New York Wine & Grape Foundation

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Research Program

Since its creation in 1985, NYWGF has sponsored an ambitious and comprehensive program in close coordination with the industry and academia. As with the promotion program, private sector funding is required to leverage the state matching funds. NYWGF’s annual research budget is normally between $350,000-$500,000 to support dozens of individual projects, mostly conducted by Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.

The private sector funds come from various organizations, businesses and individuals to support the three main areas of research: viticulture (grape growing), enology (winemaking), and wine and health. The state matching funds are allocated in proportion to the respective amounts of private sector funds supporting each category.

Particularly in the case of viticulture, NYWGF’s research committee and Board of Directors solicit recommendations from the Lake Erie Regional Grape Research and Extension Program, an industry committee of processors who conduct a thorough review of all proposals submitted. Once NYWGF receives their recommendations, the Foundation’s research committee makes final allocations to individual projects.

Like the promotion program, the research program is enhancing NYWGF’s overall strategic goal: “To have the New York grape and wine industry recognized as a world leader in quality, productivity, and social responsibility.”

Click here to view our 2024-2025 Funded Research Projects.

Accepting Proposals Now!

The Research Committee of the Board of Directors now welcomes new proposals for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Proposals are due by January 16th, 2026.

The full RFP, including this years research priorities, and templates for proposals, budgets, and final reports can be found at newyorkwines.org/researchers or click below.

researchers click here

Funded Research Projects

For 35 years, NYWGF has annually distributed funds to projects that provide the New York State wine and grape industry with short-term solutions and long-term strategic directions.

2025-2026 Research Reports
2024-2025 Research Reports
2023-2024 Research Reports
2022-2023 Research Reports
2021-2022 Research Reports
2020-2021 Research Reports
2019-2020 Research Reports

Market Research

The New York Wine Tourism Marketing Toolkit was created to provide practical marketing advice on how to increase visitation to tasting rooms and elevate visitors’ experience, thus making New York State a world premier wine tourism destination. The toolkit includes profiles of three potential visitor targets who exhibit a higher inclination to visit a New York winery. These profiles are coupled with recommended marketing strategies to motivate them to visit. The toolkit offers specific operational tactics that wineries and wine trails can deploy to generate greater brand loyalty from the visitor targets.

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