Wine State Reviews | Wine Cooler Blog

Wine State Reviews: New York State Wine Industry

The Yankees (not my personal team to root for) are in the 2010 baseball post season again. They are representing a city of nearly 8.5 million people, about 27,900 humans per square mile. Contrast New York City’s population with that of Los Angles (nearing 4.0 million) or Chicago (nearing 3.0 million). Ironically, New York State’s population is ranked only third most among U.S. states. Still the state would seem to be nothing but a “sea of people”. New York State actually consists of a lot of rolling countryside dissected by many river valleys with elevations ranging from sea-level to Mt. Marcy at 5,344 feet. This countryside, I came to find out, has several areas where vineyards and wineries flourish.

New York Wine Growing Areas

New York State has six areas that currently define its wine country. The areas are 1) Lake Erie-Chautauqua, 2) Niagara Escarpment, 3) Finger Lakes, 4) Hudson River Valley-Catskills, 5) New York City and 6) Long Island-North Folk-Hamptons. Another area that previously has not been considered a part of the state’s wine country is Central New York-Lake Ontario, an area experiencing recent wine industry growth. The three most important areas Lake Erie-Chautauqua, Finger Lakes and Long Island-North Fork-Hamptons have over 95 percent of the vineyard acres, over 75 percent of the bonded wineries and over 95 percent of the tons of grapes produced in the entire state. In an article by Debra J. Goon, she discusses New York’s grape and wine industry as contributing $3.76 billion to the state’s economy. New York ranks third behind California and Washington in grape production by volume.

Wine Grape Types

The grape growing seasons in the state range from about 180 days in the northern areas (Finger Lakes and Upper Hudson River Valley) to 230 days near the Long Island area. Annual precipitation across the state averages 30 to 50 inches per year. Wines produced include Sparkling Wines, Seyval, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Ice Wines, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewurztraminer, and Merlot. Many American hybrid grapes such as Catawba, Delaware, Elvira, Ives and Isabella are also grown. Important French hybrid grapes grown, noted to make great wines, are Cayuga, Vidal and Vignoles. Concord grapes are grown primarily for use in juices.

Wine Trails and Tours

The state has several notable wine trails that would make excellent tour destinations. Trails can be found near the cities of Fredonia, Niagara, Penn Yan, Fayette, Watkins Glen, Marlboro, Clinton Corners, Williamson, Alexandria Bay and Riverhead. Visiting a winery could easily be coupled with visiting other state attractions like Niagara Falls, Sterling Renaissance Festival, Erie Canal, Everson Museum, Allegany State Park, Catskill Park or even the Long Island Beaches. Often a side-trip taking you away from your primary destination focus is a welcome relief; at least it has been that way for me. I bet you might even find a wine that you can add to your list of favorites.

Take the time to check out New York’s wine industry. As I always say, buy the wine you like, store wine properly in a wine refrigerator, serve it at the proper temperature and enjoy it immensely.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, October 2010

Wine State Reviews: Illinois Wine Bucket List

A “Bucket List” can be defined as a list of actions that individuals would like to accomplish in their lives. I have my own list and staying in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House is not on the list. At the end of this month, another item from my list will be crossed off – attending a baseball game at the infamous Wrigley Field in Chicago. Taking the Bucket List trip will allow for another item of interest – traveling to learn more about the wine industry in Illinois.

Wine Growing History

In the 1770’s, French settlers first introduced wine making to small village in Illinois now called Peoria. Emile Baxter, along with his sons, opened a winery along the banks of the Mississippi River near Nauvoo in 1857. The Baxter Vineyard remains the oldest operating winery in Illinois. Before prohibition, Illinois laid claim to being the fourth largest wine producing state in America. Prohibition, as it did in many states, virtually caused the wine growing industry to disappear in Illinois until resurgence in the late 1970’s. By the year 2001, there were 27 wineries and, in the last nine years, another 63 have been added – a 330 percent increase in the past decade.

Wine Growing Zones

Illinois is divided into four major wine growing zones. Each zone approximately divides the state into quarters with the growing zone boundaries running east to west. The zones are aptly named the Northern, Central, South Central and Southern. Nearly one-half of the vineyards are located in Jackson, Union, Johnson and Jo Daviess Counties. About 55 percent of the wineries are located in Union, Jackson, Madison, Adams, De Kalb and Randolph Counties. Illinois has the capacity to produce approximately 850,000 gallons of wine per year but is currently operating at about 65 percent of capacity. Grapes are cultivated on approximately 1200 acres in the state.

Wine Grapes Cultivated

Of the grape area harvested, twelve wine grape varieties comprise nearly ninety percent of the harvest. The following twelve varieties, listed from most produced to least are: Chardonel, Chambourcin, Vignoles, Traminette, Concord, Foch, Seyval, Norton, Vidal Blanc, Frontenac, Niagara and Cayuga White. The Northern and Southern zones account for 57 percent of the cultivated acres of grapes. Many of the grapes grown are considered hybrid varieties adapted to the cold climates of the state. Fruit wines from apples, peaches and berries are also recognized as a key category within the state’s wine industry.

Wine Tours

The wine producing community of Illinois has four designated wine trails that are ideal to tour. The wine trails are Shawnee Hills (Southern Zone), Northern Illinois, Illinois River and Heartland Rivers. Any of these trails are worth the effort to explore and enjoy. There are established bus tour companies that will allow you to taste as much wine as you want and leave the driving to them. Interstate highways abound and make traveling to one of the wine trail tours easy. Award winning wineries like the 2010 State Fair entry from Prairie State Winery will surely reward your palette. Other notable wineries winning awards at the 2010 Fair were Lynfred, Spirit Knot, Hickory Ridge, Hill Prairie and August Hill Wineries.

Illinois offers a great selection of tasty wines you should try. It will still boil down in the end to what wine suits your palette. As I always say, buy the wine you like, store wine properly in a wine cooler, serve it at the proper temperature and enjoy it immensely.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, July 2010

Wine State Reviews: Washington’s Dual Zones

My son and his family used to live in Anacortes, Washington. We generally traveled to visit them by either taking Interstate 5 north from California or Interstates 82 and 90 west from Idaho. Along both of these routes, we noticed many scattered Washington vineyards during our trips. I often wondered how the different wine producing zones in Washington managed to produce great grapes and wine because the climatic regimes on either side of the Cascade Mountain Range are so different.

Washington’s Two Wine Growing Areas

Washington can be generally divided into two grape growing zones with approximately 34 to 36 thousand acres under cultivation. One zone is defined as the Interstate 5 corridor on the west side of the Cascade Range. This zone receives adequate rainfall to grow grapes (average of 48 inches per year). The other zone is defined as the plains on the east side of the Cascade Range. Storms in Washington generally arrive from the northwest Pacific Ocean coastal area and move to the east. As these storms push through the Cascade Range, abundant rainfall occurs on the west side of the mountains. Later, these same air masses push over the Cascades much drier than when they arrived. This produces a rain-shadow effect (average of 8 inches per year) because of the topographic lifting of the air mass over the coastal mountains. Because of the rain shadow effects of the Cascade Range, this area often must use various irrigation techniques to maximize grape production.

Washington Wine Production Facts

The grape growing season in Washington is generally from March to September each year. Harvesting starts in August and can run as late as November. Washington is the second largest wine-producing state with only California out doing them. Washington’s grape annual production is approximately 160 to 170 tons of grapes, which is only a fraction of California’s production of 3.6 to 3.8 million tons. Prohibition arrived in 1920 banning alcohol-based beverages, and, as in other states, set the wine producing industry back. The industry is building rapidly based on the availability of reasonably affordable land, but because most of the vineyards are small operations, the per bottle production costs are higher than most other areas in the country. Washington wines are generally more expensive than wines produced elsewhere. It remains to be seen if this will be restrictive and problematic as Washington’s wine industry grows. Meanwhile, one article I reviewed stated a new winery opens about every other week with the current total around 650 wineries.

Washington Wine Types

The quality of Washington wines cannot be disputed. The wines from this region have won numerous awards and are currently marketed in every U.S. state and 40 other countries. Some of the leading red grapes found are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet France, Malbec, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir and Lemberger. Some of the leading white varietals are Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Semillon and Chenin Blanc. White wine production is 54 percent of the total, while red wine is 46 percent of the total. The wine producing industry economic impact to Washington State is estimated to be in the neighborhood of 3 billion dollars a year.

Washington Wine Tour Planning

Touring wineries and vineyards is an excellent way to pass the time. Cities in the Interstate 5 corridor that could serve as a tour base are Vancouver, Longview, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Mt. Vernon, Bellingham and Fern Dale. Wine production in the more arid eastern side of the Cascade Range is more scattered across the area. Cities that could serve as a tour base are Spokane, Brewster, Chelan, Wenatchee, Yakima, Moses Lake, Toppenish, Richland and Walla Walla. One thing I did notice, when visiting the few vineyards that I have, is that during your wine tours often you will get a great view of a snow-covered peak. I have also found another blogger that had a great experience touring Washington and visiting wineries and breweries.

When visiting Washington, touring its wine country will be very rewarding. Some great wines are produced; the small wine growing operations are friendly to visit; and a landscape of beautiful views will reward you. Remember, buy the wine you like, have a good wine storage cooler, serve it at the proper temperature and enjoy it immensely.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, July 2010