Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/17414
APPELLATIONS Vines among the I magine Sonoma 30 or 40 years ago—only in the northeastern part of the U.S.—with small farms, historic country towns and vineyards on hillsides. But here in the Finger Lakes wine region of Upstate New York, producers have been growing native American grapes for 150 years. Now it’s a region in transition, producing popular wines from native grapes and hybrids, as well as converting many vineyards to traditional European wine grapes. The region is full of contrasts and opposites: the wines both sweet and dry, the terrain both steep and flat, the viticulture both modern and not. The climate here is a bit of a surprise. Due to the moderating influence of the Finger Lakes, this part of New York is warmer in winter than areas both north and south of it. Because the Finger Lakes are so deep, ranging from about 300 to nearly 800 feet in depth, they don’t freeze. Having lost all their European vitis vinifera vines to phylloxera (though they didn’t know the cause at the time), Finger Lakes farmers of the 19th century built thriving wine businesses with native grapes, mainly vitis labrusca. Things were moving along well here until the 1970s, when two giant wine-producing companies, Taylor and Great Western, both suddenly sold up, moved and re-sourced their grapes. Almost overnight, the demand for the native grapes grown throughout this region disap- peared. The New York state government came to the rescue with a farm winery act that allowed farmers to make and sell their own wines within the state. Over the past 40 years, wine tasting rooms, coupled with the beauty of the region, have brought in enough tourists to keep these family-farmed vineyards and wineries alive. Cornell University also jumped in, developing new hybrids and creating a healthy outreach program to educate and assist not only farmers, 66 / the tasting panel / october 2010 Lakes NEW YORK’S FINGER LAKES REGION IS A HIDDEN GEM by Becky Sue Epstein but the many new winemakers as well. The major grapes grown here include: native (mainly vitis labrusca) Niagara, Catawba, Cayuga, Corot Noir, Noiret and Valvin Muscat; hybrids Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles, Marechal Foch, Chancellor, Baco Noir and DeChaunac; and traditional European wine grapes (vitis vinifera) Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay. The climate is still rather extreme for European grapes and some hybrids, so farmers must learn special growing practices. Basically, the closer the vineyards are to the lakes, the more protected the vines. In addition, in many vineyards the farmers have learned to “hill up”—pile earth up around the bases of the vines—before winter. Then, of course, they have to rake the earth back in the spring, which is very time-consuming, but most farmers concede it’s necessary for long- term survival of the vines. A taste for wines made with native grapes has lingered in this region, like a microcosm of time Winter pruning. The climate is still rather extreme for European grapes and some hybrids, so farmers must learn special growing practices. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW YORK WINE & GRAPE FOUNDATION