"Water divides the people of the world and wine brings them together." Anonymous
Well, we might not know who said it, but we certainly think that they were right. This has been proven over and over again as people from almost every nation can find a common ground in their appreciation of wine.
You can use this section of the site as your passport to New York's wine country and learn more about our industry.
We use this section as our passport to your region and as a means to let you know when we'll be in your neighborhood sharing our enthusiasm for our products.
Wine is truly a global product-grapes are grown everywhere that the climate allows and wine is appreciated all around the world. There are few products that can generate the sense of national and regional pride that wine can, and there are none that are so universally recognized as the obvious choice for ceremonial toasts and celebrations.
Wine enthusiasts never tire of learning the intriguing nuances of the various regions, but it isn't always possible to visit every wine region in person, so it is our hope that through the information we present here we will provide enough information that you will feel a little more informed about buying the New York wines that are available in your market.
Well, we might not know who said it, but we certainly think that they were right. This has been proven over and over again as people from almost every nation can find a common ground in their appreciation of wine.
You can use this section of the site as your passport to New York's wine country and learn more about our industry.
We use this section as our passport to your region and as a means to let you know when we'll be in your neighborhood sharing our enthusiasm for our products.
Wine is truly a global product-grapes are grown everywhere that the climate allows and wine is appreciated all around the world. There are few products that can generate the sense of national and regional pride that wine can, and there are none that are so universally recognized as the obvious choice for ceremonial toasts and celebrations.
Wine enthusiasts never tire of learning the intriguing nuances of the various regions, but it isn't always possible to visit every wine region in person, so it is our hope that through the information we present here we will provide enough information that you will feel a little more informed about buying the New York wines that are available in your market.
- Welcome to the online version of "nywine", our export newsletter.
- While this newsletter is created for our program in Canada, we hope that folks in other markets will find items here of interest as well.
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Tour Extraordinaire: Our Family is Growing
September 11th 2000 — “Fam” is an abbreviation for familiarization, but if the tour goes well, we often feel as if it should be short for family. Last June we brought eight wine writers from Ontario through New York State, and in spite of making them work long hours and ride for hundreds of miles on a bus, we had a wonderful time and our consumer readers have already benefited by reading some of the resulting articles. An added dimension to this tour was that we also had four writers from the United Kingdom along for the ride and everyone seemed to settle in and have a great time. Our thanks go out to all those who put up with the torture: Frank Baldock, Michael Botner, Sadie Darby, Edward Finstein, Dan Kislenko, Bill Munnelly, Margaret Swaine, and Michael Vaughn joined us from Toronto and Ottawa. You might be less familiar with our compatriots from the United Kingdom Julie Arkell, educator, author and former buyer for the Queen’s yacht, Britannia; Wink Lorch, an educator and free lance writer for such illustrious publications as Harper‘s Wines & Spirits, Pamela Massingham of Drinks International, and Rowena Medlow, an editor for Decanter – but you should know that all around the group worked very hard and that they were very good students. We started out on a Wednesday night in Buffalo, traveled down and across the State to the east end of Long Island visiting wineries and learning about New York’s wine industry and products all along the way, and finished up in New York City the following Tuesday night. I know that there have been rumors about dancing in the aisle of the bus and periods of general silliness, but we really did do a lot of hard work and we are grateful for those that have found a way to utilize their education. A key element to any tour of this size is the Coach Operator. Our transportation company of choice – Trentway Wagar – has excelled at providing us with professional drivers who fit right into the group and help make everything run smoothly. In the past we have had Steve Byrnes as our able coachman, but this year Stefan Bjelis was at the wheel and our thanks go out to you also, Stefan for extra courtesies extended — including the Japanese lessons!
The Leather Tour
Getting everyone’s schedules to coordinate can be difficult, so in November we had another small tour of three more writers: Konrad Ejbich, Gordon Stimmell, and Irvin Wolkoff. Konrad and Gordon had already been to the Hudson River region and Long Island, so we concentrated on bringing them up to speed on the Finger Lakes. (Irvin we’ll have to get you on a “downstate” trip one of these days!) “The Guys” had a very busy three-day schedule, were great sports about all the running around, and seemed to really enjoy themselves. I know I keep saying everyone had a great time, and at first glance you might think, “Well, why shouldn’t they”? But if you ever have the chance to take a tour like this, you will understand the intense level of work that is involved. It is a demanding schedule to cover our wineries and more all in the time period that our guests can give out of their already hectic lives. This isn’t a traveling party they are being educators and students – lots of brainwork. Wine tasting for a business is not as glamorous as it might sound – you really have to have your spitting muscles in good shape to make it through a four-day tour! Be that as it may – we certainly enjoyed showing our guests around and we look forward to the next time they (and others) can find some time to get away and join our “magical mystery tour”.
And the Shows go on
Our show team anchored by Robert Ketchin of Ketchin Sales and Marketing, made appearances at the Toronto Wine & Cheese Show, the Ottawa Wine & Food Show, and Toronto Gourmet Show. Wine shows may be less than exciting for the person who has attended several, but we feel that they are a good opportunity to introduce our regions and our product to many who have not as yet had a chance to sample our wines. And even if you have been to a few, you should make a point of visiting the wine booths – especially the “generic” ones such as ours– so that you can see who is new in the market. If the particular show you attend offers seminars these can be a great way to have an in-depth learning experience. For example, this year at the Ottawa Wine & Food Show we did two seminars – one with Peter Bell of Fox Run Vineyards covering the varietals found in New York State and another in conjunction with our friends from Mövenpick in a great wine and food pairing seminar. It was a good thing that there wasn’t a seminar scheduled after ours everyone was having so much fun that they took an extra hour to sip the wines and enjoy the culinary artistry of the chefs from the Marchelino in the Rideau Centre!