of New York state wines. Now, our questions in bold and his answers follow.

In your estimation, what is the most significant factor holding New York wines back right now?

First, you have to have great quality. Unfortunately, there are many less-than-average wines being produced in New York. In particular, Long Island.

There is no business strategy that works best for every winery, but do you feel that New York wines need to see greater distribution?

I think New York State wineries need to attack their market in their backyard first. Many wineries self-distribute, yet they never show retailers/restaurants the wines to see if the store or restaurant wants to purchase them. Others use wholesalers. Needless to say, NYS wines are not really the focal point of wholesalers in the market.

Do you carry New York state wines in your store? If so, how many? If not, why not?

Yes, we usually have 1-2 wines. Always from the Finger Lakes. I have tasted some Long Island wines that were decent -- Macari and Pellegrini come to mind -- but I was never floored from a "value" standpoint, to put the wines in the shelf.

There are some who feel that New York's historical focus on hybrids and other non-vinifera grapes and wines is a problem. Do you agree? Why or why not?

What is a hybrid? Seriously, I am not sure why a big deal is made about hybrid wines, etc. These regions should to make the best wine possible in their region. That is why it is important for the Finger Lakes to play to their strengths with riesling and gewurz, while Long Island should concentrate on whatever their best grapes are.

If New York wines can be branded with one idea or theme in mind, what would you prefer that to be? For example, in Napa, cab is king. In Willamette, the almost-singular emphasis is on new world pinot noir.

The Finger Lakes needs to concentrate on Alsatian varietals. They make good wines up there at very affordable prices. I am not sure what Long Island or the Hudson Valley should concentrate on. I do know that Long Island should stop producing chardonnay, as I have never had a good one.

How else do you see New York wines gaining respect and market strength in the future?

By offering free trips to the Hamptons to well respected wine critics, in trades for high scores. I am kidding. I think the regions need to concentrate on their strengths first. On Long Island, if that is cabernet franc, then go with it. In the Finger Lakes, it is fairly obvious what it is. Then, they need to get these wines into retailer's hands, who in turn need to get the wines into the hands of consumers.

What New York Wine Needs Now: "The Good News and the Bad" With Charles Massoud, Paumanok Vineyards

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

When Paumanok Vineyards' Charles Massoud planted his vineyard in 1982 with his wife Ursula, there were only a handful of vineyards on Long Island.

Over the subsequent 20-plus years, Charles, Ursula and now their sons -- this is a true family-run winery -- have worked hard to put and keep Paumanok Vineyards in the upper echelon of wineries on the East Coast.

Charles takes a very pragmatic approach to running his winery and, over the years, he has seen wineries come and wineries go. He's seen wineries, including his own, succeed not only with critics but also in the New York City market.

I know that I personally have learned a lot from Charles, and he was one of the first people we wanted to invite to take part in this series. I'm happy that he's agreed to do so with the following essay:

The Good News and the Bad
By Charles Massoud

Carlo DeVito make a lot of good points, but I'd like to add some of my own as well.

The Good News
New York city has embraced Long Island wines! We used to play victim, complaining that New York City turns its nose up at Long Island wines. No longer true. Over the last few years, of the top 50 Zagat restaurants almost all have at least one Long Island wine on their list and pour by the glass. There are at least ten Long Island wineries doing a brisk business in the city. So let us stop saying we should raise our profile in New York City. We have. It has worked and it will benefit the rest of those in the industry who will craft high-quality wines.

Those who stick with low quality swill, nothing will help them.

There are some terrific wines being made in New York and the critics, for whatever it is worth, have said so. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate has given ratings from 90 to 92 to more than 100 New York wines. The Wine Spectator has likewise been rating New York wines higher than ever, having invited several Long Island wineries over the years to its major event, the NY Wine Experience.

These are the leading indicators.

Now the Bad News
If you wait for the government to help you, I would suggest you might do better with Santa Claus. The industry must help itself. Or go out of business.

New York's wine image isn't where it needs to be. A report published by Wine Market Council titled "U.S Wine Markets Trends and Analysis," page 62, states "New York wines ranked lowest in quality compared to all of the other states."

This was made available to us last December. Based on this I issued a call to action and included the NYWGF, the Long Island Wine Council and about twenty wineries. I asked if there would be any interest in exploring how we might, as an industry, positively change our image to reflect the leading indicators mentioned above. There was polite interest by some but in the end I was left alone to conclude that the real problem is the lack of understanding of marketing by New York wineries.

In general, those who are serious will work hard at creating good wines and wait for the world to beat a path to their door. And wait they do, which drives many of them to start a circus at the winery to attract tourists and -- by the way -- sell them some wine. They certainly do not understand that this brings down further the image of their wine. Because if the wine is good it does not need a circus to be sold, it follows that if you create a circus your wine must not be so good. By and large there is poor understanding of basic selling and basic marketing and our industry would benefit from some basic education in these areas.

Carlo is right about identifying the need for leadership, because currently we do not have effective leadership. Those who know better have long figured out that they have to strike out on their own to be successful.

The NYWGF has an impossible mission and must be all things to all people. As such it cannot be very useful at providing strong transformational leadership, in spite of the many useful little programs that it has developed over the years.

The wine trails are ineffective as they spend most of their budget on salaries and have no play money. And their budget is too small to attract highly qualified promoters/marketers.

So Where Do We Go From Here?
The NYWGF must be reformed and adopt the concept of zero based budgeting. All the nice-to-have but strategically unimportant programs must be dropped. Even though it has organized good education programs, that mission belongs to Cornell which should take up that task. The NYWGF should stop funding the trails and use all of its funds (whatever is left) to do one thing but only one thing and do it well. My vote is to "Change the image of New York Wine" to match what the critic are saying.

Perhaps in year one and with the recently limited budget it should use the money to hire a professional firm to develop the blue print for an effective PR campaign and put it out to bid. If it comes out with a credible program then it can use the suggestion I make below. The trails can fund themselves if they want. And if they choose to shut down their staff will be easily placed in the wineries.

The NYWGF should devote itself to doing what none of the trails can do by itself and that is to put New York wine on the map.

The industry needs to wake up and learn marketing and selling. With that here is a suggestion: Every winery spends a few thousand dollars on advertising in obscure media that has almost no impact. If all three hundred wineries in New York would contribute $5,000 per year ( the average advertising budget?) for three years to a professional PR campaign that would positively change the image of New York wine, a successful campaign might raise the demand for New York wine.

If then this allows a winery to raise its average bottle price by one dollar, a 10K case winery will have added $120,000 in net income at the end of year three and every year thereafter. It looks like an investment that cannot be ignored.

Yet I doubt that wineries have the self confidence to make such a commitment and I am not holding my breath.

No one will give such a sum unless there is a credible plan that justifies such an investment. That is the opportunity that the NYWGF has. Will it seize it?

Self reliance in the meantime is the best formula and perhaps some day someone else will have better luck at energizing the wineries of New York to see that they have a great opportunity.

What New York Wine Needs Now: "It's Time We Had a Conversation" with Carlo DeVito

Carlo DeVito in his tasting room at Hudson-Chatham Winery (Photo courtesy of Scott Langley Photography)

By Lenn Thompson

Two weeks ago, Carlo DeVito -- book publisher, wine book author, blogger and New York winery owner -- published a post "Who Will Save New York Wine?". It's a great question and an even better post that publicly raises questions and issues that until now have mostly been pondered and discussed behind closed doors.

At the NYCR, we don't think New York wine needs "saving," per se, but it does need help -- help to grow, to get the attention it deserves and to reach its full potential.

We want to keep this discussion going and will do so with a series of posts under the umbrella title of "What New York Wine Needs Now." Each week, we'll interview or speak to a thought leader in New York wine -- winery owners, winemakers, sommeliers, retailers and distributors. Usually, we'll ask them a series of questions and publish the answers in a Q&A format.

But, for this first post with Carlo himself, we've decided to publish an essay that he sent to us instead:

It's Time We Had a Conversation
By Carlo DeVito

The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYGWF) is in trouble. The New York State legislature, that cesspool of the democratic process that has screwed up the running of this rich and great state beyond all recognition, is about to pull the plug on Jim and his staff -- if not to close it down outright, then to fund it so little money, that it would essentially be crippled.

But, that only half the state’s wineries are actually paying members of the NYWGF makes one understand that there is a problem far beyond how grotesquely the state is treating the Foundation and by extension the state’s wine producers.

Jim Trezise is the head of the NYWGF. People seem to forget, he represents two constituents, with remarkably different goals -- wineries and grape growers.

As a friend recently wrote me, “One thing about all of this that often goes unspoken -- the Foundation is the wine and GRAPE foundation...most of the grape acreage in NYS is still in juice grapes. These are 2 groups with completely different marketing goals and customer bases. After all -- grape juice was developed by a fellow who was fundamentally against alcohol.”

The NYWGF, in the meantime, has presided over the most prosperous growth of any wine region east of the Mississippi. It has performed the duties of an organizer, a directory, a yellow pages, and a publicist for the New York wine industry for 20 years. When I started a winery Jim and the NYWGF folks were encouraging, obliging and welcoming. They gave me people to talk to, seminars to attend and introductions to many folks. New York wineries owe a debt of gratitude to Jim Trezise and the NYWGF.

As wineries, the question before us is -- will you support the Foundation? Yes? Or No? But in actuality, that is not the question at all. The fact of the matter is a fundamental question before us -- what is the New York Grape & Wine Foundation? What is its job now? What do its various members want? And what service and materials can it provide that it would take to attract new members?

The NYWGF’s original mission was to promote grape growing and winemaking in New York State. It did just that. But that is not what this column is about.

And I don’t know that the NYWGF is worth saving or not. I’m not attempting to answer that question here. I suppose it’s worth saving, especially to help assist other aspiring winery owners -- but is it the organization to take New York wine to get to the next level?

You see, the issue made me think. The New York wine industry has matured, into a family of five.

The eldest, largest, biggest, and most formidable child is the Finger Lakes. Second child is Long Island, somewhat smaller, no less smart or brilliant, but definitely smaller. And then there are the triplets -- the Hudson Valley, the Niagara Escarpment, the Chautauqua-Lake Erie region -- noisy and small, with tons of potential.

I think there is a bigger issue in front us. Here’s where I do have an opinion on what the New York wine industry needs.

New York City and London have been the two great capitols of wine in the world. Any wine, from anywhere in the world, can be gotten in either city. These are the great trade corners of the globe for the wine industry. When neither region surrounding those two cities could support them with good wine, the merchants of those cities set out to import the best wines to satisfy that demand. Backed by solid demand and great wealth, they imported all the best wines they could find to supply an ever hungry population for wine.

Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal... all supplied New York and London with the best wines they had to offer. The result today is an educated consumer base, who likes imports more than he or she likes local products, much like sports car aficionados prefer BMWs to Mustangs. And that’s our problem.

We have not made New York wines sexy enough for wine writers and consumers. We are not yet even a Corvette in our consumers’ eyes. Who’s fault is this really? The NYWGF’s or the wineries? In my mind it’s the wineries.

The world wine industry, as a whole, has advanced. Italy, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, California, Washington, Oregon and Virginia, all spend more money on promoting their wines in New York, than New York state does. And they are spending their money and effort in a way much different than what the New York wine industry is today. They have teams of people -- sales people, advertising people, publicity people, all of whom represent their trade commission.

They court the press. They sponsor professional and consumer tastings. They have unified marketing plans. And they have coordinated point of purchase displays. New York lacks all of this. Not only are we not involved in the discussion, we’re not even in the room. The needs of the majority have changed.

This is the attack I think we need to make a sizable dent in the marketplace:

1. Tastings: Sponsor grand tastings twice a year in New York -- one in the spring and one in the fall. Both would let in press and industry professionals (liquor store owners, restaurateurs and distributors for the first few hours, and then allow in the public for a price. And sponsor smaller but similar tastings in Albany, Schenectady and Buffalo. All the above mentioned wine regions do this exact same thing. In fact there are two or three wine tastings a week in NYC, none of which feature New York wines.
2. Press Dinners: Offer a series of dinners pairing winery owners and winemakers with the press. Do these regionally and outside the region.
3. Sales Initiatives: We need someone to lead a state wide sales initiative. If April really in New York wine month, then the industry should be offering sizable displays with marketing materials and several extra discount points to be competitive. And that sales effort has to be backed by a concentrated publicity effort to promote the wines. And there should be some kind of event, held in NYC (Not the Finger Lakes) to help promote those wines.
4. Marketing Materials: The wineries, especially the smaller wineries, need formatted materials for in-store promotions -- bottle tags, shelf talkers, table toppers or posters, that help them push their brand and the state’s message. They need templates to fill out that work, that carry the state’s wine logo.
5. Go National: We need a planned, coordinated effort to target two or three major wine-buying U.S. cities to help establish a foothold in cities outside New York. Little New York wine is sold outside the state’s borders. Maybe it should be two-tier -- places like Boston, Denver, Orlando and Dallas and then places like Portland ME, Trenton/Princeton NJ, Philadelphia PA and others.
6. Strength in Albany: We need someone at the table with the legislature who represents all our needs, who can find a clear and fair compromise to the grocery store issue that protects current liquor store owners (and provides a plan for them not only to survive, but to succeed), and that opens up real new markets, not just for the larger wineries, but for the smaller ones too.
7. Leadership: We need someone to lead these conversations. And we need someone honest enough to allow all five children an equal place at the table. And we need that person to be placed in New York City, where everything is happening. All the trade commissions operate out of the city, but not New York wine. How is that?

There are people who would blame the NYWGF for being lacking where these needs are concerned. I would disagree. These issues were never part of the NYWGF mandate. These issues didn’t present a problem for New York State wine until about 3-5 years ago. The conversation has changed.

Wineries are like sheep -- they follow blindly until their throats are cut -- then they bleat. No one wanted representation. The larger and the smaller wineries didn’t want the NYWGF’s help/interference for numerous reasons. But now, there are stresses on the system. Not enough cooperative liquor stores, competing interests, no demand outside our borders…the list goes on.

Maybe we need two organizations -- one to help people start wineries and one to help the New York wine industry get to the next level. I only know that there is currently no organization that addresses the issues above. I know the NYWGF is not currently charged or empowered with such things. And I also know the state is not going to provide that help -- so even if the NYWGF wanted to, they couldn’t make these things happen anyway.

I come to praise New York wine, not to bury it. New York produces great wines.

No matter what I write, it’s the wineries that will write the next act. It seems to me it’s time the wineries acted in their own best interest, and created an organization that will address these issues, or consider redirecting or widening the mandate that the NYWGF to supply these services. Either way, the dues need to be paid. No one else will pay them for us, and the wineries won’t get the money from the state. The person or people they hire need to be focused and targeted. I personally have enough dues with local, regional, and state organizations, retail taxes, excise taxes, and other fees. But if we don’t have someone representing us in the fashion above, we will continue to be marginalized at best.

New York wine is the best kept secret in New York state. No kidding. What an awful thing to have to write.