Known for its tall buildings and multitudes of taxis (as in the driving kind), New York State holds one big surprise when you look at its wine industry. For starters, you learn that they’re the second largest producer of wine after California, which isn’t hard to imagine, since they’re also the third largest producer of grapes (being surpassed by California and Washington respectively). However, this is not too surprising considering the rich history of wine production in this region and its variety of regions. Not only this, but you get the amazing and unique varieties of wine that have come out of New York over the years. And, of course, with great wine comes high praise from critics and competitions around the world. So why not take a closer look at this great wine-producing area, and hopefully get a nice taste of some of its wines in the process?
While it’s certainly not America’s oldest wine-producing region, a title I think Florida holds, it’s definitely not a young region. Since around the 17th century, a variety of people have attempted to make wines within this diverse region. The first to taste and make wine here were a group of Dutch and Huguenot settlers who planted vines in the Hudson River Valley. Like the other regions of the country, although there was not really much success due to the various pests and diseases that European vines in the new world are susceptible to. But this did not deter others from trying, as those settlers were soon followed by English settlers attempting some vines to the east and the French attempting the same in the northern Hudson River Valley.
Although there were many failures, as was the case with the rest of the United States at the time, this did not prevent some from succeeding under these conditions and even prospering to help form a new industry. One such winery is Brotherhood Winery in the Hudson Valley. This vineyard and winery has been in business for 170 years (1839-2009) and is the oldest winery in the US Surviving tough economic times, wars and even Prohibition (producing and storing sacramental wines) to become an established winery and successful, which also has the oldest and largest warehouse system. In addition to this wonderful gem in New York, they also lay claim to the first legally united winery in the U.S. Pleasant Valley Wine Company occupies this coveted position with the No. 1 winery license established in 1860, which truly marked the beginning of the industry. wine trade in the United States.
And it’s no wonder this region has been so successful with the incredible variety of regions the Empire State has to offer. With 8 AVA’s (American Viticultural Area) a great distinction of the wines that are elaborated is achieved. From these 8 wine growing areas, you get the top 4 New York growing areas; these are Lake Erie, the Finger Lakes, the Hudson River region, and the Long Island AVAs. And thanks to the large area of the state and the Atlantic Gulf Stream, you get surprisingly good variation in weather. This helps the regions’ growing seasons vary in length and the amount of rain they typically receive, which really helps them specialize in a sizable variety of grapes.
A growing class of wine in New York State is the classic Vitis Vinifera, or basically the main European varieties. These consist of vines such as Riesling, Gewürztraminer (one of my favorites), Seyval Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and of course Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition to these European grapes, there is also a fairly sizable selection of French and American hybrid vines, which were quite important before Vinifera wines could be successfully grown in America. These vines include some like Aurore, Baco Noir, De Chaunac, Cayuga, Vidal and Vignoles. However, what is truly amazing is that, along with all these varieties, more than a third of the grape production is actually Native American Labrusca grapes. These include vines such as Concord and Niagra, predominantly used in making kosher wines.
Naturally, with such wonderful growing areas and an amazing variety of vines to choose from, it was really inevitable that New York would start producing some truly world-class wines. For example, Brotherhood Vineyards, the aforementioned oldest vineyard in the US, won best sparkling wine in the North and Latin American Wine Competition with its Blanc De Blancs champagne in 2008. We also have Clinton Vineyards winning a gold medal with its Cassis Dessert wine at the LA International Wine Competition. Then of course there’s also Rivendell Winery, which has an awesome name for you nerds like me, winning double gold in the dessert category at the San Francisco International Wine Fair. And the last one I’ll leave you with is the 2004 Double Gold for Arrowhead Wine Cellars at the Florida International Wine Competition with their amazing Cabernet Franc.
With all of this, it’s really not that hard to imagine how New York has come to be one of the most prominent and successful wine regions in the US, thanks to a fairly rich history of winemaking, mixed with influences from vintners from around the world, you get a truly unique and surprisingly stable wine industry. One that owns both the oldest and first bonded winery in the US Add to this the huge selection of wine varietals that can be grown in this area and you end up with some beautiful wines that rival any other region in the world. . I’m not the only one who thinks so, just take a look again at some of the previous awards that are only a small fraction of the number of awards won by winemakers in the Empire State. So if you haven’t gotten your hands on some wine from this state yet, I highly recommend you do, I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed.