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Elizabeth Riadi Group moderatorThe company name is only visible to registered members.Cold threatens N.Y. wine-growing region
Cold threatens N.Y. wine-growing region
Fred LeBrun
Albany Times Union
Feb. 17, 2005 12:00 AM
ALBANY, N.Y. - In the Finger Lakes, the thermometer has flirted with either side of zero degrees Fahrenheit.
Mostly on the down side.
A dangerous dalliance for this grape-growing region, the heart and soul of New York wine country. For most of us, sub-zero weather merely drives up heating bills and annoys our lungs and noses. For grape farmers, it can be a career-changing experience, and not a voluntary one. advertisement
Last weekend, managers were making hourly trips into the vineyards to check temperature sensors among vines and to anticipate damages. Anxious phone calls were being made to other grape farmers for more information, sharing concern about what to do, if anything.
In most years, the warm air rising from above the deep lakes keeps damage to vines at an acceptable level, especially on steep eastern shores benefiting most from prevailing air currents. It is this beneficial phenomenon that has helped the Finger Lakes region defy its latitude and grow temperature-sensitive European vinifera grapes like chardonnay and Riesling, the cabernets and merlot.
But not every year and not every time. Sometimes they get nailed.
Last January, for prime example, was nothing short of devastating.
"We had a couple of weeks of unusually warm weather," recalls Scott Osborn, of Fox Run Vineyard on upper Seneca Lake, "followed by plummeting temperatures. Oh, it was bad. The vines were not ready for it."
Neither were those managing the vines. In addition to the severe cold coming across the vines, the front circled around and came back from the northeast. This second wind caught the same vines from the unprotected side. There wasn't much protective snow cover either.
The results were catastrophic by varying degrees, by vineyard. Entire vineyards of Gewurztraminer were frozen to the root and killed. So were high percentages of chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Even the stalwart and hardy Riesling was down by at least 30 percent from a normal year, and likewise the other Finger Lakes signature variety, cabernet franc.
While the results are still being assessed, production last fall was way down across the Finger Lakes. Certain wines, like the Gewurztraminer, were hardly made at all. Availability generally will be impacted by 50 percent or more for many varieties. Wineries, especially the larger ones, scrambled to buy grapes or juice from the few local growers who got lucky, or from Long Island, or out of state.
Some of the larger Finger Lakes wineries that distribute widely have upgraded from farm wineries to a commercial license in order to bring in juice or grapes from wherever they could, even California. It was a desperate scramble to make enough wine to meet at least minimum orders and needs - certainly not a profit-making situation.
"I think we'll scrape by with enough bottles to get us through, although we've had to severely allocate to our distributors," says Osborn. Fox Run's semi-dry Riesling is one of the top sellers in the Finger Lakes, consistently a beautifully vibrant wine. The 2004 vintage is going to be a tough bottle to find, and the same goes for a lot of other familiar Finger Lakes labels.
"We ran out of our own Riesling grapes for production purposes, but we were lucky enough to find juice available on Long Island, which we've blended with our own to preserve at least a New York appellation," he added.
That's the typical solution - not as good, or as distinctively Finger Lakes perhaps in wine character. But at least it puts bottles on the shelf to satisfy the demands of the tourists coming through.
Preserving space in wine shops, and maintaining a presence on menus and in the general public eye is viewed as critical in this extremely competitive business.
Taking a pass for a year, as the French have from time to time after a weather-blitzed vintage, is simply not an option. Pockets are just not that deep in the Finger Lakes to survive two or three years of total wash-outs.
As for this last week, damage from the sub-zero weather awaits bud studies of vines, which will start as soon as the cold breaks. Last week, Osborn was hopeful that if the thermometer stayed above 6 degrees, they could get by. Unfortunately, it didn't.
Most Finger Lakes vineyards, stung by a couple of poor weather seasons, took some protective measures by mounding soil around the vines to protect them. Fingers are crossed.
Still, even if next fall's wine grape crop survives, the timing of this bad weather stretch over a third year is terrible for the New York wine industry.
New York's vinifera-based wines are finally gaining public acceptance.
Wine writers and others have extolled the unique and lovely character of a
New York Riesling, and deservedly so. There's a good chance, though, this spring you will not find the wine you want, even at the vineyard that ordinarily makes it.
Even a major player like Bully Hill, which every year buys grapes from everywhere it can to make its many relatively inexpensive wines, anticipates it will be short of bottles to sell by at least 25 percent.
"Here we've gotten the public all ramped up to buy New York wines," laments Pete Saltonstall of King Ferry Vineyards on Cayuga Lake, "and we don't have the wines to sell them."
- 17 Feb 2005, 4:11 pm
